When we were growing up, there was likely a time we imagined the idea of running our own shop. Standing behind the counter, chatting with our customers and making that money, it seems like such an idyllic way to live. Well in reality it’s probably very stressful, and features all sorts of boring bollocks like sorting out taxes and paying the electricity bill. Don’t worry though, your childhood fantasies can still come true with Discounty. A cosy shop management game which I was more than happy to check out (pun intended).
In Discounty you play as a custom created person (I was a sort of cool genderless bald alien) who is traveling to Blomkest to help out at their not-so-supermarket. Blomkest is a tiny run down place, but your quirky aunt is relying on you to get those profits in and become a pillar of the community. This might not be so simple though, because in a quiet community the appearance of your new chain supermarket might upset the local cosy way of life. There’s just the right amount of small village drama and overall silliness to provide the perfect background to shop management, and I wasn’t really expecting that from the story of a game about selling oven chips.
There are quite a few steps you’ll need to take to prepare Discounty before the customers come in, so it’s important to get started before the 9am opening. First you’ll need to order stock to ensure you’ve got enough of the essentials to stack on the shelves, then you’ll need to put each item on a shelf or in a cooler based on its need for chilling, and then arrange these units in a way that ensures the old deary that comes in first thing won’t have to walk a marathon to grab her loo roll. Unless you really go wild on the furnishings you’ll have to restock while on your shift too, so organising both the storeroom and the shop floor will make your life much easier.
Once you flip the sign Discounty becomes a much more fast paced experience, because you’ll get bonus cash if you ring up a customer’s shopping quickly with your calculator. For those really aiming to go at top speed you can do the maths in your head when totting up the price of four lots of rolled oats, but you’re also welcome to let the multiplication button do the hard work if you’d prefer. I was surprised how quickly I began remembering the prices of individual items and speeding through the checkout process, and even more so that I was having so much fun doing so.
Once your shift is over you can finally spend your time doing what you want. Initially you’ll be told to explore the town to get acquainted with the locals, and once you’ve run that well dry and finished your small talk you can go to bed. As the game progresses you’ll have more use for the other people of the village though, to both progress the story and increase your stock.
Alongside just making as much money as possible, you’ll always have a main objective to complete in Discounty. This usually involves helping someone out so they’ll in turn help you with the shop, and will eventually lead to a more successful Discounty. The first major quest you’re given is to source some local stock for the shelves, which involves schmoozing with the fisherman and farmer to get the produce you desire. Often completing these objectives just means focusing on selling specific stock as fast as possible, but occasionally you’ll be given some busywork to complete like finding eight missing sheep from around town. It’s all for the profits though, so needs must.
The most impressive part of Discounty is how good that daily loop of stocking and selling feels, alongside the constant improvement of the store. More elements are regularly added for you to keep on top of too, like recycling the packaging your deliveries come in or having to scrub the floors so your customers don’t move slower on sticky patches. There are even decorations you can buy that boost the appeal of certain items, and before you know it your store layout will become a massive tile puzzle where top profits are your reward for mastering it.
I wasn’t expecting to fall for Discounty as hard as I did, but there are some slightly disappointing elements, too. At points in the game you’ll be left with objectives that just require you to grind away at the store, and losing those story beats and smaller tasks between shifts takes a bit of the joy out of the experience. The village itself just feels empty as well, with no real reason to explore unless you’re given express reason to do so. This takes away from the cosy vibes a bit overall, which isn’t ideal.
Discounty blends cosy living with clever shop management to create a seriously compelling experience. Typing prices into a keypad really shouldn’t be as much fun as it is, but Discounty nails that tactile feel of inputting prices that just hits different. Working at a supermarket in real life probably isn’t as much fun as this, but thanks to clever puzzle elements, constant progression, and a lovely vibe, Discounty is one of the best cosy games of the year so far.
