Supermarket Mania - keep it all stocked!

Supermarket Mania is a time-management game from Alawar Games and G5 entertainment offering you an opportunity to run a supermarket, as you might guess from its name. In Supermarket Mania you will act as Nikki, an aspiring employee of TORG Corporation, trying to work as effective as she can to keep all the shelves stocked and all the customers happy. The game is quite a good choice for everyone addicted to the genre, for it represents a fresh stream in the flood of fast-food, farming and fashion time-managements and is rather nicely drawn and developed.

So, as I already mentioned, it's Nikki's first day as a shop assistant in TORG Corporation which has already taken over almost the whole retail market in the city...

Surely, our heroine is going to do her best and prove she is worthy of the position. Unfortunately, though her (and yours) work is more than effective, be ready to some

disappointment (or, should I better say - chance?). Her career in the monopolist company won't be long, for robotic staff is considered much more efficient. But if you wish something really much, your luck is waiting you just around the corner. For Nikki it's Corner Mart - a small shop miraculously managing to survive against the dominance of TORG Corp. Here she starts her path as a sales professional.

That's the story in a nutshell. Concerning the game play I would say it's quite addictive though not really balanced sometimes. Your mission on each level (which is one day of work) is to stock all the shelves with corresponding products so that customers wouldn't have to wait before buying the products they need. In the beginning of the level your cart is full and your shelves are empty, so your first task is to fill them with products - just click on them, as usual in time-managements. Then, after customers start coming, you should keep the shelves stocked through the whole day.

Tip: Be sure to watch icons above customers' heads and the cart indicator in the right part of the screen - that will help you save precious seconds before a customer gets mad at you or your cart shows its bottom.

The second but not less important concern during a level is garbage which is inevitable in any shop. Try to clean it as soon as it appears on the floor, otherwise you will lose customers which may be critical for completing a level. And, I should say, sometimes it is a real challenge, as the deadline is tight, customers exacting and work hard.

Your life will be much easier if you read information on your customers and their preferred products, as well as your 5 top products. Upgrades available for the shop after each level are also quite useful if we speak about maximizing the revenue.

The graphics and sounds of the game are rather pleasant, as the game on the whole. Time-management fans, it's for you!

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