Not all gamers want to save the world or take violent vengeance out on the people who killed their partners. Some just want their own little corner in the world, selling goods and providing attentive customer care. Such is the life of an innkeeper. Plenty of them do exist in video games, but they're usually relegated to the NPC roles and tend to be unremarkable.
Certain video games, however, place these innkeepers in the spotlight and allow players to assume the role. Sure, it's not as adrenaline-filled as diving into the pits of hell and waging war on demons, but it's its own form of adventure. Besides, managing shops and businesses, can be stressful too. So for players looking for a quieter video game life, then running their own business works just as well as it does in real life.
8 Ravenous Devils
- Release year: 2022
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5
Ever watched Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd? Ravenous Devils is the video game version of that horror film. It's a horror game where players lure customers to their shop and then murder them so they can turn their carcass into food to be served to other customers.
The business structure is questionable, and it raises some concerns about health standards, but it should fit right in with most franchise corporations. Of course, there are several challenges to running a shop where the primary supply is a steady conveyor belt of human limbs and torsos. In a way, this horror game still provides some good, challenging fun.
7 Moonlighter
- Release year: 2018
- Platforms: Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Google Stadia, Android
Moonlighter is another game where players have to work hard in not only managing their shop during business hours but also in upkeep. By day, players will run their medieval fantasy shop that caters to adventurer gear. By night, the players collect these adventurer gear themselves by delving in dungeons and subjecting themselves to danger.
Again, not exactly a sustainable business structure for a single person, but that's why Moonlighter is part Roguelike. Will, the player character admittedly does this because he also secretly dreams to also be a bona fide adventurer. But to get there, he will have to fix his finances and stability, hence the shop and also the game title.
6 The Red Strings Club
- Release year: 2018
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Classic Mac OS
For a different brand of innkeeping, players can look into The Red Strings Club. Here, the players are tasked with being a bartender in a story-driven cyberpunk game. That setting along ought to be enough to turn heads as cyberpunk titles tend to lean more on the action-packed aspect of the setting.
It does stray away from the usual innkeeping duties since the game doesn't pile the management and upkeep duties on the players. Rather, the game explores philosophical and existentialist themes through its narrative with the players at the forefront. And what better way to experience others' raw human emotions than being their bartender?
5 Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
- Release year: 2018
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Recettear is an underrated shopkeeping game that teaches players about the depths of economics as well as how to manipulate the market into their advantage. Don't be fooled by the cutesy anime guise, this game is the more hardcore version of Moonlighter.
The game explores the struggles of Recette. After waking up one day, Recette finds out that she now has to manage a shop built into her house in order to pay her father's huge, crippling debt. But she's not alone since Recette recently made friends with a fairy who also helps her to re-stock her shop.
4 Winkeltje: The Little Shop
- Release year: 2022
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Winkeltje offers something a little more relaxing for players who don't want to worry about upkeep or re-stocking through manual labor. It's a straightforward fantasy shop game where players can decorate, manage, and just run their business without much worry.
Granted, players will still have to be concerned with their shop's financial growth. It's still a game where players can corner the market through economic acumen but with they'll be selling potions, swords, and other magical equipment for some lucky adventurers.
3 The Sims 4
- Release year: 2014
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Macintosh operating systems, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming
The Sims 4 is primarily a single-player social game where players can recreate their favorite sitcoms, but some of the biggest expansions have introduced a new way to play. The Get to Work expansion allowed players to set up shop and try their hand in retail or services.
There's a wide variety of business players can choose depending on their preferences. It can also get a bit heavy on the management side and players can even spend their sims' entire day just running the business. Decoration is also a huge part of this expansion; players can even turn their stores into secondary or main homes.
2 Travellers Rest
- Release year: 2020 (early access)
- Platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems
Travellers Rest is similar to Stardew Valley except it puts more emphasis on being an innkeeper. Players take on the role of a literal innkeeper who, for the most part, will have to single-handedly run the shop. That means everything from stock collection to selling goods or even decoration and renovation is up to the players.
The graphics come in the lovely 16-bit rural-core that Stardew Valley popularized. Players will mostly have to work hard in maintaining their inn's beer supply— it's what keeps the money flowing, after all. Do note that Travellers Rest is still in early access, so don't expect a complete experience.
1 Another Brick In The Mall
- Release year: 2016
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Another Brick in The Mall offers a larger scale of innkeeping in the form of keeping and running malls. In that regard, it's a strategy and simulation game as the players expand their malls and plan out the locations and allotments for the many businesses that will set up shop within the contemporary megastructure.
Hiring and managing staff is also up to the players, as well as keeping track of the numerous data available for analysis. This way, players can micromanage most of the essential and deep parts of running what could be arguably the biggest innkeeping venture of all.