I’ve been on a cozy game kick for the last few weeks. I’m just done with hard games. It’s taken me quite a while to realize that I don’t really like ‘hard’ games for a variety of reasons. I play FromSoft games for the exploration, the exquisite level design, and for the lore. I suffer through/put up with the difficulty because the rest of it makes up for it.
I don’t know for how much longer because I’m getting older. I know we all are, but in this specific case, I mention it because I had terrible reflexes even before my medical crisis. And very little depth perception. After my medical crisis, it’s just gotten worse and worse.
It’s been a relief to play games that are cozy and casual. Nothing to stress me out and nothing that makkes me feel sad/bad because I can’t do it. (Holds back massive treatise on FromSoft and the current state of the company.) I am looking to be comforted in my gaming, and the indie/cozy game devs are showing up in spades.
During the Wholesome Direct of 2025 which was a few months ago, I downloaded a bunch of demos (one thing I really love about indie games) on Steam to try. One of them was Tiny Bookshop (neoludic games), and it immediately grabbed my attention. I had considered buying a bookstore once upon a time, and I was attracted to the idea of leaving it all to open a tiny moving bookshop in a small town where everyone knew each other.
I eagerly checked out the demo, and to my dismay, I did not gel with it. I loved the vibes, the visuals, and everything about the enviroment. I just did not click with the characters in the game or the actual gameplay. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t fall in love with it the way I thought I would.
One thing that stressed me out was that a customer would ask me for a recommendation, and if they didn’t like what I suggested to them, they would be upset. That didn’t really matter as far as gameplay. Well, I mean, it might have, but that wasn’t the reason I was upset. I just didn’t like when I didn’t get it right or when I didn’t have a book I could recommend.
I was sad when I uninstalled the demo, but it just wasn’t for me. Then, it was officially released ten days ago, and a friend of mine in the RKG Discord (we joke that we are the same person) mentioned it to me that I might like it. I decided to check the demo out again, and to my surprise, I liked it quite a bit this time.
I decided to buy it. This is one of the great things with small, indie games. This game was $19.99 at release and already 10% off. That means I bought it for $17.99. At that price, I’m willing to gamble on a game with a big heart that is made by an indie developer. I recognize it as an absolute privilege, but I don’t mind if I don’t love a game or play it for more than a few hours if I spend less than twenty dollars on it.
I’ve already put in 4.5 hours, and I have a hunch I’ll be playing at least a dozen more hours. The game has that ‘just one more day’ feel to it that makes it so addictive. Each day is fairly short, which I appreciate. There are things you can do between days as well. Side quests for characters, decorating your tiny bookshop, and other fun things.
The management aspect is gentle (so far), but there I do have to do some reasoning. I have to see what sells at which area and stock up my shelves accordingly. I can sell 40 books at a time, and there are 7 categories (I think). Different genres sell better (or worse) at certain locations, such as travelogues selling better by the waterfront.
I’m still not entirely sold on the characters of the game because they are pretty stereotypical. There’s the stern, snobby, older woman who runs a cafe and has rigid ideas of what is right and proper for people of their sleepy little town. There’s the recently retired bookstore owner, also an older woman, who knows exactly that I need to do. She’s warmer than the first woman, but they both fall into the ‘grandmother knows best’ category. As most people probably know, that’s not something I do well with. Those were two of the first people I met in the game, so of course they were going to stick out the most.
I did like a (hopefully potential dating opportunity) plant enthusiast whom I met at the Flea Market (it’s a location, that’s why I capitalized it)–and not just because I’m hoping to romance her. I also liked the old sea dog I met in Waterfront Square. Yes, he’s a stereotype of a grizzled, gruff retired sailor, but I’m fine with that.
I like that the side quests seem to have a purpose behind them. They may not immediately bear fruit, but I have faith that they will at some ppoint. It’s amazing how I’ve flipped from being neutral to slightly negative on the game from the first time I played the demo to being very positive about it now.
I do have some small complaints about the game, though. One is that it’s hard to earn money. I make maybe fifty to a hundred dollars a day. My daily expenses are anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five dollars. The things I need to buy outside of the books (so far) have been quite pricy. Right now, I need to buy a classy item–by the way, I wish the game had explained better the tags on each item. I also wish they were bigger because I had a hard time seeing them.
That would be my overall complaint about the game–there are several small tweaks that would make it better. And, I’m fully admitting that it might just be a me-problem. I’m using mouse and keyboard for it, and I was frustrated that there was no way to quit out of the game. This happened in the demo as well.
Of course, it was a simple answer. Press ESC and the menu will pop up. I should have known this because that’s the way to get to the menu on any game you play k/m. The thing is, though, I mostly play with a controller these days, so I had forgotten all my k/m buttons/keys.
I really groove with this game now. It’s a perfect small bite game that can be played in small bursts (or longer stints as well). I’m sure I’ll be back to give it a proper review when I finish it (if not before then).