Recettear

Carpe Fulgur had the bad judgement to release Recettear: An item Shop’s Tale while I was traveling. But that’s okay. Recette and her mob-connected business fairy, Tear, would wait. Painting the shelves. That chocolate bar melting in the window was this guy’s inheritance from his grandmother. “Sell it,” she told him, “if you ever need the money.” It had been in his family for generations, and he hated to let it go. Bring up the offer just a touch and he might part with it. ...

Tremendously, actively fun Japanese import “Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale” has finally gained a publisher! Stardock will publish Recettear through its Impulse digital distribution network. Ten thousand people downloaded the demo after the gaming media gave it rave reviews (including me), which got translators Carpe Fulgur enough pull to get a major distributor interested. Good job, guys – I absolutely cannot wait to play the full game! ...

If I could, I’d be playing Recettear right now. (It’s pronounced Reh-keh-teer, not RACKETEER! How could you even think such a thing?) It’s only out as a demo right now, and I’ve played the heck out of that. Now and again you come across a game that turns the whole standard RPG tropes on their edge and come at them from a different angle. Dungeon Keeper had you building dastardly, trap and monster infested dungeons that lured clueless adventurers in with dreams of easy loot but gave them nothing but messy deaths. In My Life as a King, you take on the role of the town-stranded NPC who gives adventurers their quests. And in Racettear, you play the handy merchant always willing to sell a needy adventurer a handy sword or to buy some slime (+2!) from them. ...