Discounty is a debut effort from Crinkle Cut Games backed by prolific publisher PQube Games. In this Discounty Review, I will detail my experience with the title on PS5 and I promise I will try not to bring up Stardew Valley too much despite the similar vibes I get.

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Discounty Review for PS5

• Title: Discounty
• Developer: Crinkle Cut Games
• Publisher: PQube Games
• Primary Genre: Life Sim, Simulation, RPG

Gameplay

The game is split into the shop-keeping stuff and the town explorer stuff. The shop-keeper gameplay loop is so addictive. There’s something so enjoyable about managing stock, stocking the shelves, and checking out customers. These sections tend to fly by and never really overstay their welcome, always leaving me eager to start the next workday.

There’s some additional complexity for those who want to take it on as the Hardware shop sells boosters. Changing my store layout to maximise the product boosters was another bit of fun on top of an already addictive gameplay loop.

I also enjoyed that the game’s mechanics grew while my shop grew. At a point where it wasn’t feasible to punch in the price of each item I unlocked the scanner, when it got too busy to stock shelves and check out customers, I got a part-time employee who stocks the shelves. The game puts a great deal of effort into stopping the gameplay from ever becoming overwhelming and I for one appreciate it.

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The town stuff was just as enjoyable. I found this to be very Stardew Valley-esque as walking to the right place during the right time will take you into a cutscene that launches a new questline and provides character growth for someone in town. There’s no romance system (that I know of) so there’s less pressure to talk to everyone every day but everyone has interesting stories or quests as the game progresses which I liked.

Story

Discounty looks like a chill, good vibes game on the surface and for the most part it is. But there’s definitely a much deeper story being told than I was initially given. The game pretty quickly goes from managing a shop for Aunt Tellar to the townspeople pushing back at a corporate megastore taking over abandoned buildings with history and ties to the people.

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There’s also a lot of infighting and drama to dig into. Tammy accuses Barbara of spying, the seemingly well-meaning but crooked elected official, the Fisherman randomly disappearing into his shack for days, Chester being a rogue kid acting out, there’s SO MUCH drama in this seemingly peaceful little city.

Music

The game’s music is more limited than the usual lengthy title soundtracks but I found it to be very effective at setting the tone. Again, Discounty is on the surface a very chilled game so the main music you’ll hear is a catchy elevator music style tune. But, there’s the occasional switch like whenever Tammy gets involved and suddenly there’s this loud, off-putting sound playing.

Discounty Review – Last Word on Gaming Viewpoint

Discounty is an addictive life-sim that stays away from some of the recent tropes of the genre. It takes from Stardew Valley by providing a very interesting cast of characters to interact with but leaves aside the added fluff and focuses on managing the store, no need for action RPG combat sections or farming here. It’s a must-play if you’ve ever wanted to try out a store management type game.

Discounty Review – The Verdict

9/10

*Review code provided*