The first thing I noticed about Inkonbini is the charming art style and the relaxing music. The story introduces us to Makoto a college student who is working the night shift for a week at her aunt's convenicene store called Honki Ponki in Japan in the 1990s. The game is easy to get into with Makoto checking the stock room, restocking shelves, and getting ready to open the store and help customers. There's a peaceful meditation in a way organizing the store shelves and unpacking boxes in the stockroom. Interacting with the customers is interesting because there's this theme of human connection and playing as Makoto is the perfect link to that and the game plays like a visual novel which works really well for this style of game.
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| We meet Makoto. |
I loved the talks Makoto has with her aunt Hina about the experience of managing the store and getting to know the local community in a small town and Makoto coming to realize just how much work and effort her aunt has put into something she loves and how there are little details here and there that are more important than one realizes because they tie everything together. The layout of the store and product placement of various items are quite unique and you start to see the pattern of everything is laid out just so and each thing has a purpose. There's a mini game of sorts within the game where a customer will describe an item they're looking for or ask Makoto for a recommendation and you have to figure out what it is and find it for them. It's not terribly challenging and you can check your quest log to refresh your memory about the details. Once that's done, Makoto can ring up their purchase and can have a chat with them. The conversations are well done and I felt like you really get to see a bit of what kind of person each customer is. It's a nice touch to the game and the story itself.
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| Makto chats with a customer. |
There's a cute feature in the game with gacha capsule machines outside the store. Makoto can use her loose change to get collectible figurines from a manga and anime series called Yojoki Masters. They're all themed around different types of tea and I loved how adorable they were. I could see myself collecting them if they were real because everything about them was great, right down to the lore for each one you get.
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| One of the cute Yojoki Masters figurines. |
The pacing of the game is leisurely and that's definitely by design. There's no rush, no urgency, and Inkonbini allows you to take that moment to take a breath and just let yourself be and it does this for the customers that Makoto interacts with as well. I appreciated that subtle message of reminding us that sometimes it's alright to slow down and savor those little things we take for granted like enjoying that first sip of a nice cup of tea or taking in a beautiful sunrise. The game isn't terribly long, I finished it in about five hours. It's short and sweet, not overstaying its welcome while keeping that gentle charm throughout the story and gameplay. I enjoyed Inkonbini and appreciated getting to see it through Makoto's perspective because it felt like a warm hug and by the end it felt like saying a fond farewell to a good friend. I was a little sad to see it end, but I'm glad I got to go on that journey.
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| We say farewell to Makoto and friends. |
*Inkonbini: One Store. Many Stories is available on the following platforms: Steam, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, and Nintendo Switch
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