Voiceroid Let's Play "TCG Card Shop Simulator": How a Card Shop Turned into a Plushie Shop

The game begins with the premise that the protagonist has quit their day job to open their own card game store. The store is named "Trading Boy." Even before opening, a crowd has gathered in front of the shop.

Preparations are made using a smartphone. The first step is ordering stock. Because the store's level is low, only a handful of products can be ordered. About half of the 100,000 yen in startup funds goes toward inventory.

Next, the player reworks the store layout. They judge that while the storefront isn't bad for an independent shop, the customer path is too long, which makes customers hesitate when buying. So, declaring that "hesitation means defeat," they move the display shelves to the spot closest to the entrance. The thinking is that once a customer picks up a product, they can't escape, so this determines how many visitors can be turned into buyers.

The first item stocked is packs of "Tetramon cards." The wholesale cost is explained to be about 182 yen per pack. The player says they have "absolutely no idea what these are worth" and jokes that they'll sell them to customers at a high price and pocket the difference (the subtitles suggest the selling price is 30,000 yen).

After setting prices and stocking the shelves, the store opens and the first customer arrives right away. The player scans the customer's items, takes the cash and hands back change. After a customer who gets 800 yen in change comes one who buys three packs and gets 1,100 yen back. The register work continues in this way.

Once sales come in and the shop level rises, the store can be expanded for 30,000 yen. The player says expansion doesn't seem necessary for how they run things. Even so, since a bigger store draws more customers for some unknown reason, they decide to keep expanding as much as possible going forward.

By the afternoon, the shop reaches level 3 and card boxes become available to order. The player then declares that they will stop selling individual packs and from now on sell only by the box.

The card packs were selling well. To find out what drives people so hard, the player opens a pack themselves. A rare card comes out, but their verdict is: "How foolish." They conclude that continuing to sell this kind of thing will bring no bright future for humanity. They decide to "pivot" away from being a card shop and focus on a different business strategy.

Starting on day 4, the shop begins selling "Pigni plushies." Since raising the shop level also increases the variety of plushies available to order, the player decides this store will carry nothing but plushies. The goal: "the world's best plushie shop, delivering cuteness to the whole world." The 2,500-yen plushies sell well, and foot traffic is steady.

On day 5, however, perhaps as a holdover from its card shop days, customers who have fermented and give off a foul stench start showing up. The player calls these customers "creatures."

To counter them, they introduce an air freshener device called the "Auto Scent M100." According to the player, a single unit can't take down one of these creatures in one hit. So they set up two units on high alert and load deodorizer into the slot on the back. The scene ends with them hoping this front-line defense will work.

By the end of the first week, the 3,000-yen "Nanomite plushie" has become a popular item. Perhaps because of its small, round shape, it's not unusual for customers to buy them up in bulk.

As a result, the player rushes to restock as soon as they finish at the register. Since how well-stocked the shelves are translates directly into the number of purchases, they say the best approach is to slip products onto the shelves from behind customers while they're still shopping.

On day 8, the shop can hire part-time workers, and the player takes on a lanky young man. Assigned to restocking, he comes in carrying cardboard boxes and steadily lines the shelves with plushies. The player rates him as "looks useful."

By day 16, the main product has shifted to the "Nocti plushie." The store layout is also redone so that products can be seen from outside. At this stage, the tedious register work is left to the part-timer, and the player concentrates on restocking.

On day 20, a second part-timer is hired. He appears to be an otaku who knows a lot about TCGs, and the player says this hire has fully automated customer service. The only tasks left for the player are opening the store, ordering and refilling the deodorizer. That day, 120 plushies were sold, with sales of 480,000 yen and a profit of roughly 200,000 yen after costs, it is reported.

In the day 45 scene, a month and a half after opening, the restocker, "the box guy," and the cashier, "the otaku," arrive for work. All operations are left to the two of them, and when the store opens, customers stream in one after another. According to the player, the shop has grown into a popular store that sells 1 million yen every day.

The odor countermeasures have also been strengthened. Two new large "Auto Scent G500" units have been installed, and now it's fine no matter how many smelly customers show up, the player says. They describe the device as cute, like a food-serving robot.

The store's appearance has been tidied up as well. Cardboard boxes that had been left lying on the floor are now stored on shelves. In addition, to attract card-loving customers, the player has set up a glass display case as a corner to show off their own card collection.

The next plushie unlocks at shop level 55. Because of that, the player expects to spend roughly the next half year selling Nocti plushies. Having quit their day job to open a card shop, they ended up completing the plushie shop "Trading Boy" and finding staff they can trust to run it. Calling it "GG," the player wraps up this let's play.