Thrifty Business Reviews

This game is so much fun! I love unpacking and organizing the items and being a queer-friendly community hub is also so wonderful! My only wish is that I could toggle off the warning for "customers cannot reach." I intentionally did this so I could decorate a little apartment for character, so I intentionally want the area blocked so customers can't steal my favorite stuff!

Cute little game with a lot of love poured into it. The art style is vibrant and lively and really helped me enjoy it more than I may have otherwise. I like the way the NPC stories were worked into the game! Now my biggest question is... why the HELL are people littering so much in my store?! I am a PILLAR of the society!!! And they throw THEIR TRASH on MY FLOOR??? Soooooo rude >:(

Super cute and fun! Love the art style and how much you can customize the space. The NPCs add some flavor to the world. Fantastic variety of items you get, while you do get repeats I felt like I was getting fresh new items every day. A few things I would love to see added in the future: -Ability to unlock trash can, it gets really annoying zooming in to find the .5 pixel wide bit of trash on the ground, especially the further you go into the game. I get they don't want to make it too easy, so maybe some other challenge pops up like people picking stuff up and putting it back in the wrong place. -More vertical storage!! Even if it's not something that goes all the way floor to ceiling a few wall shelves would be great. -Display cases. I could kind of get this same effect by using a table to place featured items, a dedicated display case would be cool.

I LOVED THIS GAME, I only have 15.6 hours but that’s over only two days and I 100%’ed the game. I do wish there was more content and item requests because I did enjoy the item request search.

Let me preface by saying that this game IS incredibly cute, and I do generally enjoy the gameplay loop for what it is. There was a point, though, where it passed the threshold from "cute" to "mind numbing" for me. I played the demo, and was really looking forward to this game's release as someone who also played Sticky Business and was left wanting more from it. However, this game doesn't really feel like that huge of an improvement from the demo, and after almost 8 hours of gameplay, it left me feeling super disappointed. The gameplay gets repetitive, especially considering you can't really directly influence the boxes you get. I'm personally a huge fan of the goth/cursed/"spooky" options, but it feels like I'm constantly getting flooded by items I don't need/want or that don't sell particularly well. It's incredibly hard to curate a specific vibe for your store, or stick to any specific themes, when the item drops feel so random. There's certainly no shortage of tools, books, fanny packs and banker's lamps, but where the hell are any of the items that actually interest me? How am I supposed to arrange my store how I'd like it when the entire mechanic is so reliant on random drops? This game feels like it's trying to fill a lot of niches. I mean... queer date nights and grief support groups happening in the same THRIFT STORE?? I was initially super excited to see the sheer level of diversity in this game, but a lot of the writing feels incredibly shallow. Not every game needs to have crazy levels of story building, least of all a cute management sim like this, but with it being paraded as such a core piece of the game, I was expecting it to be... I don't know, better? And less skippable? Representation matters, but the writing in this game feels so corporate. It really rubs me the wrong way, especially considering the fact that the player customization is as limited as it is. Why can NPCs have mobility aids, but the player can't? Why are the best selections for natural hair not available for the player? Also, why is the one plus-sized NPC a super meek woman named LOTTA? Does that not feel weird to anyone else? All in all, this game is very cute, but it did not feel worth my money at all. Yes, I spent nearly eight hours playing it. Yes, I wish it was better. I'd love to see some QOL changes made in the future, maybe some tweaks to the organization system, or the blind boxes. But as it stands, this game does not feel like that huge of an improvement from the demo; I feel like I'm still playing the demo, just with more items to sell. There's no significant improvements on the gameplay, and no real incentive to upgrade your store in any meaningful way.

I love this game and can't put it down, but PLEASE I beg for items to be stackable!!!

