If you are looking for a cozy game with a laid back atmosphere, give Tiny Bookshop a try. In this cozy indie game, your character leaves the everyday stress behind in favor of running a mobile, second-hand book store in the quaint town of Bookastonbury.

When you first start out in Tiny Bookshop, a local quickly introduces themselves to give you some pointers about your new lifestyle. You start at “Waterfront Square,” which is where the literary journey begins. Tiny Bookshop is about keeping your customers happy by helping them find the perfect book for their situation, and real-world books are involved. There are seven different genres of books in the game, including “Crime,” “Drama,” “Fact,” “Fantasy,” “Classic,” Kids,” and “Travel”. Throughout the day, your collection gets sold, and you will run out of books. Once the day is over, players have the opportunity to buy books from the classifieds to augment their collection. Using those new books, you get a chance to restock your shelves before the next day.

A careful balance is needed in what is stocked, so be careful with what you put on the shelf. If, for example, the shelves have mostly “Crime” novels, then someone who comes in looking for a book on travel might be disappointed and leave without buying anything. I would always try to have an even number of books for each genre, and that worked a lot of the time. I did notice that certain locations in town might be more popular for certain genres, though. For example, customers in the starting area might have a stronger affinity for “Crime” books, while another location might have many kids who want to buy a book.

Speaking of different locations, you will want to explore your surroundings as much as possible. One early example is a viewfinder at the “Waterfront Square”. It is initially out of order but keep trying and it will eventually work. Once it works you will be able to look at a lighthouse in the distance, which unlocks the lighthouse as a new location that you can travel to with your mobile book store. I also enjoyed talking to the different locals that were around the area as that opens up new avenues as well. As an example, speaking to a fisherman at the “Waterfront Square” will help you accomplish a set of goals in that area. If you do what he suggests, then he will invite you to a local fish market in the area, where you can buy some items from him that you will need. There is one thing that you can accomplish as a result of this that I don’t want to spoil but everyone should be very happy about it.

As you go through the game, different events also become available to you. There is a weekly flea market, a summer bonfire, “orientation week,” “Mega Savings Day,” and much more. Taking advantage of these events will help you sell more books and lift your overall business. You need to set up shop at “Mega Marche” for “Mega Savings Day,” for example, and that will not only increase your business but also bring other benefits I won’t spoil. For those who aren’t quite sure what to do next, I would always check my journal. This gives you a quick glance at what needs to be accomplished. For example, I have all of the stamps I can earn from the Waterfront. So I might not go there too much more, unless there is a special event. At “Mega Marche,” I only have two of the five stamps, so I definitely need to spend more time there to achieve the stamps I don’t have. Some stamps are really easy to get, and some require a little work. One stamp I got at “Mega Marche” was simply for being part of a Mega Savings Day. Another stamp I am working on at the Lighthouse is trying to sell 15 Drama books. There are quite a few things to do in Tiny Bookshop at all of the different locations.

One complaint I do have here is that you can’t pick the books you sell. As an example, when I am stocking books for the day, I can choose to have 20 “Crime” books on my shelf. The books that appear on the shelf are random, though. If someone is looking for “Angels and Demons,” for example, I can’t specifically choose to put that book on the shelf. I just have to hope it is there. Having that level of control would have been nice, and it would have made my mobile book business more efficient and more successful. It would be nice if there were a future update that let me pick exactly which books would sit on my shelf for that day, so I could better cater to my customers’ needs. There are also certain aspects of the game that can be rather obtuse, but I eventually figured it out. Other than that, I don’t really have any other complaints about Tiny Bookshop.

Overall, my time with this game has been a positive experience. It is a very slow game with little to no action, so if that isn’t your cup of tea, I get it. I enjoyed the slow pace and the cozy charm of operating a mobile book store, though. The characters that I met all had interesting back stories, and I enjoyed the different locations. While Tiny Bookshop certainly won’t be for everyone, if you are looking for a cozy and chill game where you can just relax and enjoy the surroundings, be sure to give this game a try.