
Ever dreamt of working on a supermarket checkout? Of course you haven't! But regardless of that, free to play game "Crazy Market" from French indie developer The Game Atelier will let you play the role of one of two new hires at a supermarket managed by a bizarre moustachioed man. Players start by choosing to play as either the impossibly handsome Eugene or green haired anime reject Lulu after that the goal is to rank up and reach the end of a three month period working at the supermarket.

Using the Vita's touch screen players grab items from the conveyer belt, wave them over the scanner, then place them back onto the conveyer belt. Scan a specified number of items and the stage is cleared. Sometimes items will need to be scanned more than once, or a 4 digit product code will need to be entered onto the keypad on screen. Over time the belt gets faster and items will drop in random locations on the belt. If an item reaches the end of the belt, or if you drop it, then it's game over and you'll have to retry. To spice things up, occasionally the boss will throw mystery boxes which may help (perhaps a score bonus or maybe the belt slow down) or hinder (the belt may speed or or a pile of new items will be thrown onto the belt) the player. Collectable coins fly across the screen when a chain of successful scans reaches the end of the belt, tapping them will boost your score. Additionally bombs may appear on the belt which have to be thrown aside, and sometimes the babies or pets of customers may accidently end up on the belt and you will have to return them to their owners. As a formula it works well and can be frantic and fun, however the game can struggle to tell which item you are trying to pick up on a crowded belt and it does have the habit of sneaking new items behind items that have already been scanned, a cheap tactic that feels like it was put in deliberately in order to make you fail.


When it comes down to it, there is a good deal of fun to be had with Crazy Market and as a freebie I would recommend anyone to give it a try, but my main gripe with the game is that it will only allow you to enjoy it for for around 10 minutes at a time before asking you to open your wallet.