by Danreb Victorio
inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories is a game that had my attention as soon as I laid my eyes on it. I vividly remember the game at the corner of the room at Day of the Devs: San Francisco Edition in 2025 with a line that would never end, but I was fine with not playing it because it just wasn’t the right atmosphere for it. Luckily for me, it was featured at the first Steam Next Fest this year, and I loved what I played in the demo, despite it toying with my anxiety.
In inKONBINI, you play as college student Makoto Hayakawa, who takes a break from her studies to help run a small Japanese convenience store while her aunt is away for the week. While she doesn’t do it completely alone, she’s left to fend for herself during the night shift every evening. Thankfully, as a cozy game, there aren’t really any creeps to worry about.
In fact, there’s nothing to worry about at all, which is really my main gripe with the game.
Makoto’s shifts typically start off in the staff room where she looks at notes left by the day shift staff. These notes typically cover what happened that day, what the store is behind on, and what to focus on during the night. You’re also expected to replenish the store with the backstock you have, in addition to upkeep. Are there items in the wrong place? Put them in the right place. Are items mispositioned? Fix them. You might also have to pull some items to get repriced — this is all stuff to consider and do before turning over the “open/closed” sign and opening shop, but you don’t have to…
Every night when you open the store, it’ll be a bit before a customer even comes in. And even when they come in, you can take all the time you need to do whatever you want to do before even entertaining them. There is absolutely no penalty and no rush to do anything. Keep anybody you want waiting. They won’t get mad at you at all. You won’t even have to worry about having more than one customer in the store until your very last shift in the story, and even then, there’s nothing to worry about.
The game isn’t really about shop upkeep. It’s about the personal stories that each of the regulars you’ll come across have. The first character you meet goes by “Chief” Matsuda. He’s a longtime friend of your aunt who’s been shopping at night to avoid your aunt. He’s as humble as he is old. You’ll meet Satoshi, a 12-year-old boy who comes to the shop early in the morning, shopping for people in his neighborhood–pretty much an Instacart worker before it existed. There’s Naomi, a local reporter looking for different scoops in their rural community. Lastly, there’s a mysterious man who doesn’t speak, whose identity you can eventually figure out before he actually introduces himself, depending on how observant you are of the store’s stock.
In addition to learning about each of their stories, you’ll also obviously be helping them shop. Sometimes they’ll need advice that you won’t know off-hand, and you’ll head the back room to phone your aunt (who’s typically always available) or someone else connected to them. It’s an interesting wrinkle from a comprehension standpoint, but again, there’s no real penalty for getting anything “wrong.”
To briefly talk about my time with the demo again, I remember feeling upset with myself when Chief pointed out that there was bread in the refrigerated section, I clamored when I didn’t know what ramen to recommend him, and I winced when giving back exact change because I thought I gave more than the preferred amount of coins back a customer. To make matters worse, the demo ended with bottles of beer still being shelved because I couldn’t figure out how to stock them when the alcohol fridge ran out of space.
Absolutely none of that mattered, and part of me wishes it did.
That said, this isn’t “Convenience Store Simulator.” This is a game about the stories and lives of the people who frequent your aunt’s shop, and you finding value in that. The only struggles you’ll have when playing this game are the ones with your own mind, and that’s not a cozy mindset, so if you find yourself playing the game, chill. Relax. Enjoy.
I’d stop short of saying inKONBINI is worth the $25-30 price of admission if you don’t have Xbox or PC Game Pass, but this seven-to-eight-hour experience definitely was not a waste of time. This is a cozy game, through and through, that I really enjoyed from beginning to end. I wish there were at least some fail points or at least a little bit of struggle, but if you take the game for what it is, you’ll have something that’s definitely heartwarming.
inKonbini: One Store. Many Stories.
