Who in their right mind would open a high street shop specialising in Hot Wheels variants and nothing else? Judging by the volume of traffic that frequented my store in Supercar Collection Simulator, by Kiki Games, it’s a little gold mine. Though the cars aren’t officially Hot Wheels, you can see the inspiration, as the products sold in the game come in the same collectors’ packs and whatnot, and even have dedicated tracks to play with.
While a fan of driving games and ‘into cars’, toy cars were never my thing besides Micro Machines, so there was no nostalgia going on here, rather a keen interest in the simulation side. This kicks off from the beginning with placing a shelf, accessing the now familiar tablet with accessible features such as wholesale, buying in cheap stock, then putting a profit on it.
Once you’ve stacked up a measly line of toy cars, you flip the open sign around and then serve Johnny Public with their impulse purchases. The store you’ve opened (not inherited for once) is on a relatively busy high street and features a diverse client base who’re often wearing cosplay-like clothing, as some look too old to be students. The process is simple and addictive.
It took a little while for Supercar Collection Simulator to get its claws in me, however, as the tutorial was crap and didn’t make sense, even though it was very short. When there were prompts to access areas and features, there was no hand-holding, and if it weren’t for this being a review, I’d have bailed as my impatient demon had control of the megaphone. Once things got underway and I was ready to sell, I was pleasantly surprised by how you serve customers.
Unlike Gas Station Simulator, these folks don’t litter unnecessarily and are super patient. I know this as I couldn’t get the cash handling to work. If paying by card, you type in the total amount, press a button, and away they go. For cash, you have to count out their change, but there’s no obvious way to give it to them, as clicking doesn’t work. I’m not sure if I’d turned off settings or if there was a glitch, but there wasn’t an indicator on what to do, and I had a big line of customers waiting for their money. Upon rebooting, a prompt said to press the spacebar, and guess what? This worked.
Now that I was ready to invest in Supercar Collection Simulator, I meticulously took my time to level up early on so that I could buy new gear. Purchasing the initial mystery boxes allows you to open them up and add to your own collection, and in return, boost your XP. As the levels increase and you also unlock licenses, shop for decor improvements, and aside from being welcoming and aesthetically pleasing, you can set up the aforementioned tracks and hold events, making it like a Games Workshop-type community, only with cars.
For the Yu-Gi-Oh! types, you’ll be pleased to know you can get high on your own supply and dip into stock and use skill cards to improve the performance of your own collection in said races, and in addition to that, rip open the mystery boxes and keep them for yourself. This hoarding element is one of the biggest draws of Supercar Collection Simulator and further cements your investment in the game – whether it be primarily to collect ‘em all, manage a decent swap meet on the tablet, or simply stock up on all the goods and flip them for a tidy profit.
It’s not the most appealing concept on paper, but it’s way better in execution. Just don’t expect anyone to show you the ropes. You’re on your own.
