Discounty, A Shoppingly Good Adventure

Every day shopping in the supermarket is, for most of us, a boring routine. You go, pick up a few things while trying to emerge from a sea of shelves that call out for you to spend money even though you don't need any of it. When you avoid all those nasty "neighbors" and the rest of the population and finally return home, you feel an enormous sense of relief. This is why Discounty exists.  

Whether this is the result of social anxiety we developed a few years after COVID or something else is debatable. Still, inevitably, every one of those "chores" that we were programmed to do since childhood suffocates us to the very limit of our being. When you unpack your bags and realize you didn't actually buy anything important.

In the mood for something completely different? Check out our Shinobi Art of Vengeance Review!

Discounty Has a Philosophy: Shopping as Survival

There's no need to dive into the story about financial hits and everything happening around us, but this game tries to bring us closer, in a cheerful way, to the everyday life of running a consumer goods store. Don't worry, this isn't a Lidl simulator, but it doesn't stray far from the concept that the famous retail chain has been pushing for the last X years across Europe.

Crushing small businesses by offering popular prices with questionable product quality, that's our main motto. Unlike them, Discounty follows a different philosophy: "No, no, shopping isn't routine – it's a fight for survival!" Whether it's a train from Pečenjevce or chicken with a questionable expiration date, those are just minor obstacles on your way to your goal in this game.

Although at first glance it looks like a "cozy" game, the developers have managed to turn an ordinary trip to the market into a satirical experience that, at certain moments, has more tension than a serious AAA action game. Ha ha, AAA and the word serious lately, they don't really go together. Anyway, back to the point: when you finish a cycle during a manager's day, you catch yourself giggling sweetly while pushing your cart and trying to survive discounts, competition, and a system that feels like it's working against you.

Consumerism and Hypocrisy in the Story of Discounty

Like all cozy games, Discounty starts quite simply. You find yourself in a town called Blomkest. An exciting coastal place with a harbor and an industrial vibe, balancing on the edge of social collapse. A place where the residents are the building blocks of the story itself, combined with a setting and atmosphere that radiates greed and mysteries. Although the game is wrapped in sweet pixel art, a pervasive "cover" across the entire plot and environment passively tries to present the pressure of big businesses on small entrepreneurs and the struggle in an ocean of corporate moral filth.

No need to worry, it's not like this from the very beginning, but the story will slowly grind you down and pull you in. You'll see how certain people can be hypocritical and how consumerism will be our downfall. A brilliant satirical setup that, unfortunately, won't find enough understanding among the broader gaming population, for whom Fortnite and FIFA are the basis of existence. To fully grasp the message Discounty sends, you need to reach a certain status of cynicism and "world-weariness”.

The population of Blomkest is in decline. Because of this, businesses are failing, and so your aunt hires you to be the manager of a supermarket called Discounty in her place. Okay, it's clear where the game gets its name from. However, throughout the story, you'll notice that you still have to deal with the basic tasks of running the establishment, regulating prices, procurement, and most importantly, complaints from bitter customers and their demands to solve their problems for which there is no cure. That's a virus that has infected us all, and consumption of content and goods has become the foundation of life for many, and the narrative clearly targets this.

Surviving Price Wars and Popular Goods in Discount

Over time, layers unravel around certain characters you'll get to meet, and you begin to ask yourself: "Is all this real, and is it possible that this is being demanded of me?" An exciting execution, even though everything is colored in cheerful and very charming pixel art.

Eventually, the narrative shifts to exploring social dynamics, capitalism, and the influence of corporations on life in a small town. How will you survive this month, or even this day, when a particular shipment of goods at very popular prices is announced, which big chains will have in stock, inevitably arriving in your small town as well? Remember the chicken…

To always hold the status of a local hero, you must establish trade agreements with local producers and retailers to unlock new or specialized products for your store. When you reach a certain level, the focus then shifts to customer satisfaction, which is achieved by maintaining a stable stock of goods necessary to the local population. The better the sales, of course, the bigger the bonus.

Caricatured Characters and Satirical Fun

Interactions with the community take place during the working day and after hours, when you can freely explore Blomkest. Through conversations, you collect valuable information about what people need, and over time, you'll notice that residents are opening up to you emotionally more and more. Each contact provides another piece of the story that doesn't necessarily have a happy ending. A deeper and darker story awaits those who push this title to its limits, revealing the campaign's progression.

The gameplay loop itself is straightforward and boring. The local government doesn't help at all, so from them, you can only expect threats and complications. Sounds familiar.

But it's not all bleak; gameplay is brilliantly spiced with humor at just the right moments. Many situations are exaggerated to the point of absurdity, and this is precisely what makes Discounty addictive. The characters resemble caricatures of people you often see in your immediate surroundings. Overly ambitious customers who forget they came for bread and milk end up in brawls over discounted Nutella.

Countless times, you'll find yourself grinning from ear to ear when you see an NPC charging at an "opponent" with a shopping cart as if you're watching Mad Max.

There are plenty of references you might miss the first time you play, but if you try, you'll find crumbs of satisfaction everywhere. If you've ever had the "pleasure" of shopping in a big retail chain across the border, you'll immediately see how well this game parodies everyday life. Let's not forget the burial of a kid's lemonade stand, which was the cherry on top!!!

Originality That Hooks and Doesn't Let Go

Even though we've played a lot and seen all sorts of things, from time to time, a title pops up that can trigger that curiosity that most of today's modern and expensive titles cannot. Sure, it doesn't have AAA graphics, it's pixel art, but the heart, the idea, and the charm are there, capable of "punching a hole" in the player and pressing that enormous button called "CURIOSITY."

This is the kind of game that doesn't try to be overly clever, but grabs you with its originality and doesn't let go. It prompts you to explore and identify, while also grounding you, cooling the loop until another "plot hook” emerges that effectively drives the story forward. You don't get that in modern media today, but the developers here worked hard to deliver their idea and, in some way, made a fun satirical manifesto.

In Conclusion

With modest expectations come the biggest surprises, and Discounty confirms this. If you thought this was just another ordinary small supermarket simulator, you were wrong. Although it carries the full DNA of such games, this title offers much more than you would expect.

Rating:

I rate this game 8.2/10 because it uniquely combines humor, satire, and social commentary, though the simple gameplay loop and niche appeal may not resonate with everyone.

Age Recommendation:

I recommend the game for ages 13 and up, as the pixel art appearance belies the game's content, which includes satire, social critique, and dark humor that require a level of maturity and understanding that younger kids likely won't grasp.