The Art Shop

The Art Shop is a visual novel about your first day at an art supply store. The job begins fairly normally—you’re working at the register, helping customers, learning how to organize the stock in the store.

But the place is not as peaceful as it looks. As you speak more with your colleagues, you start to see the complex web of relationships that are in place. Things get weird when you happen to see things happening in the back of the store.

First Day at The Art Shop

Working with Lialeb

In Lialeb's route, you are assigned to work the register alongside her. Lialeb is the shop floor supervisor and cashier. She shows you how to work the register and where the products are.

They come in and purchase items such as camera film, spray paint, acrylics, etc. You do the transactions, add up the totals, take payments, give change, and deal with the customers.

Lialeb first appears quite cold, but short conversations begin to show another side to her. Sometimes when the store is quiet, you can talk and get to know each other better, the two of you.

Eccentric Characters

Reficoul is another key figure in the story. He frequently appears around the shop and seems to take particular pleasure in teasing Lialeb.

The relationship between the two becomes a center of attention very quickly. You can see they've got a history together and there's some unfinished business hanging over them.

How ​​to Play The Art Shop

Reading the Story and Making Choices

The meat of the gameplay largely consists of reading dialog and making choices. You decide how your character reacts to various situations. Some choices are straightforward, such as apologizing, speaking to a customer, or remaining silent. Different choices can steer the story in new directions.

Exploring Routes

The Art Shop features various routes centered on different characters. A choice made early in the game determines who you work with and which scenes you experience. You can also save your game before making important decisions, making it easier to go back and explore alternate story paths.

Events in the Storeroom

One of the best moments of the demo is when you find Lialeb and Reficoul bickering in the storeroom. The argument soon becomes heated, with Lialeb even grabbing Reficoul by the collar.

You can choose to step in, or just watch from the sidelines. Each choice will lead to a different result for the scene.

In the end, it’s more than a sales job at The Art Shop. Everyone in the shop has a story and the more you find out the more you realize how much is left unsaid. If you like visual novels that are all about characters, dialog and player choice then The Art Shop is definitely worth a try. Fans of multi-route romance games like Only One Bed at the Inn might also be pleasantly familiar with how the game deals with character relationships.