I have played my fair share of cozy life sim and management games to know when it feels like I’m playing something that truly feels like a fresh spin on the genre. With games like Stardew Valley popularizing the genre so much that it can feel like a million games inspired by it are released yearly, with features that feel like they barely move the needle or mark their game with its own identity.
I’m very glad to say that after spending many hours with Discounty, it’s nothing like that. I’ve had my eye on this game for a while, and like many games in its genre, I am cautiously optimistic about how I’ll enjoy it. Will it be excitingly addicting, or will it be something that I put a couple of hours in and move on from? Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty details on why I think Discounty is an innovative and quirky gem of a game.
Story and Gameplay
Discounty’s gameplay takes the forefront of this game with a simple gameplay loop that gradually increases in challenge, which had me busy with tasks to do even when my supermarket was closed. When you’re not busy working behind the counter, you can make trade deals with your neighbors to sell local products. This also gives you time to complete story quests, which fit into this 15 to 20-hour experience nicely. It’s certainly not heavy on its story, but it’s enough to engage you when you’re not running your store.
The real treat comes when you’re in your store. You have full customization options for where to place your shelves and coolers, and it involves more strategy than you may realize. The goal is to have customers get the items they came for and also impulse buy what they’ll walk past, so you have to think about that while organizing your supermarket. You’re also running around trying to keep items in stock while also punching in product prices on the register, something that was a lot more fun than I initially thought.
The more you play, the more that begins to unlock, never leaving you bored enough to put the game down. When it comes to the characters that make up the small town of Blomkest, they were shockingly imperfect townspeople. In most cozy games, you expect all residents except perhaps one to love you, but in Discounty, every character has flaws, and no one fully accepts you.
Discounty offers surprising commentary on the topic of big corporations swallowing up smaller businesses in the name of profit, placing you at the center of the residents’ hatred of this practice. It also makes you think about what happens when you work for a business that cares more about profits than it does about its workers, something I never thought would come from a cozy shop simulator.
Graphics and Sound
Discounty has a 2D 32-bit pixelated art style with a vivid color palette that’s never dull to look at. I played this game on Switch 2, and it looks great on its 7.9-inch LCD screen. It’s a type of art style and graphics quality that fits right at home for what this game has to offer. While the first half of my time with Discounty was bogged down by low performance that had me questioning why it felt clunky to control, soon after its launch, the developers released an update that fixed those issues and made Discounty a smooth experience to play on Nintendo’s console.
The game’s sound is simple yet lovely enough for me to remember some of its tunes in my head. There are jovial songs that play while walking around town or working behind the register, but there are also creepier tunes that play the darker it gets outside, or depending on if you’re creeping around the forest. The music and sound are nothing outstanding, but it’s good enough not to distract you from the heart of Discounty, which is its addictive gameplay loop
Feedback and Verdict
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Discounty and found it to be the perfect length to capture my attention. Although it wasn’t a perfect story and some beats felt unfinished, the gameplay pulled its weight enough to keep me fully engaged. If you’re someone who isn’t looking for a super long store management sim and love the idea of managing every aspect of running a supermarket, Discounty may be right up your alley.
