Shopwhile

Ding-a-ling — someone just walked in.

Your Great-Aunt Mabel has retired to Florida and left you her little wooden general store in Pine Creek, open since 1952. Her stock is still on the shelves. Now you're the one behind the counter.

A STORE THAT DOESN'T NEED WATCHING Shopwhile runs in real time. It's a quiet small-town shop, so only a handful of customers stop by each day. You don't need to keep the app open. Go to work, cook dinner, live your life. When someone walks in, your phone rings like a shop bell to call you back. Customers will wait at the counter for a few minutes, and if you miss one, there's no penalty, just a kind little note.

FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY NEED Some customers know exactly what they want: "A jar of pickles, please." Others only give you a hint: "Got anything hot to drink?" Ask what they mean, turn around and search the shelves, or tell them you don't carry it. Get it right and they'll pay with a smile, maybe with a tip. Get it wrong and they'll shake their head and give you another clue.

17 REGULARS, 17 LITTLE STORIES There's Martha, a retired teacher whose cat will only eat tuna. Hank, the corn farmer. Rosa, who runs the diner across the street. Benny, the rock collector with a hundred questions. At first they're just "the lady with glasses" or "the old man with a cane." Keep serving them and they'll tell you their names, their news, and what's going on around town. Everything you learn goes into your Regulars Book.

A STORE YOU CAN ALMOST TOUCH • 60 goods, each with its own 3D model: tomato soup cans, bear-shaped honey jars, gable-top milk cartons… • Real-time lighting: early morning, midday, golden hour, and warm lamps at night • Real seasons outside the window: spring green, red autumn leaves, bare winter branches • Songbirds, a ticking clock, a springy door bell, and the cha-ching of the register • An old radio on the counter playing an original folk tune

MAKE IT YOUR OWN Call Bert's wholesale truck once a day to restock, and see which goods are on sale today. Spend your savings on upgrades: a porch bench, a neon OPEN sign, a fishing tackle rack, an ice-cream freezer, and a cat bed on the window sill that a ginger cat named Pickles moves into.

ABOUT THE PURCHASE Shopwhile is free to download, and your shelves start full, so you can sell for a while. A few days in, Aunt Mabel mails you the business card of Bert, her wholesaler. "Call Bert" is the only purchase, and you buy it once. His first truckload is free and fills every shelf, and he brings Mabel's old radio too. After that, you can restock every day and buy store upgrades. No ads, no energy timers, no subscriptions. Even if you never buy it, you can keep the store open and keep chatting with your regulars.

Every model, texture, sound, and song in the game is generated by code. Available in English and Simplified Chinese.

Welcome to Pine Creek General Store.