Mall Simulator

A promising mall management twist on the simulator formula with solid early access content, held back by repetitive loops that need deeper systems.

Introduction

Mall Simulator offers a great twist on the simulator genre. Instead of managing a single store, you're managing an entire mall, which immediately changes the scope and feel of the experience. For an early access title, the game is quite content rich, which gives it massive potential in the sim genre, especially after seeing the roadmap. There's a lot to do here, from upgrading individual stores to getting general mall equipment for passive income and watching out for visitor amenities like toilets.

Variety in Stores

I love the variety in stores the game offers. Having unique stores like the cinema and burger shop is a great approach to add more variety in the per-store mechanics beyond just generic retail spaces. I hope to see more of that store type in the future because those unique locations make managing the mall feel more dynamic and interesting compared to just having endless rows of shops with the same mechanics and just a different skin.

AI Assets and Polish

The game does rely a bit much on AI assets, but I think at this stage of early access, such assets are acceptable. Hopefully with the success it's gotten and it just launching in early access, the developers will invest in some unique assets for the game. This would become a negative point come 1.0 release, but for now it's understandable given the scope and the fact that they're still building out core systems.

The Repetition Problem

I wish there were more statistics and general management-oriented features. Right now the game quickly settles into a repetitive loop where you unlock stores, assign a cashier and a stocker to them, and just keep an eye out for stock availability. You order items whenever they run out and gradually unlock more licenses to sell more things. The loop quickly settles into you being a mall stocker for the different machines around the mall like the claw machines or photo booths, plus an inventory manager for the different stores.

I hope the game introduces ways to automate these aspects and adds different mechanics you can interact with as the mall grows in scale. This would keep the gameplay loop feeling fresh instead of just being more of the same but bigger. The foundation is solid, but it needs more layers to sustain engagement across the hours you'll put into building out your mall.

Verdict

Mall Simulator is a promising early access title that takes the simulator genre in a direction I'm excited about. Managing an entire mall instead of a single store changes the scope in meaningful ways, and the content that's already here shows real potential. The variety in store types, especially the unique ones like the cinema, points toward what this game could become with more development. But the repetitive loops and lack of deeper management systems hold it back from being truly great right now. It needs more statistics to track, automation options as you scale, and new mechanics that keep the experience feeling fresh rather than just being an endless cycle of restocking and inventory management. I personally believe this game has very high potential it can reach if core mechanics get improvements and newer features come with the 1.0 release. I'll definitely keep my eye on this one because the foundation is strong enough that I want to see where it goes.