Before I get into it, this game is about running a thrift store BUT it isn't a management or simulation game. It's an organization and decoration game. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, just tempering expectations. This is a super cute game, but I have somewhat mixed feelings. I think it ended up being a little too simple and laid back for me personally. The gameplay loop is established early on and never changes in complexity: get boxes of random items to sell, organize them in your shop, buy more furniture/decor, add more rooms, host an event. No new mechanics are added after the first 20-30 minutes. In fact, I believe the demo shows you all the mechanics you'll encounter in the game, so I'd suggest getting the demo and see if you're interested in spending a few hours doing exactly that. Although maybe a little too simple, it was still satisfying in an "opening loot boxes" kind of way to get boxes of thrift items and see what each box contained. The game does have tons of little pixel art items of the type you might find in a thrift store. Organizing them could be a bit annoying, and organizing the shop was what I spent most of my time doing. You might plan to put a "kitchen item" section in a certain spot only to find yourself inundated with kitchen items and spilling out into, I dunno, your book section or whatever. The game also had customer stories, each of which was cute but none of which I found memorable or impactful. So...worth it if you're into chill organizing games with cute graphics, maybe not worth it if you're more into management games or narrative games.

[h1] EVERYONE STOP SLEEPING ON THIS GAME [/h1] [h2] This is literally one of the top 5 coziest games iv played this year [/h2] [b] TLDR: if ur autistic (like me) or have a need to organize everything and love bright colors this is like pure crack. [/b] suggested feedback at the end [u] the pros and the cons [/u] [u] the pros [/u] - First this is completely steam deck playable. I havent run into any issues playing it 🎮 - The people dont get pissed off and walk away if u dont ring them up right away 🧍 - the little easter eggs that they put in the game r so cute and funny [spoiler] the knockoff elmo plushy having a witchy/curse tag is really funny [/spoiler] 💀 - u dont have to clump tags/types of stuff together to get the most money 💵 - literally whatever dev did the coding for where dropped trash CANT hide behind shelfs/tables, i love u 🙏 - having lgbtq+ representation in the game is super nice. There is so many different types of people that come into the shops. Being able to make events in the shops like “book club”, “queer dating” etc makes u feel like ur making a meaningful impact on the community while hearing everyones backgrounds/stories and helping them thru it 🌈 [u] the cons [/u] - when zoomed out it can tricky to pick up little pieces of trash (crumpled paper/gum) while playing on steam deck 😔 - when i first stared playing id find myself with a ton of boxes to the side waiting to be able to put on shelfs/tables but having no room to put more until i save up enough to unlock a new room. But i also would buy all the boxes thinking im going to miss out on something since it cycles differently every day 📦 If ur autistic like me and love to organize stuff buy color/type/tags it is so satisfying. Its a great game to cozy up in bed and play and turn off your brain to. The customization of ur character is also really nice since they dont necessarily have only 2 genders to pick from. I feel like it has replay ability to it but might get tired after some time to some people. Its wholesome to hear everyones backgrounds/stories and helping them thru what troubles they are having and be able to make a difference ✨ [u] my feedback/suggestions [/u] My feedback would be able to have some type of pet/animal that can walk around the store while the customers r shopping. Obviously a cat or dog would be a option but having more funny options of like a frog or iguana or a horse would be fun. Also being able to change them at anytime without losing them (ex switching from dog to cat but having to ‘rebuy’ the dog). Another big option (i know it probably wont happen) but having a steam workshop integrated into the game would be AMAZING. It would be awesome to be able to make our own pixel items to sell in the shop. Like uploading 2 different sprites of one side and the other rotated and then being able to set ur own price to it in the shop. PLEASE add more rooms. 7 is good but i think having 1 or 2 more would be helpful. OTHER SHOP EVENTS THAT WOULD BE COOL would be like a pottery class - ceramics get boosted, a video game/game club - all video games/games get boosted, a back to school type thing - all backpacks/bags/cloths/books get boosted, a sports club - all sports get boosted and a stuff animal club - all stuffed animals/toys get boosted. Also MORE clothing rails/rakes. Theres only 1 option which is ok because it matches most of the other stuff. Also the ability to change the simple colors of the furniture/wallpaper/flooring would be AWESOME. I REALLY like the little easter eggs/ knockoffs and i hope there r future updates to add more silly things to the game ☺️ (This is the longest review iv wrote ((i might have hyperfocused on writing this because i enjoy it so much)) so im sorry for my spelling because i have a hard time reading/writing. Auto correct helped alot)

