Discounty Review (Switch eShop)

No one who has ever worked in retail would compare the experience to a cosy life management sim. I used to have nightmares about stock variance and queues of angry customers who seemed determined to ruin my day as much as they felt I had ruined theirs.

Yet, Danish developer Crinkle Cut Games seems to think that managing a busy supermarket is something people will enjoy doing on the couch or on the go. Thankfully, they wrapped a charming world around this premise, complete with a pixel art style and chill soundscape. Despite the hellish inspiration, Discounty is almost good enough to be mentioned alongside genre luminaries like Stardew Valley, even though it doesn't do anything drastically different with the basic formula.

The story follows your created shopkeeper as they travel to the small town of Blomkest, where their aunt Tellar has been trying for years to get her franchise store off the ground. She believes your character, her newly arrived relative, is the key to building a thriving supermarket and tasks them with connecting trade across the community.

As a fledgling store manager, you will order deliveries of various sundries and keep shelves stocked and organised. Once that open sign is flipped, the checkout needs to be manned and a steady flow of customers attended to. As items roll across the conveyor, you pull up a calculator to run price totals before checking orders out and seeing whether your customer service earns you an angry grumble or a delighted smile. A belt full of items can often screw up your calculations, and it doesn't help that the till UI is a bit fiddly.

Early on, the Discounty Corporation will introduce bonuses and performance reviews that reward stock variety and efficiency. Completing these challenges unlocks upgrades (like a till scanner to make your shift way easier), more types of produce and, as with any capitalist venture, more cash!

Much like ConcernedApe’s farming sim, Discounty draws you into a focused loop of familiar tasks before gradually expanding the world and involving you in the soap opera-like lives of the townspeople. Outside of work hours, you're free to wander Blomkest, exploring and chatting with the locals. Every aspect of the town ties back to the growth of your store in some way, whether through trade deals or side quests that open up new areas.

The cast is made up of mostly familiar archetypes, but there is still some amusing story content to enjoy. Early on, you will meet a crotchety fisherman with a grudge against the local cannery, who is monopolising his business. Other standouts include new age antique shop owner Solruna and little old lady Andersson. There’s also a mysterious tension between your aunt and the resident bureaucrat, Elmer. These little story vignettes are well written and often very funny.

What’s interesting about Discounty’s take on the cosy management sim is that it keeps the supermarket management front and centre. It’s a streamlined experience without the distractions of romance or extracurricular activities. Each customer has a series of story objectives to complete, but these usually amount to little more than finding someone and talking to them. Then it’s back to the shop floor to get (and sell) this bread.

For those who want to explore the generous depths of shop management with minimal distractions, this leaner format will be welcome. However, if you enjoyed the mini-games and love stories found in games like Stardew or the excellent (In my eyes, at least) Graveyard Keeper, you might be disappointed. The opportunity to automate a lot of the busywork is there, allowing you to spend more time exploring the town. However, there really isn’t much to do besides building up your store. It's a shame that Crinkle Cut chose to focus so heavily on shop management while cutting much of the side content that keeps games like this engaging over time.

The town of Blomkest both looks and sounds lovely. While the aesthetic is reminiscent of genre peers, Crinkle Cut has added its own visual spin. I especially liked the sense of motion in my shopkeeper’s bobbing head. The musical themes are good enough to cope with the strain of repetition and hum along to, as well. Special mention to the visceral sound effects in the shop, which may send former or current retail workers into a spiral.