Leave everything behind and open a tiny bookshop by the sea in this cozy, no-pressure narrative management game. Stock your tiny bookshop with different books and items, set up shop in scenic locations, and run your cozy second-hand bookshop while getting to know the locals.
Developed by: neoludic games
Played on: Steam
Length: 15 hours (35 hours for completionists)
A review key was provided by Skystone Games.
This is a story we’ve all read before. A small indie studio rides on the recent cozy trend to release their debut game about escaping city life to chase your dreams in the countryside. Cue the lo-fi beats. But while this unassuming story about running a tiny bookshop doesn’t seem like much at first, this love letter to literature proves why you shouldn’t be judging a book by its cover.
Developed by neoludic games, Tiny Bookshop places you in the quaint seaside town of Bookstonbury, where the internet doesn’t seem to exist and nothing is mightier than the pen. In this no-pressure management sim, your days are simple and peaceful. You start each morning by stocking your bookshop-on-wheels with new titles and items, choose a scenic location to set up shop, then you spend the day getting to know the friendly locals.
Each gameplay loop doesn’t take longer than ten minutes to complete, yet this game contains a surprising amount of depth. For example, choosing a location comes with a few things to consider. Each location attracts crowds with different reading habits, certain places are only available on specific days of the week, and even the changing seasons can affect your customer density and sales.
After you set up shop, most customers will come and go on their own throughout the day, while other customers may need your help to pick out their next read. Based on a short description of their preferences, you’ll have to scan through your shelves to recommend a book with the right genre, length, and subject matter. As more books get sold throughout the day, this only adds to the challenge of finding the right book from a limited selection.
As a reader myself, I love how the game draws from a database of real-life books and comics for this mini game. There are still short descriptions for each title to help you out, but if you happen to be familiar with the source material, you might be able to read between the lines when giving recommendations. One of my favourite interactions from my playthrough was successfully recommending a Sherlock Holmes novel to a BL detective manhwa reader. (If you know, you know.)
Layered over all the management gameplay is a light-hearted but warm narrative about community, told through a series of character-focused quests. Tiny Bookshop manages to perfectly capture the feeling of moving to a new place and immersing yourself in the local culture; feeling at first like a stranger observing from the outside, then becoming slowly integrated into the community as you befriend the locals and participate in their traditions.
There is something poetic about watching a nomadic bookshop become more lived in with each passing season, and part of that is the game’s emphasis on decorating. In this game, even the items play a strategic role in your shop’s success, as they each contain different buffs and debuffs that you can tailor to your advantage. From plants that boost sales for a certain genre, to umbrella stands that attract more customers when it rains, stacking buffs onto your build has never been this aesthetically pleasing.
Having played my fair share of cozy decorating games, Tiny Bookshop absolutely nails the balance between form and function while making you feel like a curator, both for your book collection and your decorations. There’s a simple satisfaction that comes with making tiny adjustments to your shop at the start of each day, whether you’re swapping out your umbrella stand for a cooler at the beach, or pulling out the marine-themed decorations when you head down to the docks.
While decorating serves a functional purpose in this game, it’s also just fun to do. For fans of cozy decorating games, it’s worth picking up the game just to spend hours unlocking every single limited-time and seasonal decoration, then finding a balance between aesthetics and a good set of buffs for your shop. As an added bonus, you can also repaint most items, allowing you to customise your tiny bookshop to your heart’s content.
While Tiny Bookshop is designed to be an endless experience, the main story can be completed within four seasons with each season translating to twenty-eight in-game days. That seems like a lot of time, averaging around 15-hours of playtime, but the pacing was just enough to get settled into the new season and enjoy the changes that come with it.
Even after you complete the story, you can still keep going to unlock all the achievements and finish all the character side quests. The game litters plenty of little interactions and hidden collectibles everywhere that bring fresh delight to your experience. Just don’t expect too much variance in the seasonal events and cutscenes after the first calendar year.
Verdict: A Perfect Escape
Tiny Bookshop was a surprising delight for me. This unassuming narrative about leaving city life behind and running a bookshop on wheels didn’t seem like much at first, but this love letter to literature quickly won me over with its gentle charm and surprisingly in-depth management gameplay. Avid readers will especially love the book recommendation mini game that draws from a collection of real-life books and comics!
