Inkonbini Is a Wholesome Store Simulator Set In 1990 Japan and Will Be Released in Early 2025

During a closed ID@Xbox virtual presentation, we saw a gameplay presentation at the upcoming narrative-driven store simulator called InKONBINI, a game set in 1993 Japan where you run a local convenience store and learn the stories and lives of the store regulars.

Set in 1993 Japan, you play as Makoto Kayakawa, a college studio who takes a break from her studies for a week to help out her aunt with her store.

The best way I can describe the game is that it’s built to be a wholesome experience. In the short presentation of actual gameplay, we see the player managing the store’s inventory, properly placing the items on their respective shelves, and then eventually manning the store counter when a customer comes in and begins to shop.

It feels intentionally slow as I didn’t feel that sense of pressure to keep everything in check as the game is mostly focused on telling various stories and the dialogues you’ll encounter with each customer.

Each conversation will give players different conversational options which could affect customer’s decisions in the store. The developer considers each customer in InKONBINI “a riddle”, as the conversations can contain a hint of what the customer is looking for to better cater to what they need and eventually have them purchase items from your store.

It’s a rather intriguing mix of a game that aims to tell various stories while giving that relaxing simulator experience you’d get from games like it. 

During the presentation, developer Nagai Industries shared that the reason why they set the game in the 90s is that they aim to capture the nostalgia the developers have in this period.  “It encapsulates the spectrum of feelings they share, their  childhood memories as well as snippets from favorite video games, movies and anime.”

“The end goal for the team is to create a slow-paced, relaxing game devoid of severe challenge 

and tailored to the taste of the audience who finds pleasure in meaningful stories and well developed characters.” says the developers from Nagai Industries.

inKONBINI is designed as a six-episode game and will be four to five hours long to go through. The developers revealed that the game is approximately one year from release as they aim to launch in the first quarter of 2025.

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