As someone who has worked at an independent bookstore for over a year and enjoys a cozy game regularly. I was immediately drawn to the promotion of Tiny Bookshop, a game where you could run your own bookstore in a small town. Although I have been playing it for the better part of a week, I noticed a few things about it that simply remind me of work in a positive way while still being able to separate those thoughts and appreciate it as its own game.

Developed by Neoludic Games, Tiny Bookshop has been out for almost three full months and is available on Nintendo Switch and PC platforms. I will also clarify that this is not an ad I just have one game a season that takes up all my spare time.

The Books and Accessibility

This is such an easy game to get into; the settings section is a dealbreaker for me when it comes to games, and this did not disappoint. While a day at Tiny Bookshop moves quickly, you can adjust visual effects, the length of time a customer will wait before getting annoyed and leaving. Or even have the game auto-answer for you. The genres of books are split into five parts: Crime, Drama, Fact, Fantasy, Classic, Kids, and Travel, with the option of changing the colors of each to match by association. I think it’s neat, being able to adjust things as needed so that I don’t get dizzy.

Customization with a purpose.

As you play, you get to participate in flea markets and local events, which allow you to buy materials for your bookshop. But you have to be careful about the combination of materials you place out, as things can raise your daily toll, the parking fees for the location of the day, and it can also affect what genres sell or don’t sell. On the one hand, I love this feature. My bookshop never looks the same, and I have to adjust things to make sure my stock of books all have an even chance or that I match the style of a themed event on time. On the other hand, it does take me out of the game a little to figure out what combination works for which genre. I am slowly figuring it out, as that is the point of this feature, but this does feel like I would benefit from creating a gaming journal to keep track of what works together.

The regulars.

One of my favorite things about working at a bookstore is the familiar faces. Seeing people at events, hearing about their current reads, and trying to figure out what they might want to read next. Tiny Bookshop matched that feeling so well that it’s almost frustrating when I can’t suggest the right book to the customer. Where I’m at in the game, I’ve met roughly nine people who keep reappearing for events, and it’s been fun getting an idea of what they’ll ask for. However, Klaus the musician has very questionable tastes.

They also just say the strangest things:

Pets and Mysteries?

I went into this game knowing there would be side quests; each regular has a variety of tasks they give for me to just work around. Though I was pleasantly surprised when a regular, Fern, the local journalist, gave me a clue board to solve random mysteries about town. During my investigation of who took down the local market mascot, I somehow befriended a dog and a cat, and now I have them forever. The dog is named Behemoth, and the cat will not go back to her original owner, Tilda, even though the game has stated that she is well enough to get her back.

A small concern

Like any game I enjoy, this one has the potential to be overplayed and become repetitive. Just from this week alone, I’ve seen plenty of repeat titles and genres to recommend to customers. While I do not have an issue with that, as it helps me just get more sales, it does lead me to wonder if the developers plan on updating the list of novels you can select from. And of course, I tend not to play after a day of actual work, as it does feel too similar at times. I’ll definitely keep playing, but I need to learn moderation with my cozy games rather than just pushing through until it no longer feels fun.

Edit: Roughly an hour after writing this out, I got a side quest that made things a little more interesting because the new goal has me working towards a bigger bookstore.

If you play Tiny Bookshop and decide it’s not the game for you, here are some other games that are available on Switch that I also obsess over regularly.