'Job Simulator' Meets an Even More Dystopian Future in 'Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim'

I would usually think opening up a shop in a cyberpunk-like dystopia probably isn't the best idea in most circumstances (I mean, have you even been to Night City?), but seeing Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim reminds me that if something is usually not recommended to do in real life, chances are it's going to make for a very enjoyable game.

Probably Stolen is a shop simulator set on a dystopian space ship, and caught my eye as a huge fan of Cyberpunk 2077 and the genre as a whole; it really nails the grimy, polluted, unsafe and hazardous feel of the future we all know and love, with some really great pixel art sprites that all echo this same feel.

From cyberware and guns to medicine and food, everything looks amazing, and real thought has gone into each design. The art style for games like this is incredibly important, and I think Probably Stolen has got it down perfectly.

Start your journey as a "gunsmith, chemist, water merchant, fence, farmer, or from absolute rock bottom"; each product has its pros and cons, with guns meaning inspections, water meaning accountability for any illness transmitted, chemicals attracting addiction, and more, all of which means you will have to balance your shop's positives against the negatives, and resolve the inevitable when trouble arrives – and it will arrive.

Each item needs checking; permits are required to sell weapons (if you want to do it legally, anyway), and cigarettes need their packaging checked, but you can take a different route if you think you can push your luck.

You can repackage counterfeit goods, or push contraband, stolen, and discounted goods, if you think security isn't smart enough to find you. Beware, however, as this way of doing business often comes with its fair share of annoyances that will find their way back to you, so pick and choose depending on the situation, or how desperately you need the rent money.

Speaking of the rent, this looming cost will impinge on you if you mismanage your store, and will force you to make shady deals that will be riskier, but yield more reward – with every decision carrying weight and each choice you make being crucial to whether you rise, or whether you fall.

Along with the stresses of shop management comes a quite unique, but equally as dangerous, threat. An AI has taken control of human hosts and is masquerading as them for reasons we don't know, but doing business with these so-called "Augs" is less than desirable. Use your checklist and trusty iron to pick out and squash these mysterious human/AI hybrids.

Now I think you are ready to open up shop (mostly), so if you feel the same, head over to Steam and pick up Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim, or try the demo if you are sceptical, choom.