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Have you ever dreamed of quitting your job, moving to a small, quaint town and opening a bookshop? Of spending your days surrounded by books and quirky trinkets, getting to know the locals and recommending books to them as they come to peruse your collection?
Welcome to Tiny Bookshop, a bookshop management simulator with 30+ hours of ambient narrative storytelling and endless hours of book recommendations!
Leave your life behind and escape to the town of Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea, the perfect little town to start your new life as a second-hand bookseller. Explore the town, get to know the locals, and discover its long history while stocking your bookshelves and recommending books to customers based on what they’re in the mood for. Discover classics on your shelves like The Secret History and Animal Farm, BookTok favorites like The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) and A Court of Thorns and Roses, or even titles like The Invasion (Animorphs #1) that will send you straight into the depths of your childhood.
Here at Tiny Bookshop, there’s a book for everyone! It is important to listen to what your customers say, as remembering what kinds of books they like will help when you are recommending their next read to them. But it’s not all about the books. There are friendships to be made, markets to shop, and a whole town to explore throughout its changing seasons. So pack up your bags, start your car, and get ready for your next cozy adventure in Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea.
The Basics
The most important part of Tiny Bookshop is, of course, the books. While you start the game by diving straight into your first day on the job, meeting a few of the town’s locals as you learn the basics of the game, and sell the books you came to Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea with, it is your job to keep your shop stocked with books for people to buy.
At the end of your first day as a bookseller, you will already be running low on some of the genres, which include crime, drama, fact, fantasy, classics, kids, and travel books, so it is up to you to check the newspaper for boxes of books people may be trying to sell. It is integral to check on the number of books you have left in stock at the beginning of each day, or else you run the risk of running out of a genre of book a customer might be interested in. Keeping your books stocked and planning out what books go into your bookshelves is the most important part of your day!
After buying some books (or deciding to wait for a better deal if you’re a bargain hunter) it is time to pick where you want to set up shop for the day. Your first day was spent at Waterfront Square, but as you continue to progress into the game, more and more locations will become available for you to visit. There are ten areas in total, which are Waterfront Square, Cafe Liberte, Far Beach, Mega Marche, St. Bookston University, Lighthouse, Castle Ruins, Flea Market, Hospital, and Rye Park. Not only do the different locations offer different scenery, new characters to meet, and side quests to complete, each location has certain genres that are sought after most frequently. So, if you have a plethora of crime books stocked up, you should head somewhere like the Lighthouse, which does well for both crime and classic books.
Once you’ve picked your location, the last thing to do is set up your bookshelf.
Although you can’t pick exactly which books to stock your shop with, you are in control over how many of each genre you want to bring for the day. So, after you decide which location to visit, pay attention to which genres typically do well there. While you certainly want to make sure you have a little of each genre, it is always a good idea to bring extra for the genres that will sell the most.
After that, all you’ve got left to do is open the doors to your shop and get selling for the day.
Let’s get decorating (and recommending, of course)!
Although Tiny Bookstore is a book-selling simulator, there is a lot more to do and think about than just selling books! And what kind of cozy game would this be without the ability to customize your shop?
There are so many decorations to collect for your bookshop, some of which are plants, paintings, and odd trinkets, that you can get through both shopping and completing side quests. Some have personalities of their own (literally, you’ll understand once you meet the sentient typewriter) while other decorations are purely for aesthetic purposes, and while it is fun to simply collect things and make your bookshop look pretty, the decorations and collectables can actually impact your book sales.
The painting of a tower gives +2% to fantasy sale chance. The baby doll (which has absolutely cursed vibes 10/10) gives +4% to kids sale chance as well as some other buffs and debuffs if someone doesn’t take a recommended kids book. And the hanging money plant gives +1% sales chance to both fact and drama books.
This is what my bookshop currently looks like. And, of course, I have the absolutely cursed baby doll on display. I love it so much.
Right now, I don’t really have a strategy other than “I want this because it’s cute,”, but I do make sure to change out my skull to not scare off the kiddos when setting up shop at Far Beach.
While decorations are arguably the most fun way to boost your book sales, there are so many other things that can impact them as well, even things out of your control. Seagulls give +4% to travel sale chance, but deduct 13% from all other book sales and even increase danger by 40%. A bonfire increases both classics and travel chance by 5% and rain adds a 25% bonus to spooky effects and warm effects, but decreases customer count by 10%.
No day is exactly the same, just like the real world and a real business! And even though you don’t know what surprises each day will hold, the mechanics will always remain the same. You speak to characters, get to know the town, and interact with objects to progress side quests or simply just explore. When customers ask for book recommendations, you listen to what kind of book they’re in the mood for and peruse the books on your shelf to find something they might be interested in.
I like to find a book that is the perfect match for what they’re looking for, but you can also try to surprise them by suggesting something a little out of their comfort zone. If you completely bungle it, they’ll certainly let you know, but not to worry, they’ll be back tomorrow for another look!
Each day brings something a little new, especially as you explore new locations, interact with the main cast of characters, and progress the storyline.
My experience
If you have read any of my articles here with The Game of Nerds, it should come as no surprise to you when I say that my favorite part of the game is the book recommendation mechanic. While I have absolutely been enjoying the story and getting to know the small cast of quirky characters, I can play for hours straight hardly bothering with the side quests and little tasks that need to be completed to advance the storyline. I am absolutely biased because one of my favorite things is to recommend books to people, but I am really impressed by the vast pool of books the game works with when giving you books to stock your shelves.
There are so many books. From old to new, viral to lesser known favorites, even kids books and manga. I even came across my arch-nemesis, Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff, once and absolutely refused to recommend it to anyone. I don’t care if it was someone’s perfect match, I must stand by my morals (you would never catch me recommending that, good books only!!). Even if my hatred for that book burns hot, it was fun seeing it on my shelf and getting impassioned about the books I recommend to my customers just as much as I do deciding which books to share here.
In terms of the story, which I’ll admit I haven’t finished quite yet, I’m really happy that the team at Neoludic Games included it at a time when shopkeeping (or other “tasking” job) simulators are really popular. For the majority of people who don’t spend most of their off-hours keeping an eye out for books to review or recommend, the story is integral to the playing experience. While games like Supermarket Simulator don’t need a story to keep people engaged, I think a game where you are a bookshop owner needs some kind of story alongside it. Part of being a good bookseller is getting to know your customers to be able to recommend them the perfect book. Tiny Bookshop would feel flat if it consisted of only random characters cycling in and out of your shop (even if I can and do sit at my computer for hours doing just that). There is no better feeling than when Fern or Klaus come into your shop and get excited about the book you recommend to them.
Overall, I think it is a well-balanced game and provides enough story to give players who are story-driven something to enjoy while still being a store management simulator. It is obvious that the game’s creators have a deep love for books, as their passion shines through every inch of the game.
Tiny Bookshop comes highly recommended from your resident book reviewer and recommender here at The Game of Nerds. Happy playing!
