Piece By Piece is about mending, painting and selling goods in a cute repair shop

It appears that every “wholesome” game falls into the category of either being a Stardew Valley-like game or an Animal Crossing-inspired game. For example, Little Rocket Lab is similar to Stardew Valley, while Piece By Piece is reminiscent of Animal Crossing. Specifically, Piece By Piece is like Animal Crossing, but with a chibi fox protagonist running a shop, repairing and painting items to sell, while also tending to cleanliness and the surrounding plants. If you enjoy the upcycling aspect of Trash Goblin, then Piece By Piece might be of interest to you.

Despite its cozy atmosphere, the press release hints at a level of challenge in managing your shop. It warns that Piece By Piece will test your skills, stating, “If you think this will be easy, Piece by Piece is going to outfox you.” Each day, you’ll need to organize your store, assist customers, and try to make a profit by selling various items. While being helpful is important, the fox protagonist also needs to earn a living!

I’m curious to see if I can avoid losing my shop to debt collectors, but only time will tell.

After attending the Wholesome Snack presentation and covering this story along with three others, I believe these games offer a pleasant gaming experience. However, I can’t help but notice that they all seem to draw inspiration from the same few core concepts, which can be somewhat exhausting. While other genres also have similar trends, the repetition in these wholesome games is particularly noticeable. Even the dialogue boxes feel familiar.

Describing these games as “Animal Crossingbut” may be a generous interpretation, as it implies some level of innovation. However, when comparing Piece By Piece to games like Trash Goblin or other recent shop sims, I’m not convinced that it brings anything significantly new to the table.

I remain hopeful that Piece By Piece will prove me wrong. The game is set for an early 2025 release on Steam.