Tiny Bookshop - Review
I love reading, so much so that if I am not playing games, I am likely reading a book. It is why games appeal to me, the vast array of stories possible draw me in. So, when Tiny Bookshop was revealed via Nintendo’s Indie World event for Switch and released that same day, it felt like two of my worlds collided. Was the result a page turning event, or just one to throw back up on the shelf?
There is a story here in Tiny Bookshop, but it is more about the people you speak with and places you go. It starts out with you, a nameless and faceless person, giving up your life in the big city, to move to a small town and sell books out of your little trailer, thus the name. The town of Bookstonbury, is about as generic as you can get for a seaside hamlet, there is a lighthouse, a flea market and a host of other locations that fit the vibe. As you begin to sell books, some of the locals will stop by to say hi, giving you some insights to the town and hints as to how you can do better. One of them is the owner of the former bookshop Tilde, who has a few leftover books she is willing to part with and a number of unsolicited opinions as well. There are two groups of folks that you get to spend time with, the general shopper and the named characters. The latter ones will often have insights to share, but also requests to make, like visiting a location on a set day.
As each day begins, you will need to select where you want to go, do you save some money and set up at the waterfront, or do you splurge and park by the café. Each location has their own flavours of genres that sell, so if you do the café, you won’t find yourself selling a lot of kids books, but if you set up at the far away beach, you will sell more there. With each location having different preferences on what the shoppers like to buy, you need to fill your shelves with the right offerings to suit. Now the game does not care if you stock your entire trailer with travel books and then set up shop at the old fort, but you may not be as profitable if you did that. It is not just about setting up in the right spot with the right books, each day the newspaper arrives and will give you information to make use of, like events and the weather. Working with all that information, so you don’t set up at the beach in the rain, but also stocking the right books, does take some time to understand, but once you do things will just make sense.
But now we come to the bad part of the gameplay, the actual selling of the books. I know it seems counterintuitive for a game about selling books to be bad at selling books, but let me explain. Once you have arrived at your location, you need to open up and that begins a timer for the day. People will come into your trailer on their own, some will jog in, others will stroll, but they do it at their own pace. Once inside, some folks will grab a book or three, and then leave, paying for their purchases as they do so, but others might need assistance. This is the only time you have to do anything, you can choose not to help, but you could lose a sale if you do that. Once someone seeks help, they will give you a little info on what they are looking for, the type of book, page count and more. You then need to search through your collection that you brought with you and suggest something to them. If you select the perfect book, they will be happy and then will likely buy more, but if you suggest the wrong book, they will leave disappointed. There were days when I would be prompted quite often and others where it happened once or twice, it varies and, on those days, when its quiet, you just sort of watch the game.
Now you can influence people to buy select book genres, by installing objects into your space, for example if you install some maritime themed items, then sailors at the waterfront will likely buy more. The flip side of that is that if your trailer is decked out in horror or crime items, like a skull, then kids won’t come in to buy from you. Each location has its likes for book types, but also for the themes and finding the balance of both for an area is a challenge. Because of this, I felt like I was doing more arts and crafts then I was selling books. This would not be an issue in a store, given you could set up a kids corner or a crime corner without issue, but in the limited space that you have, the constant need to ensure you have a great space for all, it’s a challenge some folks may not like.
On the visual side of things, there is not a lot going on, don’t get me wrong the game looks great, but like the idea of living by the seaside, its more about style than anything else. At any point, you could pause the game, or just not move the camera and whatever view point you have on your screen, could easily be printed in a book with a little text around it. There is a lot to see in most locations, you can also mess around with almost everything, the number of pigeons that I poked would be in the hundreds. The games art style, while not groundbreaking, does tie all the locations together, so when you are in front of the café or the lighthouse, you will notice where you are.
The characters that you interact with are nice as well, there is a little kid that will often come running into your trailer to buy things and she looks quite different to the botanist who comes running in. When the named characters are in the shop, you will see their faces on the left of the screen and you can pause to get some insight on them, but you can’t start a conversation with them, only they can to you. That is the weakest part of the characters, you might see Tilde walking to your shop and you can move the cursor over and say hi, but it won’t begin a conversation. When she walks into the trailer, she will start one up with you. When these conversations begin you get a nice big speech bubble on the screen, with the characters name in there and they look great, but that is really the only time you get to see them up close.
On the soundscape side of things, there is not a lot going on, most characters don’t speak and if they do make noises, it’s the normal grunts and groans. The music again fits the vibe that is on offer, its slow paced and calming, so much so that I couldn’t begin to tell you about any one piece.
Tiny Bookshop is a great game for those who want a calmer gaming experience. The fact that the books found within are real world books means that if you know about The Hunger Games or Carrie, then you will be delighted at selling them. The biggest issue with the game is that, for a game about selling, you don’t actually do any of it yourself. It feels like Mario Kart when auto-drive is enabled, yes you can do some stuff still, but is not what you came in for. Due to that and the slow-paced nature of the game, it might be too slow for some folks, but those who are willing to put in the effort will find a truly novel experience.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Skystone Games
The Pros
The game features a lot of names of actual books, which makes it easy for bibliophiles to connect to
The calm nature of the game means that there is never a need to rush through decisions
The Cons
The selling of the books is all automatic, which does remove some of the fun of the game
The slow pace just won’t be for everyone
