SweetieGames

Not only do I love to play video games, but I also love watching video game content. It’s a great way for me to discover new genres and decide if I would enjoy playing a game for myself before I commit to spending the money on it. I’ve been watching gaming content online since I created a YouTube account, and gaming content was the reason I committed to buying my PS4!

A genre I’ve noticed a lot of my favourite YouTubers playing is simulation games, especially those simulating the retail jobs many people have in their teens. I’ve recently seen multiple YouTubers playing Retro Rewind, a simulation game that has players own a VHS rental store in the 90s. I could get the appeal of this, as so many of us yearn for simpler times and are hooked on nostalgic content, but it’s not just the nostalgia that is making gamers reach for these types of games. Supermarket Simulator is another massively popular game with gaming content creators, and that doesn’t have any semblance of nostalgia; it’s literally just owning and working in a supermarket. Stacking the shelves, working the register, cleaning up mess, dealing with shoplifters. The kind of work many of us do just to get paid, but being done on a computer where you’ve paid to experience it.

While I was watching JackSepticEye play Retro Rewind, he said something that caught my attention. He said that he was enjoying the game, but wanted something more in it. More unlockable content to keep the game feeling fresh, so that all the days don’t feel the same. What struck me about it is that when you work those kinds of jobs, every day does feel the same. You restock. You serve customers. You market your store. Retro Rewind even has angry customers who throw your stock back in your face and storm off when you try and charge them a late fee. I think it’s pretty difficult to keep a game in this genre feeling “fresh” other than changing the appearance of your store. It’s simulating the reality for many people, after all.

But, despite the fact that these games contain Karens and shoplifters and annoying customers leaving mess everywhere, I can see why people enjoy them, and why they’re great for content creation. There’s something satisfying about creating order in chaos, laying things out exactly how you want. I know from my time working retail jobs that there were plenty of moments where I didn’t agree with a decision my manager made, and in these types of games you get to see what your ideas can do. I enjoy watching simulation game content too; I don’t have the stress of running the store, and I get to see it grow bigger and better! They’re great games for longer videos which I can have on in the background while I work or chill out. They also don’t require huge amounts of concentration from the creators themselves, so they tend to discuss a huge range of topics unrelated to video creation or gaming as a whole. It’s really nice.

Even though I don’t want to go back to the days of having customers yell in my face, I can enjoy some retail simulation games from time to time. Maybe I’ll pick one up to have a go myself; I’d love to see if I could keep the store open for more than 5 minutes, but my autism will probably have me meticulously organising everything and not doing much else!