Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk

Although I'd like to recommend this game, I can't in it's current state. Why? Because it's INCREDIBLY buggy right now. The main loop involves you buying vending machines, stocking them, and decorating the area to attract more customers. It's very casual, and there's enough furniture that you can make each space fairly unique. And yes, I did say each space because you can unlock new spots to add new machines and expand your business. There are a lot of things I like about it, like when you place order it takes time for it to be delivered, and you can build up reputation with the different brands to get bigger discounds and more sales deals. However, once you get employees the game really starts to suffer. Employees are incredibly broken in this game, in a bad way. They have hunger and tiredness stats, along with skills. However, even though I provide them with both places to rest and vending machines to feed themselves (there are no free snack areas) they rarely eat. Not only that, but even though you can set their schedule, the amount they work seems extremely inconsistant, working in spurts or showing up at locations that don't need work and sitting there when other locations are in bad shape. They frequently get caught on chairs, either by sitting themselves or walking behind a customer that pushes their chair back, and so far the only reliable way I've found to reset them is to save and quit. The worst part is that once you get fairly far into the game the performance drops drastically, The game isn't that impressive graphically, it actually looks like a mobile game in a lot of ways, so having the game degrade to teh point where it's unplayable shouldn't be a thing. And I do mean unplayable, 3-5 seconds of lag whenever I try to repair a machine. The game has a lot of potential, but its not worth it in its current state. Wait until it gets a bunch of patches before you try.

Well isn't this a charming little game? It's a bit of a combination of an idle game and a small business simulator. You run a vending machine business, starting with just one machine in a very basic location. You need to clean (and keep clean) the area whilst stocking your machines. As you earn money, you can improve the look of the area, add to the varieties you stock and expand into new locations. The game will run in real-time if you let it, which also combines with being able to pin it to your desktop and just leave it running in the background, with an occasional glance from you. Or you can accelerate time and play it more actively. Back on the Palm Pilot PDA, there were a few games that ran like this - games like Plant Tycoon and Virtual Villagers. These were wonderful casual games, before mobile phones came along and monetised these to become something less. Vending Dokan is a return to this style of pleasant casual gaming. It's all very ambient and charming. The game is in Early Access at the moment, which is normally a turn-off for me. But I played the demo and found it sufficiently appealing that I didn't hesitate when the main game was launched. There's lots of things missing from the game at the moment, but there's enough there for an enjoyable time as it is. It's a very simple game, but there is some depth to it. How you choose to decorate your locations and the amenities you provide will bring increased custom, but perhaps you ought to concentrate on increasing the number of machines you have, to bring in the bucks. It's up to you. There's no time limit or countdown; you just play as you please. Every now and then you'll have to click to restock a machine and wipe it free of finger smudges as well as ordering stock. And that's the majority of the game. Many will find it too slow and simple, but I rather like it. I work from home and it's nice to have something to tab into from time to time for a little fix of relaxation. You can hire staff to help out if you like, try to pet a wandering cat and all sorts of other things. But there's a lot of functionality missing at the moment. But the core game is there and it's solid. And it's enough for me. If in doubt, get the demo - in which you can try just about every aspect of the game. This is my favourite game this year.

In its current state, I do not recommend this game — especially at this price point. I watched someone else play this and bought the game myself. I LOVE the atmosphere and play style. It seemed like a cute, casual, & cozy game with a touch of business sim; I was particularly excited for the management side like employee breaks and salaries, hiring/firing, but ultimately this was a letdown. The employees are wildly inefficient. All the staff start out undeveloped. For the first couple of weeks, it's like they're not even hired. It might take you past the 2hr refund point just to unlock the staff. My biggest gripe were the stockers. They weren't moving any boxes from delivery zones to the shelves. This became apparent when I accumulated 12 stockers and kept re-ordering goods, yet my shelves were empty and the floor had boxes all over the place. Another major issue was the pathfinding/clipping/getting stuck. No matter what layout design I chose, at least 1 employee would get stuck somewhere. On a trash can. Repeatedly standing up and down on a chair. Or just standing in a corner. Sometimes the employees would avoid using any furniture until I refreshed the game. Other times furniture would get bugged and I couldn't interact with it. I even restarted the game from scratch and all the issues came back again. Oddly, all of this only happened inside the office/warehouse. My venues were fine. While the majority of players may be here for the "vibes", I think adding new maps and decor is a misuse of resources if the game is unable to run by itself without constant player intervention (including Milestone advancements that pause the game every now and then). Even after 8 hours of dedication and building up my staff, warehouse, and venues, I never reached true idle status. Despite all this, I'll still keep an eye on the game. I think this has the potential to be an amazing game, but in the far future.