I’ve been playing TCG Card Shop Simulator for quite some time while it’s been in Early Access on Steam. As someone who loves console gaming (nothing beats relaxing on the sofa and playing a game on the big screen), I was excited to see that for the game’s full 1.0 release, it would also be launching on all major consoles.

The game has been available in a Game Preview format on Xbox Game Pass for quite a while, but its full release is now out on that platform, as well as PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC via Steam. TCG Card Shop Simulator has been in Early Access on Steam for two years now, and is made by the Malaysian developer O.P. Neon Games.

Although I have already been playing TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam, I was recently given the chance to start a new shop on PS5, and I am surprised by how much there is.

What Even Is TCG Card Shop Simulator?

Let me back up a little. If you haven’t heard of TCG Card Shop Simulator before, it is exactly what its name implies. The game puts you in the shoes of a small, local TCG card shop owner. Broadly, you could call it a management simulation game. Manage the budget, hire staff, expand the store, and all the rest of the basics of managing a store are carefully planned out here, where it’s easy for those who don’t really want to get too into details, but also open for those who want to dig into some of the complexities.

There’s more than just managing the numbers here, though. As your store levels up, and you get more money, you are able to decorate, host card tournament events, play “Tetramon” yourself, and open booster packs to see if you can find any valuable cards to sell individually to make an extra bit of profit.

The Gameplay Is Relaxing And Compelling, With Tons To Do

Whether you’re a beginner to TCG Card Shop Simulator or have been playing for hundreds of hours and have the most incredible shop in existence, there’s always something to do.

There are the basics, like getting products to sell in the store, adjusting prices, keeping shelves stocked, and manning the cash register. But even as you start hiring employees to do things like check people out and restock products, there are still things to do.

With the 1.0 update, the game adds 273 decoration options, plus 55 community fan art posters you can put up to make your store look good. Customers will want to talk to you to buy or trade individual cards, and you can even grade cards and place individual ones for sale.

Organize tournaments to bring in more customers, and host a cool event in your store that you can even join; with this full release, you can also sit with that lonely customer and join them for a quick game of Tetramon Duel Master.

Sellers Who Try To Overprice Things Make It Realistic

The game doesn’t really have a story; you’re just the owner of a friendly local game store who hopes to build something amazing. Yet, it feels immersive in the little details that are all too realistic. Several of the customers may come in with a green cloud of stench around them, and you can either chase them down and spray them with deodorant, or have strategically placed air purifiers do it for you.

As you talk to customers who want to sell or trade their cards with you, sometimes you’ll have a great deal but other times you’ll have someone trying to severely lowball you, or even offer you a graded card in a messed-up, cracked case at an exorbitant cost.

Of course, taking the realism back out of it, you may occasionally have a customer walk through you to look at something, and you’ll get a jump scare as you’re suddenly inside their mouth, seeing their eyeballs and tongue. Although, for some reason, I kind of hope that it never gets fixed, as it is pretty hilarious when it does happen.

Out Of Early Access And Now On Console, And Surprisingly Good With The Controller

I’ll admit, seeing that TCG Card Shop Simulator was coming to consoles had me a bit worried, as this didn’t seem like the kind of game that would do well without a keyboard and mouse. That’s actually why I wanted to review it, and I was pleasantly surprised. The controller works really well here, and the developers have mapped the buttons in ways that feel natural.

Of course, there are some things that are simpler if you have a keyboard, particularly when it comes to working the register and having to give people change. That got to be incredibly tedious with the controller. However, once I could hire employees to do that for me, I didn’t have to think about it again.

You Can Now Play Tetramon Duel Master

The biggest feature TCG Card Shop Simulator adds in its 1.0 release is the ability to play the pretend “Tetramon” game your customerslove so much. Once you reach shop level 7 and place the Workbench, you can build your own 50-card Tetramon deck with cards that you’ve gotten from ripping packs.

There is a full rulebook for the game at the Workbench to teach you how to play, and then, once you’re ready, you can join lonely customers at tables by pressing either the right mouse button or the right face button on the controller. You can even choose your own deck box and playmat.

Ultimately, I Could Spend All Day Just Opening Packs

Given that I’ve already admitted to playing this game for years in Early Access, it shouldn’t surprise you that I love it. The full 1.0 release is even better, and the developers say they aren’t done yet. Playing on the controller is, admittedly, not as easy as keyboard and mouse, but it is still much better than I expected, and I’ll probably keep playing on PS5 rather than switching back to PC.

This game has no microtransactions and has had a lot of hype around it in the past that is well deserved. While it originally used some AI, the developer has since said that after realizing the art they were using was made with AI, they replaced it all with art by human artists. You can even see the artist names on the bottoms of the cards, just like physical TCGs have.

Many copycats have come along since it first started in Early Access, and I’ve played several, but none come close to being as polished as TCG Card Shop Simulator.

Systems

Released

September 15, 2024

Developer(s)

OPNeon Games

Publisher(s)

OPNeon Games

Engine

Unity

Number of Players

1

Steam Deck Compatibility

Playable

Early Access Release

September 15, 2024