Medieval Shopkeeper Simulator Preview

Shopkeepers have been needed since the beginning of time. Can’t turn water into wine without first purchasing the wine, eh? Can’t run a Crusade without stopping off for provisions! Heck, you couldn’t even start off on the Oregon Trail without stopping by the general store first. Even cavemen probably had a use for shopkeepers, perhaps it’s the second oldest profession! So join the fold in Medieval Shopkeeper Simulator.

From Developer David Moralejo Sánchez and publisher GrabTheGames, this adventure RPG sets forth to fill the void we didn’t know existed. Not once had I ever found myself thinking, “I wonder what it was like to be a shopkeeper in medieval times”, and yet now I’m glad this game exists. You are exactly what the game says, and it’s up to you to keep your shop alive amid the various threats of the world: royal decrees, occasional war, and “crazy fantasy events” which I am yet to witness, but greatly looking forward to.

The game starts with a character creator, and even though this is early access, the options are pretty good, though I would advise to not spend too much time on your character until the next patch to fix a save game bug. In other words, I spent a good amount of time exploring the options until I liked my character, picked my pet companion, and started the game. I came back the next day to find my game didn’t save, which was kind of disappointing. The dev is aware, though, as I saw on Medieval Shopkeeper Simulator’s Steam page, and hopefully this bug will be fixed soon. The dev does kindly warn at the opening of the game that these things may happen, stating in a disclaimer before the game, “You may encounter unwanted bugs such as crossing walls or even losing your game progress”. He continues to say, “If you find something strange, report it to me so I can fix it! But above all, have fun!” It’s nice when we can have this kind of a relationship between devs and gamers.

I didn't name him, the game did, swear it!

Currently Medieval Shopkeeper Simulator’s character creator has several options, and you can pick pets too. A chicken, dog, cat, or rabbit, and each have different abilities or benefits, maybe? The chicken will make some noise every day, the dog will dig holes, but we don’t seem to know what the cat or rabbit do just yet. I’m assuming the dog will help in gathering materials, though, as you do have to dig up plants and rocks to harvest, more or less. It seems that it’s recommended that, once you’re in the game, you stop at each existing stand and buy something from everyone to have it in your inventory, then I would say start digging and harvesting, eventually the game will tell you that you’re ready to buy your first stall.

Medieval Shopkeeper Simulator is super easy to get lost in. The art style, 8-bit with a mix of 2D and 3D, is very nice and nostalgic, almost like it’s from the medieval times of gaming, and I mean that in a very good way. It’s so easy to get lost in harvesting materials and crafting, and there’s something quite peaceful about the world in this game. I could see myself playing this one for hours, especially because I’m interested in the many environmental aspects of the game such as “global diseases and neighboring wars”. I would recommend giving this game a try; remember it is still in the alpha stage. Go be your best self and be a Medieval Shopkeeper, or at least see if you’re brave enough to cut it!