On Shelf

Systembolaget is a government-owned chain of stores in Sweden with an exclusive right of selling liquor. Its vision is a society where alcoholic beverages are enjoyed with consideration for the health so that nobody is injured. An important aspect of this is that all product selections and displays must be based on customer preferences, and every producer and distributor must be handled the same way. The items of the store come in three different types of five different colors. The players play job cards to order items to the store, move them to the shelves, pick up customer cards and match them with items on the shelves. Timely actions will let you work where the store needs it the most and skilful placement of items will bring ”your” customers’ items to the shelves first - both of which will earn you satisfied customers. The better you execute the jobs, the higher the Customer Satisfaction Index increases. When the store closes, the player with the highest index wins. The Shelf is a kind of semi-cooperative experience where an action of one player will open (or close) opportunities for the next player. The physical movements of items through the store provides both a tactical experience and a spatial challenge and the card management provide elements of both deck building and turn order manipulation. The result is a highly interactive and tactical game. —description from the designer