In 2024, it seems that every major release is followed by some small indie title that sweeps up all the players with its charm. And September is no different, as TCG Card Shop Simulator has attracted quite a few more players than even Frostpunk 2 or God of War: Ragnarok.
Released on Sept. 15, TCG Card Shop Simulator lets you “open your own local game store” and perfect the card shop experience for your virtual patrons, who won’t have to suffer those issues your only card shop in town has. The game currently sits at a whopping 95 percent positive Steam reviews, putting it in the rare and respectable “Overwhelmingly Positive” category, with players praising its simple yet addictive gameplay loop. And, given how popular trading cards themselves are, it’s no wonder that the game has managed to attract over 38,000 players during its peak on Sept. 22 per SteamDB.
This would put it way above two of the most recent major releases, those being Frostpunk 2 and God of War: Ragnarok, which peaked at 35,500 and 35,600 concurrent players, respectively. And, while Frostpunk 2 has managed to outpace its own predecessor in this regard, Ragnarok has drawn in 60 percent fewer players than the first title’s PC port, indicating a continuing downward trend for Sony.
TCG Card Shop Simulator is the first title by indie studio OPNeon Games and is currently available as an Early Access title. As per the devs’ statements, the game aims to stay like that for at least a year, though player feedback might impact the speed of development as time goes on, though there’s a roadmap you can check out to see what’s coming down the pipeline.
You can snag TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam for less than $12, so go on to open the game store of your dreams, and enjoy the already vast repertoire of mods to spice up the experience.
