Forget Palworld — TCG Card Shop Simulator is the best Pokémon-like game 

Games inspired by Pokémon are a dime a dozen, but a new game has put a delightful and almost meta twist on the growing rolodex of Pokémon-like games. Instead of yet another monster-catching game, TCG Card Shop Simulator recreates the world around The Pokémon Trading Card Game. This lighthearted game gives fans a silly way to roleplay the life of a trading card game shop owner. 

OPNeon Games released TCG Card Shop Simulator on Sept. 15. As the name suggests, players assume the role of a TCG shop owner, and get to work selling packs of cards to a parade of NPCs. The products vary, but the game has players sell a fictional game within the game called Tetramon Duel Master, where the player sells packs of cards depicting fictional fantasy creatures that look like they’re inspired by Pokémon. 

You design and slowly build up a shop with a scuffed 3D aesthetic you’ll recognize immediately if you’ve played other simulator games like Supermarket Together. As you play, you use your in-game phone to order products like individual packs of cards or boxes of cards, and then stock the shelves. You can arrange your store, set the prices of items, and even buy furniture so people can hangout and play cards there. For me, I stuck to a balanced store design with a section for people to play, shelves to buy packs of cards, and a section to display and sell individual cards. And because I’m sick of the grip that scalpers have on the real-life cards market, I ended up setting my prices so I barely made any profit. 

During my playthrough I ended up turning the street into a complete dumping ground for cardboard boxes that I didn’t throw away. Other than that, I tried to run a tight ship, but the game’s comical flourishes threw some kinks into my plan. Some NPCs that come into the store emit a green cloud, meaning they’re stinky and it upsets the other customers as they shop. There is no way to buy deodorant or put up a sign to tell people to shower, but there is an entire in-game system that allows you to buy fragrance machines that will cover up the scent and make your other customers happy.

I appreciated the absurd amount of detail that went into the fictional Tetramon cards in the game, like all the creatures and the Pokémon-like layout. As you run the store, you can take a spare moment in between customers and open your own packs of Tetramon cards. If you get any rare ones in those packs, then you can resell them as individual cards.

I got cards for creatures like Clawop, which looks like if the Pokémon Clauncher was a grass-type and Nimblis, which looks like a fluffy little evolution of Diancie. There are holographic and non-holographic versions of Tetramon cards and they have different sale values. 

And unlike some other simulator games, it’s pretty simple and straightforward. All you have to worry about at the start is selling cards. The learning curve feels easy to settle into and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by my newly simulated set of responsibilities as a shop owner. So if you’re a fan of simulator games or dream of building a card shop empire on the back of fake Pokémon cards, TCG Card Shop Simulator is a great game.