First of all, thank you to the devs and keymailer for the gifted game key for Discounty!
Discounty was a game I was super excited to get to play and it ended up being the cozy, enjoyable little game I was expecting with a bit of a twist that I wasn’t. For a game that looks so cozy, it actually has a meaningful, kind of almost dark story to it as there is an underlying tale of greed from the small town people who can be guilty of only looking out for themselves and not their town.
Gameplay-wise it’s perfect for gamers who love – you guessed it – a cozy game. Though not similar in game mechanics, it’s reminiscent of pixelated games such as Stardew Valley where you complete quests to advance in the storyline. However, it is completely it’s own game as it is not a farming simulator, but rather more of a grocery store simulator where you spend every day running the local Discounty and providing groceries to the townsfolk. This requires juggling the cash, keeping the shop stocked, and bringing in new products when enough points are earned to unlock them.
Discounty ended up being even better than I expected, I was hooked into the game and loved the mechanics of running the grocery store adding up the price of the products by how many the customer bought, to later on scanning the items and always ensuring the store had enough stock. On top of that, there is the mysteries plaguing the town and the town people to be solved and various obstacles to overcome. I really had a fun time with Discounty and didn’t want it to end because I was really enjoying unravelling the mysteries of the town, as well as running the grocery store.
The only comments I would have of a more critical nature are that it is a very short game – not a deal breaker by any means – I just wish there had been a little more content because I was really enjoying it. On that note, I would also suggest getting it on a sale because the price point is a bit steep for the length of the story in my opinion. And beyond that, though not really an issue at the games current length, I did start to grow a bit bored of the grocery store aspect just in time for the game to come to an end – I think it just needed a bit more content/variety to keep holding my attention (so really from this point of view I suppose the game ended just in time?). I think this was a combination of there really not being a lot of content to keep you busy outside of the work day (it was easy to get through what you could of the missions in the short time between ending work and going to bed) and the fact that you’re running the story 6 our 7 days. But again, if not for having the store to run so much of the week, the content would have fallen short and left me a bit bored.
All this to say I really liked Discounty and definitely recommend it because I had a blast playing the game and it left me wanting even more – whether of the game itself or from the developers with their next game.
