Pixel Shopkeeper vs Shop Heroes
Pixel Shopkeeper
Pixel Shopkeeper is a fun, indie shop simulation and management game where you head out to raid dungeons just so you can gather items to sell and then sell them at your very own shop. The looting system in this game is immensely challenging. It has a bit of inventory management that may bring to mind dungeon crawlers like Diablo, but unlike those games, this one employs a tetris-like gameplay. So, basically, you'll be trying to bring back as many items as you can by fitting each oddly-shaped items (like tetris pieces) into your square-shaped bag. You can purchase other bags later on as well. Different bags have different grid shapes, making fitting those items a bit more challenging than usual. Some even have special grids that will double or triple the number of the item that is placed over it.Featuring nostalgic pixel graphics, this game also has a rather unique "crafting system" - if you even can call it that - whereby you can combine lower-level items to create a higher quality and hence, more valuable item. This also means that you may find yourself re-running lower level dungeons just so you can gather enough items to do your crafting.
Being a simulation game, your shop is upgradable too. You can purchase better furniture such as display shelves, tables, or cases to place more items on display. Note that only displayed items can be sold. You can also polish the items while waiting for customers just so you can get extra cash from the "Shiny" bonus. The adventurers you sell your items to may have special quests for you from time to time. Oh, and don't forget to tap on them as they pass by your shop to encourage them to check out your wares!
Despite its simple, pixel looks, Pixel Shopkeeper is a surprisingly in-depth shopkeeping simulation game with some elements of RPGs. It's very entertaining to be able to farm dungeons for the items you sell and even turn them into more profitable goods. If you enjoy a good shop simulation game and you like idle-like RPGs, then this is a game you don't want to miss!
Shop Heroes
Shop Heroes is an incredibly fun and addictive, medieval/fantasy shop simulation that has some RPG elements. In this game, you play as a shopkeeper with a newly established shop that provides various types of RPG adventurers with their weapons, armor, and accessories. As opposed to only selling them, you will also need to hire crafters to craft the said items, and each crafter has their own sets of skills while each item will require certain sets of skills to craft. Thankfully, you can hire more than one crafter (eventually) and hence, you will be able to produce more than a few selected categories of items later down the road.These items can then be sold to the RPG adventurers who approach you at your shop. Selling to them, however, usually means that you'll be selling at market price, though you are given the option to lower your prices to earn Hearts or use Hearts to inflate your prices. Since most adventurers would want a very specific item to buy, which you may not have available, you can also use Hearts to change their minds. Naturally, trying to suggest a closer alternative to buy would cost you fewer Hearts.
The game also has RPG elements where you can recruit and send adventurers into various dungeons to earn special crafting materials that these dungeons only provide. There's PvP as well, where you can assemble a team of 5 to battle a randomly selected player's team of your bracket. Not to mention, you can even group up with other shopkeepers via guilds and work together on weekly challenges to win freebies, in addition to cooperatively building up the guild facilities so as to obtain a better guild-wide buff.
Shop Heroes is a game that is one of its kind because it not only managed to flawlessly merge both shop simulation and RPG into a fun and exciting package, but also to provide its game completely free. You can advance, albeit at a slower pace, in this game without spending a single cent if you like, but of course, if you enjoyed playing the game, you might want to spend some cash just to show your support.