Tiny Bookshop

I'm putting recommend for this game because I do think it deserves it. The art style is really cute and well done, I enjoy the writing and the characters a lot, and I do find the gameplay to be satisfying. Most importantly, the devs seem to be really committed to improving this game and listening to feedback, which is kind of crucial to me given the fact that...there are a lot of kind of weird balance issues that can make this game frustrating to play for more than a little bit at a time. I'm sure what I have to say is not really that new, especially when it comes to feedback about customers' requests just being kind of nonsensical and at times downright impossible to fulfill. Which, like, to an extent that's just kind of the customer service experience, so it's not unrealistic in that sense, but there's only so many times I can be asked for a historical travel guide with a side of politics that also teaches you a new hobby without feeling a little hopeless. Especially when, through some miracle, I manage to find a book that seems to fit the bill exactly, and it turns out it's not romantic enough for the customer. Generally what gets to me is the weird balance when it comes to genres, especially in the case of kids' books, where I never seem to move more than a couple even when I've managed to align the stars well enough to have a sales chance several times higher than any other genre. I shouldn't be sitting on 500 kids' books while I have maybe 100-200 of literally everything else. In addition, this is a bit more of a nitpick but given how often I'm asked for sci-fi and horror books it would be kind of nice for those to have their own categories, but that not happening is a much more understandable thing. I've veered pretty hard into things I dislike about the game, so let me reiterate that there are also a lot of things to love about it. The events and the way you interact with the characters really sells the feeling of an outsider moving into a small community and really being made to feel like a part of it over time. The characters all have their own distinct personalities, interests, and genres that they prefer, and I really enjoy that. I like how many things you're able to interact with, even if they're just silly little throwaways like the birds making noises or a beach ball being kicked around on the beach. I wish it were easier to keep track of characters' birthdays or that significant events weren't able to overlap each other if you get unlucky (having to miss Tilde's birthday because Klaus's concert happened to be placed on the same day was incredibly frustrating to me), but I really enjoy that these are things you can do in the first place. I also just get unreasonably excited every time new books get added and I get to play through and see which titles I recognize. I do really love this game; I wouldn't be as annoyed about the annoying things if I didn't, and ultimately I do think it's worth trying out. I just really hope some of those things do end up getting ironed out eventually.