Cart Life (2013)

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 7 out of 22

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  1. ericcoutinho
    Jun 12, 2014
    8
    Cart Life is focused on story, and the everyday life of simple workers trying to survive in the real world. You'll see yourself engaged in their hard and time-consuming tasks like paying the rent, bills, take care of a son or a cat, eating, addictions, dealing with people and their own problems.

    You'll be challenged everyday to manage their time at work, travel, and common tasks.    Cart Life is focused on story, and the everyday life of simple workers trying to survive in the real world. You'll see yourself engaged in their hard and time-consuming tasks like paying the rent, bills, take care of a son or a cat, eating, addictions, dealing with people and their own problems.

    You'll be challenged everyday to manage their time at work, travel, and common tasks. Earning money is a constant concern, and it will be very hard. Meantime (a very scarce time) you have to know your new city, what you can get at local stores, for how much, and what you can get to improve your business. To get a life, to be happy and healthy, not just to survive, and you will be concerned by your character in a sad, depressive way.

    Cart Life is not an easy game on any aspect.
    It takes me 10hs just to have a relatively good ending with a single of the three characters.
    Although the description like "a retail simulator" is true, don't expect so much depth about it. The mechanics are very simple - sometimes dull - and most of the time you'll struggle with them. It's not a game design issue, but a perceived and mostly well-done attempt to reproduce the boring and mechanical aspects of a simple work.

    About bugs.
    I had some difficulty to put the game to work, and the single author doesn't give us any support or patches. I still getting very rare crashes (like 2 or 3 in 10 hours).

    But some things i saw people complaining doesn't seem like bugs to me, like the cash register refusing to open sometimes, or realizing you have no change, and you'll lose your customer. I saw these things perfectly fitting the game purpose, and i think most people will see them like bugs because of the random aspect of the game, or the absence of a good AI. So, every time you open your cash register this random aspect will define how much money it have inside, and you can see the same customer many times on a single day.

    The art style is fabulous for those who had an MSX or similar by the 80's, and although we had not mouses at this time, the gameplay is very closer, sometimes dull like i said before. The soundtrack are really good and old school too, and the music will stay in your head for a long time after playing.    … Expand
  2. SomePCGamer
    Jul 19, 2014
    8
    I am gonna warn you that this review is incomplete and does not include a look at all aspects of the game.It is overall a Great game. But playing with Melaine is impossible. You simply do not have enough money to get started with the coffee shop. This game is pretty hard but in a good way. It challenges you to play more if you dare(the relationship between Andrus and his cat Mr. GlembovskiI am gonna warn you that this review is incomplete and does not include a look at all aspects of the game.It is overall a Great game. But playing with Melaine is impossible. You simply do not have enough money to get started with the coffee shop. This game is pretty hard but in a good way. It challenges you to play more if you dare(the relationship between Andrus and his cat Mr. Glembovski is heartbreaking and i stopped playing because Glembovski went missing two times in a row). This game is very friendly for colorblind people and the music is retro style and works suprisingly well with the dark and depressive art style. I haven't played with the third character yet, because i left almost crying when Mr. Glembovski went missing again.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

42
#42 Best PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. 4P.de
    Jul 16, 2013
    80
    While the concept shines, the execution sometimes is not as elaborated. Nonetheless I left this grey and pixelated world in good spirit.
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  2. PC Gamer
    May 21, 2013
    80
    Emotive storytelling that puts the tedium and stress of work before pleasure, but somehow still has a lightness of touch. [July 2013, p.70]
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Apr 22, 2013
    80
    Cart Life is a truly rewarding experience. It's all about feelings and connection. Difficult to believe as it sounds, your favourite videogame heroes for the years to come are three ordinary people.
    Read full review
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