- Cosy shop management sim
- Small town, big stories
- Influence the ending you get
I have to start off this review by saying that I played Discounty when it first came out on PC. I finished the entire thing before it was officially out for the public, and then did not play any of the free expansions that came with it, as I was waiting for the mobile release. For someone who loved it to begin with, I think the changes that they've made for mobile (and for the various expansions) are spectacular.
For those of you who have not heard of Discounty, this feels heavily inspired by Stardew Valley, but instead of farming and taking care of animals, you are actually running your strange aunt's supermarket. There are a lot of cosy, slice-of-life vibes, but there's also a small town full of people that you can meet, cutscenes to trigger, and, of course, a lot of growth that can happen to your supermarket in this small town.
At first, you'll just be exploring around and then running your shop in the evening; stocking shelves, doing the checkout, ordering items and managing delivery. It's a lot of work, but it doesn't ever feel overwhelming in a bad way. During other times, you can explore the town. There are different people, cutscenes triggered by interacting with glowing items, wood and metal that can be collected, and trade deals to make. As the head of this supermarket in Discounty, you are challenged to not just order from within your shop but to create trade deals with locals in your town, so that you can sell directly and offer more items. A lot of this is tied to the main story as well.
The story progresses what you can do, so you will be achieving different quests so that you can then unlock more. This isn't something that feels rushed or critical, however. You could just keep managing your shop each and every day! I quite like the pacing and learning about the different individuals that live in the town - they all have their own personalities and ties to your shop or what you are doing.
The game itself, through all of the quality-of-life updates, has some options that you can end up picking, which influence the story. There are also just a ton of fantastic options - like turning off items you don't want to stock at your store so that people do not try to ask for them. It just feels so good to play!
My only real issue is that my fingers are often too big, especially with the controller wheel on the left-hand side. Sometimes when I go to tap on something, that wheel places itself under my finger and I am just confused. Running also takes a bit to get going, but I often have enough time to get from place to place.
Now, unlike other mobile adventures where you can just stop playing at any time, you do need to close out your day in Discounty by sleeping, so that the system will save. This, I found, to be very annoying compared to how I play mobile games (in short bursts), as it forces players to really sit down and spend time playing. With that said, the days aren't too long and losing a day here and there doesn't feel as annoying as I figured it would.
Discounty review - "Cosy, wholesome fun"
I loved Discounty on PC before there were all of these new features to it - and with the complete game on mobile, it's just a fantastic experience! If you're looking for something cosy and fun, it's a great pick for you.
Jupiter Hadley
Jupiter is a prolific indie game journalist with a focus on smaller indie gems. She covers thousands of game jams and indie games on her YouTube channel, letting every game have a moment in the spotlight. She runs indiegamejams.com, a calendar of all of the game jams going on in the world, and judges many jams and events. You can find her on Twitter as @Jupiter_Hadley