Retail Hell Review (PC)

I’d rather dunk my head in filth and live in squalor than operate a convenience store in the ashen valley of a claustrophobic purgatory. Hell, I’d rather repeat the same monotonous conversation with the ferryman than spend a second foraging for spare toilet tissue on a grease-smothered floor. But, it seems that beggars can’t be choosers in Retail Hell — especially when said  beggars have a price on their head and a sinful aura that simply cannot be absolved.

It feels as if I’ve been down this road before, if not in Kiosk, then in The Boba Teashop. The world seems familiar, almost as if I’ve traipsed these same decrepit hallways and served these peculiar entities before. The unsettling ambience that shrouds the walls; the snide expressions that drape over motionless eyes; and the constant reminder that hell has no friendly intentions. Oh, I know this convenience store a little too well. But that isn’t to say that I feel at home with it. Retail Hell might look like your average haunt, but the fact is, it harbors a much, much darker secret. A comical one, too, weirdly.

In what feels like a perpetual cycle with no exit, hell has a way of sticking with you. The dreary eyes; the supernatural occurrences; the dismal curses; and the endless fear of imminent doom. If it weren’t for death knocking at your door, it wouldn’t be an issue. The concept, much like those etched into existing business simulation games, wouldn’t be all that difficult to wrap your head around, either. Simply, you would clock in for a shift, serve customers, and earn a bit of cash to fund various endeavors on the side. But in hell, the slate hosts a different set of ideas. The shift never ends, and the customers always have a reason to provoke you. But that’s purgatory for you. It’s dull, disturbing, and awfully uncomfortable. Yet, it’s also somewhere you might just find yourself falling in love with for all of the wrong reasons.

Retail Hell makes a bold decision to mince the art of monotonous grafting into a sickeningly supernatural base, with routine work being the doughy texture of the experience, and the dismal cast of characters being the iron backbone for its setting. As a lost soul in purgatory, you find yourself behind the kiosk of the only convenience store—a spot that houses all of the necessities of life—in a hellish world. The problem is, you don’t know why you’re there, and you don’t know why the shift doesn’t quite end when the lights go out. It’s your job, as both the shopkeeper and the victim, to juggle the demands of the supernatural entities and the alluring desires to unearth the truth behind your predicament.

Behind its veil of grotesque aesthetics and disturbing aura is a vaguely familiar shopkeeping experience. In  a similar vein of horror as, say, The Boba Teashop, the game requires you to keep tabs on your stock, cook small meals, and frequently clean the dainty quarters of the store. And for the most part, that’s what you’re doing: juggling the usual tasks of your job. But, in the ashen depths of purgatory you have another problem to tackle: the customers. Here, people can curse you, belittle you, and generally make your life a living nightmare.

If you’re looking for a textbook shopkeeping sim with lighthearted content and simple interactive gameplay, then you might want to consider plunging your fists into an alternate reality. In Retail Hell, ordinary tasks tend to come with loftier caveats, and mistakes often result in eternal damnation. See, the customers aren’t the type to patiently wait whilst you fumble around in the dark for supplies. Rather, they’re the kind to curse you for tripping over your own two feet. And when I say curse, I mean warp the confines of your reality to turn an otherwise tolerable world into a grim fever dream that you don’t know whether to laugh at or fear.

To call Retail Hell a relaxing business sim might be a slight exaggeration. As the title openly implies, the game is marred with a lot of problematic elements, most of which are appropriately designed to frustrate you and make you learn from past mistakes. Unlike, say, inKONBINI, you don’t have the gift of time on your hands, nor do you have the breathing room to swagger your shopkeeping skills. You have upgrades to unlock, and you have a rolling roster of characters who each have their own unique tastes and cryptic shopping lists. Unfortunately, it’s your job to decipher all of it in a timely manner.

Thankfully, where Retail Hell aims to reduce your sanity to a pittance, it also aims to keep you hooked with the benefits of running a store in purgatory. In addition to its colorful roster of characters, it also offers some great visual effects and world-altering features, with curses, cryptic orders, and curveballs forever keeping you on your toes as you tackle each shift. Moreover, it provides an eerie setting with a lot of disturbing details. Creepy, is the word I’m looking for here. A terrifying experience, no — but one that will stick with you long after you finally emerge from the fiery depths of hell, nonetheless.

All in all there’s a great indie horror game here with an equal amount of bark and bite. It’s a stressful affair with a rather steep learning curve I’ll admit. However, once you learn to bypass the bounds of purgatory, it is one that eventually becomes a lot easier to handle. Or at least, it is until the clocks rewind and put you back to the beginning. That’s purgatory for you though, I guess.

Verdict

Retail Hell adds a fresh lick of salt to an otherwise healthy chore core simulation experience with a sinful cast of characters and a perilous world of unfavorable conditions and morbid consequences. Although still a small part of a much, much larger culinary world, its inclusion of grotesque elements and a thin storyline is greatly appreciated here. It might not be the greatest cooking sim on the chopping board, but it is one that can leave a sour taste on the tip of your tongue.

Suffice it to say, if you didn’t quite get your fill in Kiosk or Happy’s Humble Burger Farm, then you should consider pledging to the depths of purgatory the next time you’re in need of a heart-wrenching experience to compliment that quarter pounder.