Self-employment can be a… Sticky Business, especially when you’re dealing in decals. Yeah, I went there in this introduction to Spellgarden Games and Assemble Entertainment’s title, but we’re in the front door now, so let’s make ourselves at home. It’s a cosy lil’ place.
Everyone and their dog has an Etsy shop these days, but before investing in a decent printer and legitimate art, consider this simulator/management game where you design, print and pack your own stickers to send out to paying customers with zero overheads.
Basically, you sit at your desk and create your first design using a tablet that features a handful of designs such as animals, flowers, buzzwords such as calm, cute and ebola (made that last one up), select a medium to print it on, then wait for Johnny Public to place an order.
Sticky Business Review – PC
Sticky Business is quite a decent set-up, to be fair, as everything is simplified but not automated. Once your first sticker is available, you’ll receive a text message from an acquaintance, then your first customer.
Again, emphasis on the lack of automation (a good thing), as you have to manually print out the stickers, even choosing a cost-effective layout for each time you print them. Once these are ready, you’ll have a note of what stickers have been ordered, then arrange them tidily in a presentation box, then send them out the same day for some money and reputation.
Of course, Sticky Business is a management game, so you can’t do this in your own time as the customers will be expecting their orders. Each time you create a new sticker, print a sheet or pack an order, it takes time, and you’ll be restricted to what you can do. So, you hit the sack, start a new day, finish what’s outstanding, and hopefully, a new batch of orders will be in your inbox.
Delightful
In terms of gameplay, that’s pretty much it. During the packing process, I found you could dump stickers and whatever packaging you wanted, which wouldn’t affect the outcome. Despite knowing this ‘hack’, I still tidily placed everything, as if playing A Little to the Left, even chucking in a few lollipops for the customer that can be purchased from the upgrades menu. Lovely.
Adding treats is purely optional, but the real reason for visiting the upgrades menu is to purchase new designs with the coins you make, expand the number of stickers you can display, and add new packaging options to your inventory. The presentation is pretty basic, but do you know what? It’s really heartwarming throughout, and I couldn’t help but binge it.
The same applies to the stories too. As you build your customer base in Sticky Business, regulars will start making requests and take you on their own journey. These mini-narratives are obviously brief as they’re in text message format, but they make it all the more rewarding, and it genuinely feels like you’re building up a relationship with your customers. Like any reputable business should do.
Verdict
Sticky Business is a genuinely lovely game that defines cosy, wholesome and relaxing. Ignore those tags in your searches – this legitimately ticks the box. My only reservation is there isn’t an option to create your own designs freehand. Other than that, this gets a vigorous thumbs up.
