Thrifty Business is a game about running a store packed with used items, learning about the locals, and managing events in your community.
As you run your thrift shop, management itself is quite laid back. You can purchase boxes based on vibes as you’ll only be told about the first few items in there. Then, you can unpack the items into your shop. from there, you’ll be purchasing tables, shelves, clothing racks, and the like to display all of your items.
When you’re ready, you can start your day and people will come in. You’ll need to make sure the shelves stay stocked, garbage is picked up, and that your customers are checked out when they are ready. Sometimes, people can also get frustrated if they cannot reach items or if things aren’t displayed well, so that’s interesting to watch. There is a good inventory management system as well, which feels needed to make the game cozy (and to keep from losing track of all the stuff you have).
Sometimes customers come in asking for very specific items, and when you find them for them, you get to learn about their story and what is going on in their lives. You also learn about some personal stories with specific boxes that you end with (which some of the time are actually free).
Over time, you can expand your shop to start holding events for the community, bringing customers into your shop while also keeping spaces interesting. I played a demo of the game at New Game Plus where I didn’t get the chance to explore this feature, but it sounds like a nice addition for a community-focused game.
The vibes of Thrifty Business felt so good – very 90’s era visuals and very relaxed in the day-to-day management. The whole thing just feels fun! I loved the little stories from the community members as well. They aren’t super dramatic but are meaningful in their own ways.
Thrifty Business is available now on Steam.
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