Supermarket Simulator – Review
We’ve only barely left our digital architect behind us after reviewing Architect Life, and we’re already slaving away in our next digital enterprise. This time, we’re managing a budding supermarket in the middle of a sizeable city. Supermarket Simulator is a title we’ve been following for a while now, and we were more than happy to give it a go when its 1.0 release went live. We quite enjoyed what this title had to offer, even when some components still showed a few rough edges.
Story
There is no story in Supermarket Simulator whatsoever. You just start with a small neighborhood store, and it’s up to you to turn it into a large and successful supermarket. Outside of some objectives the game throws at you, we were actually quite happy the developers didn’t opt for a generic storyline like so many other titles in the genre come with.
Graphics
These types of simulator games are often not known for their graphics, and a lot of them actually end up looking rather cheap. This is also the case for Supermarket Simulator, as the overall graphical quality didn’t blow us away. The character models, for example, look a bit uncanny, and they clip through one another. Even so, a lot of the assets look rather good, and when you have a bigger store up and running, it does look fairly realistic. A lot of the products have nice designs, the shelves and customization options can spruce things up a bit, and as a whole, we enjoyed the general aesthetic.
Sound
Before you place speakers in your shop, there is no background music at all. You’ll have to make do with environmental sound, the beeping of the registers, and the sound of cardboard boxes being opened. The SFX are realistic and add to the general atmosphere, and carry the experience for the most part. We actually waited a long while before installing speakers in our supermarket, as we had our own playlist playing in the background for most of the experience. The music that you unlock has relaxing and jazzy vibes, but the songs sound as if they are pulled directly from a free library online.
Gameplay
Supermarket Simulator is a simulator game in which you’ll manage a supermarket. The game doesn’t throw any massive curveballs your way, and you’ll be treated to pretty much what you’d expect from running a supermarket. You’ll start off small, with only one register, a handful of products, and a computer. The computer is needed to pay bills, order stock and furniture, hire people, and eventually further expand the store. The game also allows you to do other activities, such as going to other stores and even delivering orders. It’s a well-balanced mix of activities where you juggle managing the store and actually working there. You’ll also unlock new tools as you go, such as a tablet to immediately order new stock, but also cleaning supplies and even a bat to smack shoplifters with. At the time of writing, we have invested quite a few hours already, and feel like we barely have begun expanding our supermarket empire.
The game follows a fairly standard pattern where you need to work a few days to build up a financial buffer, to then start expanding your assortment of products and expanding your store. Eventually, you’ll hire employees, and then it’s a bit of a rinse-and-repeat kind of scenario. Don’t get us wrong, however, as progress never felt too slow, and the general gameplay loop is highly entertaining. We loved seeing our store grow after sinking in a few hours, and we still have a long way to go. As you grow, you’ll also need to place new furniture, such as shelves, fridges, freezers, additional registers, and so on. The placement is a bit awkward at times, and we would have loved the option to turn on a snap mode here, where furniture could be aligned neatly. We would have also loved to see a few accessibility options included here, such as product tags lighting up on the correct shelf when placing boxes in your storage, as the icons can be very small at times.
As is often the case, the game can become rather overwhelming if you don’t pace yourself. If you always decide to upgrade your store or expand your product licenses immediately, you may find yourself in trouble. It’s best to take things slow, upgrade when you have a buffer, and make sure you automate some of the processes in your store. That being said, your employees aren’t always that efficient. Refilling stock runs into issues, where your employees, for some reason, don’t restock certain products until the shelf is full, which does get a bit annoying when you still have products on the racks in your storage. Your workers at the register are also very slow, and you might need to pay them a bit extra when things are too busy. The latter is actually the case for a lot of your employees, but luckily, paying for boosts is rather cheap. Issues with the staff aside, it’s quite satisfying to see your store grow with new workers, slowly turning it into a hustling and bustling supermarket. You’re not limited to hiring restockers and cashiers, but you can also hire security and janitors, for example.
Conclusion
Supermarket Simulator is probably one of the best in its genre, as it offers a proper progression system and different activities to do, and if you pace yourself properly, you’ll have a game you can sink a lot of hours into. There are still minor bugs present, and the graphics aren’t always up to snuff, but the gameplay loop is highly enjoyable to zone out with. If you’re a fan of simulation titles such as this one, then we can easily suggest picking this one up.
No Comments