If there is one cliche that everyone can get behind, it’s the greedy mega-corporation taking over the business of the little guy. While we’ll still buy their wares, we don’t like seeing the big box stores put the little mom-and-pop shops out of business. If only there was something that we could do to stand up against this innovation for money’s sake. Well, in Supermarket Mania, there is.

You start the game as the newest employee of TORG Corporation, a huge supermarket conglomerate that has moved into town. This is your big chance to show them that you can make it in the world of mega-supermarkets. You do an excellent job as you rush from here to there stocking the shelves of the supermarket and cleaning up after the customers. But the head of TORG Corporation has decided that it will be more cost-effective to replace the human help with robots. So, pink slip in hand, you decide to take a job at one of the local markets in order to one day be able to compete with TORG Corporation and put them out of business for good.

This is fairly standard time-management fare, not much that we haven’t seen before. But, like many games, it’s not the primary mechanics that set it apart, but the little twists in gameplay that help to keep it from being just another dash-game. Your job, as the stocker, is to keep the shelves and coolers of the store stocked with items. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about what you are stocking where. You fill your cart with enough items to stock five shelves or coolers (more after you upgrade it). You can then stock whatever needs to be refilled. As you stock, customers mull around the store, looking for the items that they need to buy. A small icon over their head shows what item they are after. If they get to the item, and it is out of stock, they will wait there until either they get too angry to wait any longer, or until you get to the shelf and restock it, whichever comes first. If you let them get too angry, they will storm out without buying anything else. Keep the customers happy, and they will continue to shop until their shopping is done.

There are other hazards in the game. Many of your customers are quite messy, and if they happen to drop something, they will not clean up after themselves. You’ll have to go and pick up the mess before someone slips and falls on it. If they do, they will leave the store without purchasing anything. Another thing to keep an eye out for are teenagers. They will run around the store making a mess. Luckily, your trusty security guard will take care of them with a click of your mouse. Thieves will also make their presence known, but security cameras will help to take care of them. Along with these types of upgrades, you can also upgrade the quality of the groceries that you sell. This will make for happier customers and more money coming in.

All in all, Supermarket Mania is a fun game. The difficulty ramps up slowly, and can get quite frustrating in the later levels. Like many time management games, the real fun is the upgrades that you can buy. And as you move through different stores, these upgrades become quite varied. I really had a lot of fun playing through the game, and I think dash-fans will have a good time, as well. One thing that I did notice, though, has to do with the store aspect of the game. The story itself is well done, but the actual text of the story in places sounds like a bad Babel Fish translation. I don’t know if this is a simple matter of proofreading or if the story had to be translated form the original German/French/whatever, but it really takes you out of the story when you are stumbling over the grammar. Fortunately, it doesn’t hurt the gameplay. Download the demo below and check out the grocery store mayhem that is Supermarket Mania!

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(4 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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