Superstore 3000 (Space Cowboys 2024) is a retro-futuristic board game in which you purchase tiles to build the tallest [and most interesting] superstore. It is a 2-4 player game with resource management mechanics coupled with competitive elements (Anon n.d.). It boasts a charming art style reminiscent of retro-futuristic shows such as the Jetsons that fits well with the whimsical theming of the game as a whole (The Dice Tower 2025). The artwork on a whole was something that really drew me to this game, it feels inviting and the overall board layout is exciting to look at.
Leading on from this, the board set up of
Superstore 3000 (Space Cowboys 2024) is particularly interesting. You have:
Mall element tiles - these are obtained through purchases at the dispenser 3000. Once bought, they are stacked atop the Main entrance tile vertically in conjunction with the requests made by the customers. These tiles are also double sided, with money shown one one side, and a mall interior on the other.
The Dispenser 3000 - Mall element tiles and money may be obtained through this, it ranks in price depending on the location of items within it, with items closer to the bottom [excluding the bottom which is free] only costing 1 money to remove, with prices above it ascending in relation to the position within the dispenser.
Attraction Tiles - Attractions may be constructed when their specific conditions are met as dictated on their corresponding attraction card. They award players special points that add to their final score.
Balloon tokens - Split into clusters of 8 and 4, they are awarded to the first and second position players in regards to the following categories: Number of hobby clusters, number of food court clusters, and number of fashion clusters. These contribute the the final scoring.
Height rulers - Counts the total number of floors the superstore has
Money - Obtained from the bottom row of the dispenser 3000 and can be used to purchase mall element tiles.
Customer and Player tokens - Customer tokens contain details about the wants and wishes of the customers, what stores they want to go to, and how far they will travel.
One of the more interesting mechanics within the game is the Dispenser 3000, which is where money and mall tiles are obtained. Once per round, a player may either choose to withdraw money from the lowest level of the dispenser, or spend money to obtain a room higher up the dispenser. When removing money from the dispenser, check the reverse side to see what mall tile category is present. If that matches with another tile within that column of the dispenser, you gain money equal to the amount of cards in that category that are present. (The Dice Tower 2025)
I think this adds an interesting mechanic rather than simply randomizing which card you will receive, and with the ability to freely choose which card you wish to withdraw from the machine for a small price, it gives another purpose to the in-game money system.
This may be something to consider for my own game, especially when it comes to the buying furniture mechanic. There could be a "shopfront" that displays 3 types of furniture, with the cheapest being at the bottom, and the most expensive at the top. Upon a purchase, the furniture above it would drop down to fill the missing position, with the "shopfront" being restocked from the top. This adds to the mechanic of managing your money as a tertiary resource. I also like how you can sacrifice a mall room tile for money, which could also be something to look into implementing with perhaps creating furniture recipes to sell for money.
Too, the customer wishes mechanic is a very interesting part of gameplay. Within
Superstore 3000 (Space Cowboys 2024), customers will have certain stores that they wish to visit that must be placed in a certain tile radius to them to complete their wish. With each customer wish fulfilled, it goes towards your final scoring of the mall.
It would perhaps be interesting to implement a similar mechanic, perhaps each client has a preferred piece of furniture [which could also be something identified through advertising] which, if constructed and placed within the cave, would award a third bonus to the overall scoring of the cave.
Comparing Superstore 3000 (Space Cowboys 2024) to Rococo (Eagle-Gryphon Games 2020), the ruleset is certainly much easier to understand. There are less branching rules to pick up and the general gameplay loop is quite simple: either building something, or taking money. All the rules after than run pretty linearly following conditions met to wishes of customers or conditions to build special attractions. I think of the two games, Superstore 3000 (Space Cowboys 2024) definitely feels like it is aimed towards a younger audience. Even in art style, it feels a lot more lighthearted and family friendly which is something i hope to reflect in my own game. In terms of mechanics there are certainly a few things i find interesting, as stated previously, i think the customer wishes and "shopfront" mechanics are both things i could look at implementing into my own game to increase the excitement of the gameplay loop.
Trello -
I am now 75% complete with my benchmark research, the final game I would like to look into is the game Hotel, as I feel it fits well with the general theme of my game. Alongside this I will try to get my environmental statement and my IP/Copyright considerations completes within the following week. I have also been looking at the general process of making board games, which will fall into my Pipeline research and may also have some overlaps with my job role research too.
I'm still feeling pretty confident about everything at this stage, Its also just been very informative seeing how other companies approach the resource management genre of board games. I think if i continue at the current pace I should still be on track for completing my deliverables and hopefully a fully made game.
Bibliography
Rego, R., 2024.Superstore 3000 Game Rules. France : Space Cowboys
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