Turfster

i think recettear made my standard for that kinda thing very high and yeah i don't see enough... scathing critique (or even acknowledgement) of capitalism haha

(i feel like i have to disclose that i have a game idea that involves running a cafe/restaurant, but i don't want to have a money system at all. i feel like it's that simple! no capitalist system, no problem! though it's probably still more complex either way. i think of it as being outside of a scarcity system, so it's just personal choices at that point, right?)

it's beyond weird. capitalist realism at its most noxious

The fantasy of not having to do wage labour, man!

Assuming this is a good faith question, and speaking just for myself, I like slice of life elements in animé, in books, in TV shows and in games. Do I want to run a farm IRL? Not really. But I like the peaceful routine of farming in farm games, the feeling of tending to something living, and harvesting the fruits of my labour in a very direct way. I like the sense of the progression of seasons, the idea of being rooted in a place and a specific community with its own seasonal rhythms.

Likewise for games where I run an apothecary, or a plant shop, or a bakery, or a bookshop, a coffee shop, etc, I like the sense of routine and the ordinary-ness of it all. There's a comfort in the predictable routines. And many of those games are about getting to know regular customers and seeing how your growing skills contribute to their daily lives. Like helping a customer choose flowers for a first date, to eventually helping the same customer with their wedding flowers. Or listening to coffee shop customers confide to you about their lives, and then trying to make them the best drink that you think will match their tastes. For me those games are often also about social connection and belonging.

Tldr: As farming games offer a pastoral fantasy, games about running a small business are for me about peaceful slice of life routines, belonging to a local community, meaningful activity, growing skills, developing relationships, etc.

If you have a different take on that kind of gaming, I am sure we'd love to see what you make too. There's a fair amount of excitement about solarpunk games at the moment, for instance. People are often very happy and excited to see alternatives that articulate something hopeful beyond the current state of things too.

I probably am not going to reply past this point, because I had to think twice about responding already. That's not on you, but because I am very tired of other bad faith wholesome games discourse. Eg: no one expects that racing game enjoyers continually explicate how they enjoy the fantasy of accruing expensive, luxury supercars and burning fossil fuels recreationally to go vroom vroom very fast around a track, for instance. But people who enjoy the genre of farming or other peaceful games are often treated like they are incomprehensible. Much of the time, I would rather just get on with my laundry in an actual slice of life moment. 😂

Psyops to get people that dont want to work to learn how to run businesses and become profitmakers It goes alllll the way down.

there's this one game called moonglow bay that's set in a cutesy, idealised rendition of a small town in french canada and like. i don't think a work of art is obligated to engage with subject matter if it doesn't want to but it still felt fucking weird given the sordid history of how those small canadian towns were likely founded

it definitely is. I do keep playing ones that are about that, but also have some bit of "ha ha we're trapped in a capitalist hellscape" and I think I'd kind of prefer just running my little potion shop or whatever without that little wink to reality. Do want to shout out the paleolithic farming sim Roots of Pacha that doesn't have any money, but instead of your farm shipping box you donate contributions to your community, which you can then trade with other members of the community who do things you can't (there's no way to hunt in the game, so if you want meat, you gotta talk to the hunter.) Now that, I found refreshing!

(You also can date all the romanceable characters at the same time without any issues. life before capitalism or monogamy!)

that moment where Euro Truck Simulator goes from "you're a trucker and you're truckin :)" to "you can have a labor force, you are a boss, you need to manage your fleet" is so weird, just lemme drive man!!!

the only dream any American is allowed to have: one day you, too, could be a capitalist ~Chara

the unattainable dream of self-actualization while doing something obviously useful for others

it's a mode of activity that would generally still exist outside capitalism, but is horribly tainted and infected by it

for what it's worth i think it's totally possible to make a chill shopkeeper sim without indulging in the horrors of capitalism or having you take advantage of an employee workforce!

it definitely sucks when the end-game of a shop sim is like "make a million dollars and have a workforce of 100 employees", but other than that, i think there are devs out there doing better by focusing on your relationship with the community in a healthy way.