Supermarket Simulator Review

Twelve miserable years is what I spent working in supermarkets. Between the years of 2002-2014, I spent my time earning a little more than minimum wage working for both Morrisons and Sainsburys in the UK. You soon realise that you’re just a number on a spreadsheet, and for the directors at the top of the chain, it’s all about number crunching and profit margins. In Supermarket Simulator, you’re the boss, and you’re starting from scratch.

Developed by Nokta Games and published by NAISU, the game is now available on Xbox Series X|S and is also available as part of your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Sadly, there is no native build for Xbox One, but you can use Xbox Cloud streaming if you are still on a last-generation console and really want to play. This game also supports Xbox Play Anywhere if you game on multiple devices with your Xbox account. This allowed me to play the game both on Xbox Series X and PC.

Gameplay

When you start your journey in Supermarket Simulator, you are given the keys to a barebones small shop with a small checkout and a few shelves. Everything is played in a first-person perspective, and you won’t have access to everything off the bat. The early part of the game is about managing your money and building your business. Loans can be taken, but have to be paid back with interest; rent and bills also need to be accounted for. It becomes a bit of a grind, but when you can invest and expand, it feels rewarding. Buying your first fridge so that you can stock milk, cheese, and eggs feels like progress.

Once you have stock on the shelves, you need to price it up and ensure that you’re making a healthy profit. Prices adjust daily, so you do need to keep an eye on that side of the business. Stock needs to be ordered, and you also need to manage your levels to ensure that you can reach the end of the day, meeting the needs of the customers.

Growth Is Very Rewarding

As you ring through the products from customers, your money will build. Once it becomes too much to run yourself, you can begin to hire staff such as cashiers, shelf stackers and even security. Shoplifting is a feature in this game, and you don’t want pesky thieves shoving cereal up their shirt and cheese down their pants and walking free. On top of this, you can set staff wages and schedules and even pay them bonuses if you’re feeling flush.

Eventually, you can expand the shop, decorate it and even segregate departments and have a stock room. Alongside this, licenses to stock certain products and extra equipment all have costs, so it can feel a bit of a grind. Those who enjoy working hard to reap the rewards will enjoy the repetitive day-to-day nature, though.

Visuals & Audio

If you’re like me and have played a lot of games in the simulator genre, then you’ll understand that they are never the most polished experiences. Supermarket Simulator runs very smoothly on Xbox Series X at 4k resolution at 60FPS. The real joy is growing your business from a space into a large empire fully stocked with bright, colourful products. During my 20+ hours with the game, I didn’t experience any drop in performance, but there were a few bugs here and there that weren’t game-breaking and more humorous than anything.

Audio is pretty minimal throughout, with ambient music playing throughout the store, should you choose it. The chimes of products being scanned and the rattle of the till as you process customers in a timely fashion.

Final Thoughts

Supermarket Simulator is incredibly addictive, and I spent a lot more time with this one than I was anticipating. After seeing various streams earlier in the year for this one and the plethora of very positive reviews on Steam, I am not surprised this one is faring very well. This is possibly one of the deepest simulators I’ve played in some time. The game isn’t just about buying stock and stacking shelves; it’s about growing your business and managing the logistics of driving your profit margins.

It’s a fun time, whether playing solo or co-op with up to four players. For £16.74 on Xbox Series X|S, it is well worth the money for the amount of potential hours of gameplay. At the moment, though, it is a no-brainer to at least give it a go if you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.