Haven’t we all dreamed about running away? Tossing all of your responsibilities into the bin, emptying your bank account, burning off your fingerprints and vanishing into the unknown? Maybe that’s just me. Still, whether it be a desire for adventure, longing for a more peaceful existence or the need to live in a place lacking security cameras, I’m sure the thought has crossed all of our minds at least once.
My personal ‘get away daydream’ usually revolves around returning to mid Wales (though, having discovered the joy of living near amenities, I doubt I ever will). I’m even really sure what I’d do when I go there. I’ve always wondered whether I’d be good at running a bookshop, but I’d definitely end up spending more time reading the books than selling them. Thankfully, Tiny Bookshop lets me live out this dream without having to change a single thing about my life. It even begins with you leaving your old life behind to sell pre-owned books out of a wagon in the town of Bookstonbury-by-the-sea. A win for nominative determinism if ever there was one.
Selling books is serious business though; you can’t simply fill your shelves with fantasy novels and watch them fly off the shelves. There are seven different genres you can stock, and each book takes up one precious space on your shelves. In the beginning, you can stock 40 books and, while that may sound like a lot, deciding how much of each genre to place on your shelves soon becomes a careful balancing act. Due to this, you’ll need to invest in some book-selling strategy. At first it’s a good idea to stock your shelves evenly, but overtime you’ll become more specific with your choices, as the more you sell, the more you learn about which genres appeal to Bookstonbury’s residents.
Your customer’s tastes will differ depending on where you set up the shop. I found the beach to be the perfect place for selling fantasy and kids books (so much so I sold out), while the customers at the harbour preferred travel books. Their clothes are also a good indicator about what genres a customer will prefer; someone wearing a brown shirt and red shorts, for example, tells me they’re in the market for the classics and crime novels, as those are the colours assigned to those two genres. Managing your stock and figuring out which genres to sell where is a fun experience as it feels like you’re solving a little mystery with every new location you visit.
You’re not just sitting back and watching your customers purchase books, though. Every location in Bookstonbury comes with its own set of challenges – whether it’s selling a certain number of books specifically to sailors or transporting furniture to the flea market for a regular customer. Every so often a customer will also need help picking out a book; here you’ll be given a description of what they’re looking for, hinting at the specific genre and possibly a plot element, to help make your decision. It was through this that I discovered, rather than all being silly inventions, many of the books you sell in Tiny Bookshop are real world titles. It’s a lovely little touch and, if you’re an avid reader, may also help you when it comes to making a recommendation.
That said, the books don’t just need selling in Tiny Bookshop – they also need to balance. Financially. Each location has a parking fee and restocking your shelves is achieved through buying boxes of pre-owned books through the local newspaper. However, you won’t know how many books you’ll receive or even the genre in some cases, so one purchase can easily change your plans for the next day. If you found yourself inundated with fact books, for example, you may forgo buying more books to pay a higher parking fee at a location frequented by non-fiction lovers instead. There’s also a variety of decorations you can purchase for your wagon – from fairy lights to a raw fish for some reason… Some may even increase the likelihood of customers buying a specific genre, but be warned: these decorations can also negatively affect another genre and increase your parking fee.
I first played Tiny Bookshop back at EGX 2022 and am impressed to see how the game has developed since then. The act of book selling is far more engaging more thanks to its additional systems, and the ability to move around the locations you visit, finding objects or talking to characters, make the town of Bookstonbury feel far more alive. Tiny Bookshop promises to be a wonderfully relaxing escape for anyone who loves the written word or dreamed about opening a bookshop, especially since you don’t have to worry about real-world financial failure.