Tobacco Shop Simulator Review Summary

Last updated: 2025-06-22
  • Fun, engaging, and relaxing simulator.
  • Simple controls and convenient mechanics.
  • Rewarding progression and engaging management.
  • Generally recommended, especially for genre fans.
  • Repetitive gameplay and lacks content.
  • Slow, tedious leveling/XP progression.
Tobacco Shop Simulator header

Emotions

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Fun, engaging, and relaxing simulator: The game is enjoyable, relaxing, and addictive, especially when playing with friends. It offers a detailed and immersive simulation experience with appealing graphics and engaging management mechanics, making it a great time-killer for simulation enthusiasts.

Smooth performance and frequent updates: The game is well-optimized, runs smoothly even on low-end PCs, and receives regular updates with new content. The developers are responsive, quickly addressing bugs and implementing suggestions, resulting in a polished experience even in early access.

Responsive and involved developers: The developers are highly responsive to community feedback, consistently working on improvements and implementing suggestions. They are actively involved in their Discord community, providing frequent updates and addressing player concerns, fostering a positive relationship with their player base.

Simple controls and convenient mechanics: The game features simple, intuitive controls and convenient mechanics that streamline gameplay. The UI is excellent, allowing for easy management of inventory, restocking, and price adjustments, enhancing the overall player experience.

Rewarding progression and engaging management: The game provides a rewarding sense of progression, allowing players to gradually expand their business and unlock new content. Managing the shop is engaging and satisfying, offering a sense of accomplishment as players grow their business and optimize their operations.

Common complaints

Repetitive gameplay, lacks content: Players find the gameplay becomes repetitive and boring after a short time, especially in the mid-game. There is a lack of engaging content, long-term motivation, and innovative features to keep players interested. Some reviewers feel the game runs out of things to do, turning into a restock simulator.

Slow, tedious leveling/XP progression: Leveling up and gaining experience points is too slow, often described as a grind. This slow progression makes unlocking new items and upgrades tedious, leading to player boredom and frustration, especially in the later stages of the game. Players feel the XP gain is disproportionately low compared to the effort required.

Late unlocks, limited space: Key features like warehouse expansion, shop expansion, and unlocking new products are unlocked too late in the game. This leads to insufficient store space and long intervals between restocking shelves, hindering player progression and enjoyment.

Disruptive, frequent thief events: The frequency and implementation of thief events are disruptive and frustrating. Players feel there are insufficient tutorials on how to prevent theft, and the XP awarded for dealing with thieves is too low. The lack of notification when a thief is nearby adds to the annoyance.

Tedious single-player experience: The game can be tedious and difficult to play alone, with some players feeling it consumes their social life. There is a need for more in-game help and a better single-player experience.

Gameplay and performance

Manage and operate tobacco store: The core gameplay loop revolves around managing a tobacco store. Players order and stock shelves with various tobacco products, set prices, and sell to customers. Contracts are required to sell items.

Theft mechanic requires player intervention: Thieves appear and attempt to steal products, requiring players to manually intervene. Alarms can be installed to help prevent theft, and the frequency of theft can be adjusted.

Store leveling unlocks features: The game features a progression system where earnings and experience points level up the store. Higher levels unlock new features like computer operations, recruitment, expansion, and decorations.

Online orders require manual delivery: The game includes online orders that provide more experience than in-store sales. However, online orders require manual delivery to the post office.

Supports single and multiplayer: The game supports both single-player and cooperative modes for up to 4 players. The number of customers increases with the number of players in the game.

Game optimization is good: Some players are reporting that the game is well optimized and has no bugs. This suggests that the game runs smoothly on their systems, providing a positive experience.

Music player is broken: The music player has a bug that causes inconsistent audio levels, with periods of silence followed by sudden loud music. This issue detracts from the overall audio experience and immersion.

Recommendations

Generally recommended, especially for genre fans: Many reviewers recommend the game, especially to those who enjoy simulation or business management games. Some suggest waiting for a sale if unsure, while others highlight its addictive nature and solid core gameplay. A few negative recommendations exist, but the overall sentiment leans positive.

Game is rated positively: Many reviewers gave the game a good score. This is a general sentiment without specific details.

Leveling progression needs improvement: Some reviewers express concerns about leveling progression, finding it too slow. They hope for updates to address this issue, such as increased XP gain or reduced XP requirements. Despite this, they still recommend the game, acknowledging its Early Access status.

Suggests 'clandestine bar' DLC: One reviewer suggests a specific DLC idea. This is a minor suggestion based on a single mention.

Favorite sim for one reviewer: One reviewer states that this sim is their favorite. This is a subjective statement without specific details.

Other review notes

Business simulation gameplay: The game has business simulation aspects, such as managing staff, setting prices, and dealing with crime. Reviewers describe managing cashiers, self-checkout machines, warehouse workers, and disabling cleaners and thieves, as well as evaluating price increases.

Language support and voice chat: The game includes language support and built-in voice chat. These features enhance accessibility and communication for players, particularly in online cooperative modes.

Low PC requirements: The game has low PC requirements and a small file size. This makes it accessible to a wider range of players, including those with older or less powerful computers.

Long playtime: The game has a long playtime, with one reviewer mentioning unlocking all licenses after 97 hours. This suggests a significant time investment is required to fully experience the game's content.

Tobacco product focus: The game features a variety of items and brands related to tobacco products. This is a core element of the game's theme and setting.