Have you ever walked past a Games Workshop and thought, I’m no way near cool enough to work in there. My hair isn’t undercut enough, or I don’t have enough tattoos. Well, now you don’t need to be cool because Tabletop Game Shop Simulator has just gone into Early Access.
Developed by Ludogram and Knight Fever Games, which also handles publishing, Tabletop Game Shop Simulator combines inventory management and shop development with an almost “Gatcha”- style collecting system. Thankfully, there are no microtransactions to worry about.
It’s a Simple Life
For me, there are two types of Simulation Games. The activities Sims like Lawn Mowing Simulator and the inventory management Sims like War Hospital, or any of the plethora of run “insert business name here” simulators. Tabletop Game Shop Simulator falls under the second.
Tabletop Game Shop Simulator starts like any other Business Simulator: name your store, buy some inventory, sell it, repeat.
When you first start, things are pretty grim. There is only a basic booster pack, which retails for $32. This is going to be a long journey.
So, stock the shelves and let’s open for business. As you make sales and restock the shelves, you are earning XP to unlock different inventory to sell, along with posters and cardboard cutouts to decorate your store. I will say early on, business is slow. I got dribs and drabs of customers throughout the day. Sometimes I wouldn’t get a single customer for hours after opening, which led to very slow progression towards unlocking new stuff.
The items you are selling are tabletop miniatures from 3 different armies. You will unlock basic booster packs, army-specific booster packs, and Collector’s packs that have I higher chance of containing rarer miniatures. As well as paint, painting accessories, rule and lore books, and anything else you might need to get started.
Progression
What would any hobbyist store be without the hustle and bustle of customers opening their new purchases and getting straight into painting, or sitting down and getting stuck into some games?
As you progress through the levels, you unlock painting tables and game tables that customers can use (for a price) to place around your store and bring a real feeling of a hustling and bustling store. This is where my biggest gripe with Tabletop Game Shop Simulator lies. The audio.
The audio is so basic that I turned it all off and listened to my own music while I played. Not that I expect every NPC to have dialogue or anything like that, but there is nothing. The droning beat of this lo-fi soundtrack that just seems to be one track on repeat, and the beep of the register is your only release. The customers glide silently around the store. It’s especially noticeable when the store is full, all the tables have people painting and playing games, and you just hear your footsteps. A little bit disappointing.
As you are making money, you can upgrade the size of your store to allow for more stock and customers. Once you hit level 10, things really start to get special.
So far, you have been spending the days at the register. When the store closes, you restock the shelves and start the next day. When you hit level 10, you can employ a staff member to man the till, which allows you to chase the real reason you opened a hobbyist store.
Getting High on Your Own Supply
What’s the point of owning a hobby store if you can open a few boxes?
What I haven’t mentioned yet is Tabletop Game Shop Simulators’ other little mechanic. You can open any of the booster packs and start collecting your own army. Obviously, this eats into your profits, so you need to be careful.
Depending on the size of the pack you open, you will randomly get between 6 and 10 pieces. If it’s a basic pack, it could be a piece for any of the 3 armies. However, there are specific army packs you can open if you are looking for a certain piece. There are collector’s edition packs that have a higher chance of collecting a rare piece.
Each miniature is made up of 5 pieces, and you need them all to assemble your soldier. Once it’s assembled, you get to paint it.
Painting is a mini game where you must click the circle at a certain time to apply the paint. The better you do at the minigame, the better the miniature is painted.
Next, the mini can be sold in your store. The better it is painted, the more it can be sold for.
However, you can keep your minis and play against customers in the store.
Each mini has different stats and symbols attached to it. You can bring 5 miniatures into battle.
You roll 7 dice, and if you can match the die to the corresponding mini, then it will count towards your attack.
To be fair, I don’t completely understand the rules of the game, so I lost more games than I won.
Updates are Happening, but be Wary
During my time playing Tabletop Game Shop Simulator, the devs have been pushing updates tackling some of the issues, like things not working the way they should, and employees not earning the correct XP. Some of the wargame rules have been changed, as well as some other quality-of-life changes.
Unfortunately, after one of the updates, my save file became corrupted. I did have lots of different saves, but most of them didn’t work. I had to go back to a level 10 save file, which lost me a good 12 hours of progression, which was pretty defeating.
Verdict
Tabletop Game Shop Simulator has a slow start, but as soon as you get your first employee, you just sit around all day collecting, painting, playing, and just watching the cash flow in.
I would love to see an update to the audio, adding some background sounds to help the vibe.
I would absolutely recommend Tabletop Game Shop Simulator to anyone who just wants a cozy simulation experience without any of the pressure or stress that can come with the inventory management style sims.
The Gamer Social Club was provided with an early access code for the purposes of this preview.
Tabletop Game Shop Simulator is currently in Early Access on PC (via Steam)
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