Shop Crush - Psychological Horror VN and Thrift Shop Sim with Literal Illusions [Demo Soon]

hollowlimb

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Hi, friends!

I’m working on Shop Crush, a hybrid Visual Novel that blends shop management with a dark story about a sense of doubt and reality check.

About:

You run a thrift shop, but the cozy vibes are just a facade. Customers visit you, and you have to learn their personalities and shopping behaviors to keep your business. In time, you slowly realise that every customer has a dark secret, and your moral choices influence the story and how the world perceives you.

In Shop Crush, every customer is a puzzle. You have to study their profiles, learn their tastes, and figure out their deep, often unhealthy obsessions with certain types of items. And their backstory. The core gameplay is an economic choice-based game, where you have to choose between customers' offers and your shop's reputation (think Reigns series).

The Story:

It's a story about running a thrift shop, but slowly realising everything is not what it seems. Using illusions, the main hero learns the dark truth about himself. It is a story about self-doubt, reality checks, and a sense of perception. It's a Novel about slowly realising what this whole world is about, confirming your darkest suspicions. The game uses the trope of an unreliable narrator. In horror vibes, it is a bit close to Doki Doki Literature Club.

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Illusions:

The game uses "Literal Illusions" - surreal puzzles where you uncover the truth about every customer (made with the help of the Think Diffusion app). These illusions are the link between a customer's obsession and the dark reality of the shop. Sometimes, finding the truth is the only way to understand the person standing across the counter.

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Gameplay:

The core gameplay is an economic choice-based game, where you must choose between customers' offers and your shop's reputation (think Reigns series).

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The Bigger Picture

The gameplay isn't about flipping prices for profit. As you dig deeper into your customers' profiles, you realize that nobody is here by accident. The game has 3 components in structure:

Trading: A tactical battle of nerves. You must balance your own greed against their hatred, using their personal traits to justify higher prices. But you always have a limited number of turns.

Narrative: Every customer has a backstory hidden behind their stats. It affects their shopping behavior - some customers are here for a good bargain, while others prefer something extraordinary. Behind the numbers lies a mystical history that slowly reveals why these people are drawn to this place.

Illusions: This is where the management sim starts to bleed into horror. The things they bring in aren't always what they appear to be. To bridge the gap between shopkeeping and the surreal, I’m using Literal Illusions. By manipulating the puzzle, you discover specific angles where the geometry transforms, revealing a hidden meaning in the story.

Check the game trailer to see what I am talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX0p4XvHWEc

Visuals: I’m moving away from a purely lo-fi look towards something more resembling the 2000s vibe. It’s high-contrast, uses PS1-style dithering, but keeps the UI sharp and readable. I want the shop to feel tactile - like you can almost smell the dust on the shelves - while the management part remains crisp and functional.

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Current State: I’m currently refining the NPC response system to make their dialogue and expressions feel more reactive to the player's pricing strategy. I’ll be sharing technical breakdowns of how I implement the literal illusions and some character design sketches soon.

Key Features and Contents

Choice-based Card Game with tense and procedurally generated roguelite Core Gameplay.
2D Shop Simulator and an Economy game about trading with Customers.
Atmospheric Visual Novel about insanity, doubt, and Reality Check.
Innovative Puzzle Game based on the Literal Illusion Effect.
10 Unique Clients, each with their own tastes and shopping styles.
5 Selected locations with carefully crafted storylines.
50+ Levels to Upgrade Every Customer.
70+ Products to buy - from weird ones to essentials!

Screenshots:

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I’d love to know:

Does the idea of an unreliable narrator appeal to you in a shop sim VN?
Do you like management mechanics in your stories, or do they get in the way?
Which novels do you recommend me to play to improve mine?

For more information, and if you want to support the project, I have links to the Steam Page and Trailer.

Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2961120/Shop_Crush/

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX0p4XvHWEc