Night of the Consumers and the Terror of Being a Grocery Store Clerk
When you think about a setting for a horror game, you may think of decrepit houses, abandoned buildings, and lowly lit forests. Unless you’ve lived it, working as a grocery store clerk, faced with blinding fluorescent lights and wave after wave of angry customers, likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, with the game Night of the Consumers, indie developer Germfood made it a mission to create a game that exposes the player to the horror and panic that can come with working in a busy retail store.
When written out, Night of the Consumers isn’t the most terrifying premise. The player works at a grocery store and is tasked with stocking the shelves while being occasionally badgered by needy customers. The opening cutscene, which shows a panicked store clerk being mobbed by customers and escaping to the break room, paints the experience in a whole new light. The titular consumers in Night of the Consumers act as blood-thirsty parasites, chasing you around the store and getting you fired if you slip up for even a second. It’s this constant feeling of urgency that causes Night of the Consumers to feel both tense and frightening.
This first-person horror experience consists of bringing boxes to shelves and dodging the customers. When a customer does manage to locate you, you must bring them to the correct aisle (indicated by their dialogue) before the timer runs out, or you’ll be fired. It’s a fun and simple gameplay loop that is both engaging and occasionally frustrating in a good way. The mini-game of stocking the shelves is agonizingly slow, and it adds to the tension of potentially being accosted by customers. The player can also throw boxes at customers to stun them and buy themselves some time. If you lose, you’re greeted with one final jump scare as the lights shut off and the boss races towards you to deliver your termination personally.
Despite the simplicity of its concept, Night of the Consumers does have a lot of nuance in its gameplay. The goal of stocking the shelves is straightforward, but there is plenty of strategy involved along the way. For example, when a customer asks the player where something is on an aisle, it pays to have memorized the aisles in order to get them there before the timer expires. Additionally, since the game’s timer starts as soon as the first item is stocked, it can also be helpful to place the boxes on their respective aisles beforehand to ensure a quick and easy run.
The gameplay is always filled with panic and stress, but what enhances it all is the game’s disturbing visuals and musical cues. Every customer has a unique design, but they all have an uncanny quality that makes them difficult to look at. Their bulging eyes and razor sharp teeth cause them to seem more like animalistic carnivores than humans. Equally panic-inducing is the music, which wildly swings from relaxing grocery store jingles to a crescendo of stabbing synths. These wild swings between calm and panic perfectly parallel the game’s frantic changes in pace.
Upon completing the game, which is still technically still a work in progress, the boss promises the player a promotion if they keep up the good work. The player returns to their dark apartment, ready to do it all again tomorrow. It’s a quiet moment in a game that is filled with heart-pounding cacophony. While it’s exaggerated for horror’s sake, Night of the Consumers acts as more of a panic-simulator than a horror game. The tension brought on by the breakneck pace and constant barrage of customers cause the player to be constantly on edge, so when they do finally return to their quiet home, they’re happy to leave the dreaded grocery store behind them, even if it’s only for a short amount of time.