Thrifty Business Review: Unpacking For A Tidy Profit

To be thrifty is to be tight; to not spend cash and be ‘sensible’ with your finances. I learned the word ‘thrifty’ from my wife when my impulsive purchases of things I wanted rather than needed required some deliberation, a.k.a., we have bills to pay, not buying more crap. Then, some bloke named Macklemore introduced me to what is called a thrift shop, which is the premise for Thrifty Business.

Any game that starts with a customisation is already a win; however, Spellgarden Games are quite thrifty with their choices. In fact, they’re pretty damn tight as it begins with selecting your pronouns, then selecting from only a select few hair colours that were never present in the 90s. And I guess the same could be said about the overall selection as being restrictive. Why can’t I be bald, or a Korean wave with a big, bushy beard? Alright, it’s not real. Let’s get this place open. Besides, my actually mullet looks the biz.

You’ve managed to secure yourself a shop space to haul in goods and flip them for a tidy profit. Thrifty Business isn’t a tight simulator of managing your money and monitoring spreadsheets; it’s more to do with how everything feels. It becomes apparent early on that people aren’t just coming to your shop for a bargain, but as a social hub – almost a community centre. Without fail, every day you open up shop, there’s a steady crowd of regulars hunting themselves a bargain.

As the shopkeep, you might as well be a cardboard cutout, as you will remain standing still throughout. That’s not to say you have no interaction with your endeavours, as you will be placing plenty of furnishings throughout the establishment, ranging from bookshelves to clothes hangers, tables to decorations. Each day, you can choose to stock up on new gear or just wing it until the next, always looking for a profit. However, the community aspect makes this goal-driven.

Set in the late 90s, Thrifty Business gives you a mobile to stay in touch with punters who will ask if you can have a look out for an item. If you find said item, it triggers a dialogue and game progression where you can unlock events for the shop, bringing in customers for a themed night – be it queer night, or a book read, and chances are, if you’ve stocked up on the right stuff, you’ll earn some money and a raised profile.

The mobile also serves as a way to bring in new inventory, as customers will sell you a blind box of gear that will be loosely categorised as kitchen-based or outdoors, for example. Before each shift (or during if you like, there are no restrictions), you place your stock throughout the store as if adopting the Unpacking approach, only where you place things is important. Linking categories such as kitchenware or toys will boost the appearance of your shop, allowing you to invest in themed rooms. It’s really interesting, as you will spend more time placing items than an actual shift, and despite all that time invested, you aren’t resentful of people mucking up your display, as it means mo’ money.

At the end of these shifts, you can then buy new furniture or decorations. The latter, notably wallpaper and flooring, is unlocked through a community currency. Here, you can open up a range of aesthetics from arcade to witch-inspired decor. Each has its benefits, and over time, you will eventually have themed rooms that exclusively sell only one or two items. As you earn more money, you can unlock new rooms and floors to style up your shop, as well as organise it, as you’ll now know where you want to put the ghetto blasters compared to the glue guns.

I initially felt Thrifty Business was a little too quirky, what with the customisation and vibrant colours. However, within about 20 minutes, I was hooked, and it didn’t take long to expand my store and wares, become a pillar of the community and have some absolutely sick interior design skills. At least, that’s how I’ve processed it, as I ended up making a good amount of money, with a decent selection of customisations. It’s a very wholesome, relaxing game where it’s quite easy to forget the time and spend more money on the clock than your stock. Go check it out.