Tobacco Shop Simulator Review (PC)

Given the fact that I have spent way too many hours behind the checkout counter, I think it’s worth saying that retail, at least in a digitalized form, is something that I have a natural-born obsession for. It’s a weird thing, given how monotonous such things can be, and yet, in spite of all of the mundane chores and dull moments, I still can’t help but feel drawn to the idea of being able to manage and elevate the humble roots of my own store. And, to be fair, when I was given the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a tobacco shop, it sort of felt like a no-brainer. I had the skills, and I knew the tropes all too well. Naturally, the only thing I had to do was learn the subtle differences between a hookah and an e-cigarette. Hardly a tall order, mind you.

To put you in the picture, Tobacco Shop Simulator is a first-person single-player and co-op simulation game. Much like the rest of its ilk—Supermarket Simulator or Retail Company Simulator, for example—the game sees you taking ahold of the reins of a somewhat barebones store in order to produce, sell, and ultimately evolve the structural blueprint of the company’s business model. The only difference in this particular scenario, of course, is that you aren’t forking out iced buns or designer t-shirts; you’re acquiring cigars, ashtrays, and just about any other tobacco-based product, for that matter, and you’re establishing connections with well-known tobacconist brands to essentially enhance your business.

Interested in hearing more about Business Tycoon’s latest game? Then let’s jump right into the details.

Smoke Samples

It starts out with a clean slate—a husk of a shop floor, a fairly limited supply of tobacco products, and a short queue of customers. The journey, which begins in said husk of a store, invites you to stock and sell a range of items—cigars, pipes, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, hookahs, ashtrays, and lighters, being your bread and butter. But, that’s not all it asks; the game also invites you to form foolhardy relationships with leading brands, undercut competition, hire workers to increase sales and productivity, and prevent certain thuggish guests from stealing your products. And if you think that sounds like a lot to juggle, then hey — that’s retail, in a nutshell, and Tobacco Shop Simulator doesn’t exactly hold back on the technicalities. Can’t slate its love for authenticity, I guess.

Gameplay in Tobacco Shop Simulator flows in an almost identical fashion as its counterparts: stock the shelves with products; use a computer to order more items; clean up any excess inventory or spillages; and shovel through various business milestones in order to earn better rewards and, in turn, increase sales. Herein lies a traditional gameplay loop that we’ve seen countless times before—a loop that, by all accounts, is not spontaneously defined by any means. What I mean to say here is that, although the job itself does come with its own variation of tasks—preventing thieves from buckling your empire, for example—the day-to-day grind is more or less the same as it was before. Suffice it to say, if you’ve ever played a retail simulator before, then you’ll probably get the gist of this one. You work till your heart’s content, and that’s about it.

Light Another One

Thankfully, there’s a good amount of content to chew through here, perhaps even more, given the game’s inclusion of brand collaborations and a lot of other tobacco-related accessories. Don’t get me wrong, you could still very well be able to see most, if not all of the products and inner workings of the world in a few short hours or so, but given that there is, in fact, a surprising amount of avenues to explore and ascend, it would seem that you could quite easily find more bang for your buck, if you’re so willingly inclined to unravel it.

Of course, I’m speaking on behalf of a niche group of individuals here—the folks who’ve probably spent a handful of hours shoveling through the same story beats and retail shenanigans as a real-life cashier. However, if I was to view Tobacco Shop Simulator from a newcomer’s perspective, then I’d have to call out a few minor issues. For starters, there isn’t really a tutorial for the opening portions of the campaign, which is a problem in itself, given the lack of context on how the retail world actually works. Likewise, there isn’t much of a helping hand to aid your efforts with stopping potential thieves from ransacking your stock and making you financially bankrupt. Perhaps, it’s a “learn as you go” sort of ordeal. Even still, the lack of guidance is something to take into account, all things considered.

Hardly Reinventing the Wheel

You could quite easily argue that Tobacco Shop Simulator doesn’t exactly do anything to reinvent the wheel — and you’d be right, to be fair. In fact, if you were to put Supermarket Simulator on an adjacent pedestal, then you’d no doubt struggle to spot the differences, minus, perhaps, the products that you are able to sell. And that’s a bit of a double-edged sword, really; it’s a safe bet to get a second intake for those who’ve previously played and (hopefully) enjoyed Supermarket Simulator, but at the same time it offers little to zero additional benefits outside of the obvious themes and tobacconist tropes.

On the plus side, Tobacco Shop Simulator does at least flow well, mechanically speaking. Sure, it can be a little wooden, and don’t even get me started on the paper-thin character designs and personalities, but for what it is—a run-of-the-mill business simulation game—it just, I don’t know, works. Its graphics, too, aren’t anything to write home about, but that pretty much comes expected, given its independent nature and chosen genre. Still, it might’ve been nice to have been able to speak with customers who weren’t cardboard cutout clones of their predecessors. Can’t win ‘em all though, I suppose.

Verdict

Tobacco Shop Simulator might sport just about all of the same retail-like trappings as the vast majority of its kin, but it’s still a fairly decent simulation game, doubly so given its knack for generating fluid and sturdy gameplay mechanics and a surprisingly hefty amount of material to play with. It’s essentially “retail therapy” 101, meaning, if you are the sort of gamer who enjoys the simple things in life—stacking shelves, taking stock, and making small upgrades to enhance the productivity of your enterprise, for instance—then there’s a good chance that you’ll get a kick out of pulling the strings of this store, in particular.

As with a lot of simulation games that rely on familiar mechanics and the usual progression tropes, there isn’t a huge amount of spontaneity to the role of general overseer. Simply put, the role primarily consists of doing mostly the same routine each shift, and then focusing on the occasional upgrade to either increase stock, or develop an innovative strategy for improving sales, and so on and so forth. And that’s about it as far as the job goes; it’s a grind from start to finish, meaning, if you’re looking for something that will keep you on your toes, then you ought to consider looking elsewhere to scratch that business simulation itch of yours.

I will say this: as far as retail simulation games go, Tobacco Shop Simulator does stack up as one of the more interesting ones on the block. I say that, mainly due to its inclusion of theft and other curveball crimes that frequently occur on a regular basis. That’s a nice touch, and I’ll give credit where it’s due. Does it make it ironclad? Probably not, but it’s still a pretty sturdy representation of real-life retail, all things considered.