if you loved Unpacking then this game is for you. In this game, you manage a thrift store so basically buying and organizing a bunch of secondhand stuff and upgrading your store. You’ll spend more time organizing the shop than actually running your store XD . I wish there were more rooms to unlock as I felt I have so many items and not much place to put everything and also decorating. I had so much fun playing it , also loved the art style and music. Definitely recommend it.

[b]Thrifty Business[/b] is a colorful, brain-off, [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690/Unpacking/?curator_clanid=45365863]Unpacking[/url][/i]-like organizing game and an unabashedly queer love letter to the early 2000s. As an "elder millennial" who prefers crunchy management to decorating, I didn't expect to enjoy this even half as much as I did. [h3]Gameplay + Details[/h3] Point-and-click. Every day, purchase décor and a selection of boxes, then unpack those boxes one item at a time into your store. Each item has multiple "tags," which level up based on strategic grouping and award "community points" to unlock new furnishings. Open the store for a ~3minute day where you click trash and customers, unlock snippets of stories, and maybe host an event. The game saves when the shop closes. [b]Controls. [/b]Fantastic with mouse. Allegedly works on controller and Deck. [b]Playtime. [/b]Player-dependent. If you're not even slightly neurotic or prone to min/maxing, you could probably breeze through all customer stories in ~5hrs. I, both neurotic and a devout min/maxxer, needed 13hrs. [b]Settings/Options. [/b]Options to disable moving text and switch to "Clean Font." If the vibrant colors are too much, there's a saturation slider in the "Graphics" tab (see [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/avielena/recommended/3693650/]ulle's review[/url] for a low-sat screenshot). Twitch integration options. [h3]What Works For Me[/h3] ✅ So many cute items! (Read the names!) ✅ Tag system [i]seriously[/i] triggered my min/max problem. ✅ Unpacking things one-by-one created fun space issues. ✅ So much decorating / customization potential. ✅ Sweet, low-stakes, realistic customer stories. ✅ Hosting events made the store feel more alive. ✅ Try putting a fully stocked shelf into your inventory! ✅ Soundtrack belongs on my "work focus" playlist. [h3]What Doesn't Work For Me[/h3] 🟥 There's almost no shop management. 🟥 So the days are kind of boring (I sped up time). 🟥 Goblin-y, androgynous character creator. 🟥 Customers litter everywhere; scraps can be hard to spot. 🟥 Items can't be marked "not for sale"; nothing is decorative. [h3]Final Thoughts + Recommendation[/h3] After the February Next Fest demo, I thought I knew what to expect from [b]Thrifty Business[/b]: mindless decorating, barely-there management, and colorful characters toddling around like sock puppets. It turns out, there's more to it. Not [i]much[/i] more, mind, but gradually customizing an expanding shop and maximizing tags added just enough to hold my attention for hours at a time. That's a big deal. I usually play these sorts of games in short spurts over a few weeks, but binged this in a few days. Maybe it's because work has been zapping my energy and min/maxxing tags helped me focus. Maybe it's because unearthing rare items and armies of discarded furbies is a nice dopamine hit. Maybe it's the eye-searingly bright world full of open-minded folks supporting each other at different life stages. Or the sheer nostalgia of seeing all these well-loved trends from my childhood and teens. I don't know. Whatever it is, I couldn't stop coming back for more. I do [b]not[/b] recommend this if you want any kind of hands-on management or loathe unpacking digital items, but I [b]do recommend[/b] it to anyone interested in a slow-paced, nostalgic, gentle game that lets you turn off your brain and decorate a custom thrift shop for a bit. [quote][b]Follow [u][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45365863/]Eekz Today[/url][/u] for more crafting, life sim, management, strategy, and story-rich recommendations.[/b][/quote]