Step into the shoes of Makoto Hayakawa as she eases into her new role behind the counter of a small-town convenience store in this limited access demo for inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories.
Handle nightly routines, keep the store in order, and assist a late-night regular in finding just what he needs — be it a warm meal, a treat for his pet, or a familiar drink that stirs old memories.
Through highly intuitive interactive conversations, you’ll have a chance to offer a kind word, a bit of advice, or simply listen — sometimes, even the smallest exchange can brighten someone’s night!
The quiet challenges of working alone can feel daunting at first, but Aunt Hina is just a phone call away with helpful guidance whenever you need it.
Gupscore: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Category: Cozy, Management, Story Rich
inKonbini is a cozy store management game where not only do you stock grocery items and man the cashier, you also engage in meaningful conversations with people and help uplift them in a way.
The game is generally in Japanese. From the narration to the conversations and the grocery items, it truly reels you in on how a convenience store in Japan feels. Konbini literally translating to ‘convenience store’ in Japanese is a cute touch too. I’m actually okay with a little language barrier. The english subtitles and product descriptions are (I think) translated appropriately with easy-to-read fonts that it doesn’t take from the cozy vibes in the game.
The poetic conversations, I might say, is the heart of this game, judging of course from my one encounter with Chief. It was such a simple moment, when he was just out looking at the rain. And I thought like oh he just forgot his umbrella or something, but this turned into something seriously wholesome and emotional. Sometimes life gets hard and you just need a win. The sky clearing mixed in with the soft calming acoustic music was, I think the right word for this is, cathartic.
It was honestly funny at first because he kept trying to talk to me and internally I was like, “I don’t get paid to listen to your problems, old man.” Like in real life probably, I started this game like I just wanted the feel of checking tasks off my list. I was caught off guard by the feels and realized that yeah, I think in this game ‘this is my job–to slow down, listen and care’.
This is probably not the game for you if you want a fast-paced, scalable type of management simulator. This game is focused more on the casual human interactions and less on the management. I personally think the character could use a little bit of customization. It’s just a little irksome that she looks like a mix between a runaway inmate or that yelling dude at a sushi restaurant lol Also the movements are a bit too slow for me. This game is also played better with a controller. The keyboard controls need a bit of getting used to if you have no controllers.
Final verdict: This might be the perfect game to play while waiting for your freshly painted toenails to cool down. It’s just the right kind of chill BUT it might come with some heavy ass feels so I suggest not playing in public lol.
