Tiny Bookshop, A Cozy Gamer's Dream

Travel through scenic locations while spreading the love for books

Cozy-ing It Up With Books

A New Life With A New Shop

In the cozy narrative management game Tiny Bookshop, you leave everything in your old life to follow your dreams and open up a tiny bookshop by the sea! Players will get to stock up their comfy little bookshop with different books for sale, while getting to know the locals of Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea that come visit. Befriend them, get to know their unique quirks, and learn their reading habits! They might be asking you, more often than not, for recommendations. Also as a bookshop-on-wheels, you don’t need to be confined to the sea—explore and set up shop in beautiful and scenic surroundings. Different locations attract a different crowd, so go out and find them all!

Of course, you have the liberty of decorating your tiny bookshop the way you want it with the items that you collect while wandering about the town. Is your inner green thumb aching to fill it up with plants? Or perhaps make it a little bit spooky and just put some candles for an eerie atmosphere. These items will also affect the customers that come and can introduce some additional mechanics.

Every town has its own hidden pile of secrets, and Bookstonbury is no exception. Discover its mysteries and learn more about its long history while collecting stamps through the nooks and crannies of the peaceful town.

Exploring New Ways To Play

neoludic games (stylized with an undercase n) is a young indie games studio based in Cologne, Germany, who are keen on exploring new ways to play games. Starting off their career together as a studio by creating several experimental projects such as a screenless AR installation for the Gesenkschmiede Hendrichs and a virtual children’s book fair for the Oetinger publishing house, they are now working on their very first IP and PC game, Tiny Bookshop.

The beginnings of the studio and Tiny Bookshop began one fateful afternoon in Christchurch, New Zealand. Co-CEO and art director Raven Rusch and Co-CEO and creative director David Wildemann came across a tiny yellow bookshop called The Custard Square Bookshop. A lightbulb went off in their heads and they began creating a game prototype later that evening. This very idea served as their motivation as the two finished their studies and created the studio as it is today.

The studio mainly focuses on making games on things they love, such as design, art, literature, and music, blending them all together and synthesizing original game experiences. Furthermore, neoludic is passionate about exploring and experimenting with new game mechanics, and pushing the boundaries of what games could be.

The team thanked its supporters through Twitter (X) for over 120,000 wishlists since February, and after appearing in many more showcases this year, this number would’ve easily gone up. Tiny Bookshop has also garnered several accolades in several game awards such as Gamscome and SXSW Sydney 2023.

The Rise Of Cozy Management Games

Cozy games are all the rage but they still have that connotation to farming simulators such as the hit Stardew Valley. It’s nice to see that neoludic games and many other developers are challenging this stereotype by coming up with other cozy games with varying themes. Tiny Bookshop is sure to earn a spot on your wishlist if you love wholesome and heartwarming games.

Tiny Bookshop is set to come in 2025 for PC, Linux, Mac, and Steam Deck! neoludic games says they can’t promise other platforms yet, but they’re working their hardest to do so. A demo is out on Steam if you’d like to give it a try!