Best Shopkeeper Games 2023

When it comes to transporting goods, haggling over prices, and creating happy customers, the best shopkeeper games have a lot to offer.

The only challenge with a genre that’s this niche is figuring out how to separate the good shopkeeper games from the bad ones.

To help out, here we’re showcasing the best shopkeeper games on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

We hope you find something new to play and check back in the future for more shopkeeper game recommendations!

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Our first suggestion for the best shopkeeper games on Steam is Barista Simulator, a management sim about running your own cafe.

What makes this game stand out is just how realistic and flexible its gameplay is, with customers requesting a wide array of coffee drinks with unique ingredients.

To support them all, you’ll have to continually upgrade your equipment by purchasing new espresso machines, grinders, milk frothers, etc.

For your hard work, you’ll be rewarded with new cafe and character skills that can give your business an edge over the competition.

If you’ve ever wondered how you would fare as a pizza shop owner, Good Pizza, Great Pizza will give you a peek into how the other half of the pie lives.

In it, you play as the owner of a new pizza shop as they try to fulfill orders while maintaining consistency and top-notch quality with every slice.

This includes serving over 100 different customer types with distinct personalities and topping preferences.

Do a good job and you’ll start raking in cash to spend on equipment upgrades and turn your small-time pizza joint into a neighborhood staple.

Next on our list of the best shopkeeper games is Dave The Diver, a 2D management game that sees you exploring oceans by day and running a sushi restaurant by night.

In it, players control the titular Dave as he scours the Blue Hole for giant creatures and various fish while taking care to avoid more menacing ones.

These are then turned into fresh ingredients for the sushi restaurant you manage at night, ensuring customers are well-fed and keep coming back.

The money you earn at the restaurant can be used to upgrade Dave’s diving equipment and take on new areas, puzzles, and creatures.

If you fancy a bit of murder with your shopkeeping duties, Ravenous Devils is worth checking out.

Billed as a “horror cooking simulator,” the game has you assuming control of two shop owners: Percival and Hildred.

Percival is a tailor who kills his clients before stealing their clothes and handing off their “meat” to Hildred to use in meals for her pub.

As both businesses expand, so too will the tools, recipes, upgrades, and chances of getting caught with blood on your hands.

Gas Station Simulator is an ambitious shopkeeping game that sees you running your own servicing location in the middle of the desert.

The game goes beyond just pumping gas, with players assigned other titles such as cashier, vehicle repairman, janitor, and more.

Over time, you’ll be able to upgrade and expand your gas station to offer new services and even hire your own employees to help out.

It’s a great game for anyone who likes customizing shops, helping customers and becoming fully immersed in running a business.

Next up is Coffee Noir, a 2D business management sim about the coffee business that sees you managing a team, handling production, and investing in promoting it.

Armed with limited resources, you’ll have to carefully negotiate to win good deals and gain your partners’ trust while also solving a criminal mystery.

The game draws heavily from classic American comic books and isn’t afraid to show its admiration for noir detective stories and retro aesthetics.

Additionally, it was developed with support from actual economists and academics, resulting in a more thorough and accurate business simulation experience.

Anyone searching for the best shopkeeping games on Steam is welcome to pick up Potionomics, a mix of potion crafting, dating sim, and deck-building.

The premise is as follows: you’ve inherited your uncle’s old potion shop and must pay off his outstanding debt by selling potions and winning competitions.

To elevate your concoctions, you’ll seek out quality ingredients and equipment from other vendors in town that can be courted using gifts of affection.

The game also features a haggling mechanic that sees you strategically upselling your wares to customers in hopes of maximizing your profits.

Tavern Master is a shopkeeping game about managing your own medieval tavern and turning it into a cozy hotspot for travelers and locals.

Players are tasked with buying tables, benches, and other supplies for the bar while also filling barrels with drinks, hiring staff, and serving customers.

As the business grows, you’ll make sure employees and patrons remain happy while investing in new areas such as serving food, hosting special events, and more.

In turn, you’ll have access to many tools that will come in handy with creating the perfect tavern complete with decorations and furniture.

Carrying on, Moonlighter is one of the best shopkeeper games to feature roguelite progression in which you play as a small-town shopkeeper with big dreams.

Tending to the business by day, you’ll price and sell wares while looking out for thieves, paying customers, and new upgrades.

At night, the game switches to a dungeon crawler where you’ll explore a deep network of caves littered with monsters, treasure, and other items.

The further you explore, the better loot and tougher enemies you’ll find, adding a level of tension and risk vs. reward not found in most shopkeeper games.

Have you ever wanted to feel the rush of excitement that comes with stumbling upon a valuable antique worth thousands of dollars?

Well, in Barn Finders, you can capture that feeling over and over again while filling the shelves in your family’s pawnshop with rare finds from property auctions. 

Since antiques rarely come in pristine condition, you’ll often have to issue repairs, clean dirty items, and price accordingly to attract customers.

There are hundreds of items to encounter, including classic car and motorbike parts, and 12 unique auction locations to help hone your skills.

If you’re in the mood for some alchemic shopkeeping, Potion Party puts a fun couch co-op spin on the genre for 1-4 friends.

Working as a team, you’ll try to earn money by growing and synthesizing exotic fruits, powders, and herbs into magical potions for customers.

As you earn gold, you’ll unlock new characters with special skills that boost your shop’s profitability and decorations with passive buffs.

There are also jelly monsters and thieves to look out for, tools you can upgrade to maximize production, and various single-player, co-op, and versus game modes.

Merchant of the Skies casts you as the captain of a money-making airship used to sell items, gather resources, and ultimately build a trade empire among the clouds.

There’s an emphasis on base-building, exploration, and some other RPG elements, though the real ‘meat and potatoes’ of the game is trading.

You’ll explore the world looking for isles with the best goods to buy low and sell high and identify routes that let you automate transportation.

Alongside a story campaign, there’s a sandbox mode that focuses solely on growing businesses, establishing routes, and inching your way towards retirement.

Another game that comes well recommended and blends base-building, decorating, and shopkeeping gameplay is Winkeltje: The Little Shop.

In it, you play as the owner of an old-world fantasy shop that sells everything from nails and apples to swords and magical love potions.

To ensure things run smoothly, you’ll find yourself buying from other traders, crafting goods yourself, or getting your hands dirty with a bit of farming.

Over time, you’ll expand your shop and update its décor with new furniture and display shelves to highlight wares and impress your customers.

Garden Paws is yet another shopkeeping game that’s hard to pin down to a single genre since it draws from a myriad of gameplay styles, including management, exploration, and farming sim.

The game puts you in the shoes, or rather paws, of animals such as rabbits, chipmunks, dogs, cats, and dragons as living on a cozy little island.

Gameplay is split between managing a farm, upgrading your island’s resources, exploring environments for treasure, running a shop, and countless other hobbies.

As you upgrade and expand your island’s amenities, more animals will visit and see what all of the fuss is about, driving business and strengthening your community.

Considered the best shopkeeper game by many, Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale still holds up in 2023 despite being more than a decade old.

In it, you play as a young girl forced to pay back her father’s loan by managing an item shop within her family home with help from a fairy companion named Tear.

You will explore random dungeons with foes and valuable items to sell to decorate your shop and repay your father’s debt.

Since you set the prices yourself, you can drive up sales by monitoring popular items, as well as attract more customers by regularly updating your shop’s appearance.