Alien Market Simulator
Who knew alien capitalism could be this fun!
What happens when you're caught stealing a loaf of bread? In most games, maybe a fine. In Alien Market Simulator, you’re banished to an alien planet with a single mission: repay your debt by running a bizarre little outpost for intergalactic travelers. What starts as a rundown building with no working bathroom quickly becomes a bustling pit stop for alien species of every shape, color, and dietary preference.
UX (Control Feel & User Experience)
The experience and controls in Alien Market Simulator are smooth and intuitive. A clean tool wheel allows you to quickly swap between mop, hammer, vacuum, and more; you can also use number keys for quicker access to these. Navigation feels great, whether you’re scrubbing goo off the market floor, or smashing invasive grubs crawling toward your customers.
Managing your store through the tablet interface is where things slow down just a bit. To access different facilities, you'll need to pull the tablet out, press a button to activate it, then navigate sub-menus to manage things like employees or restocking. But outside of that minor friction, movement and multitasking flow beautifully across the map.
Gameplay Progression
You begin with nothing but dirt, debris, and determination. The first few hours involve deep cleaning, bathroom restoration, and slowly earning enough money to install shelving and stock basic goods. As your store improves, you'll unlock new product displays, vending machines, and full-service food stands. It’s an excellent drip-feed of features that make every hour feel earned.
A standout mechanic involves little alien gremlins that will literally sprint across the map to steal any unattended boxes of product. It's a clever twist on the usual sim strategy of throwing stuff on the floor until you're ready to sort it. Here, that laziness is punished in the funniest and most chaotic way possible.
Eventually, you unlock the ability to hire robotic assistants: one for the fuel station, one for the market checkout, others to clean or restock. These helpers are absolute game-changers, especially as the foot traffic and chaos scale up. There’s genuine satisfaction in transforming from a one-human show into a fully automated galactic pit stop operation.
Immersion
Immersion is where Alien Market Simulator truly shines. The HUD is clean and unobtrusive, allowing you to fully lose yourself in the rhythm of managing, cleaning, restocking, and upgrading. It never feels like the game is holding your hand or shouting for attention. Instead, it invites you to settle into a quiet, strangely peaceful loop; broken only by the occasional scream of an alien whose bathroom stall is…occupied by something slimy.
Whether you're pricing snacks, chasing off tiny alien thieves, or restocking shelves with jarred tentacles and plasma crisps, it’s easy to forget you’re playing a game at all.
Stability & Performance
During my gameplay, the game never crashed, froze, or hiccupped. Every system operated as expected. There's even a thoughtful option in the settings to disable the film grain overlay; great for accessibility or simply for those who prefer a cleaner visual.
Post-launch support has been strong. Since its full release on May 7, 2025, the developers have pushed out five updates packed with quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and new features. They're listening to player feedback via their official Discord and implementing suggestions quickly, which is a rare treat in Early Access titles.
Value for Price
Alien Market Simulator is available on Steam for $12.99 USD / $17.67 CAD / € 11.03 , with a current 20% discount bringing it down to $10.39 USD until July 28, 2025. A free demo is also available if you want to test the waters before committing.
With regular updates, strong community engagement, and nearly all systems working smoothly even at this early stage, the game offers excellent value for its price point. And when you consider that it was built by just two people, one developer and one designer, that’s even more impressive.
I've clocked about 10 hours of playtime so far, but it's the kind of game that I keep going back to, especially when I see new updates appear in my Steam feed boasting new QOL updates, tools, and workers to ease the feel of the late-game chaos.
Final Verdict
Alien Market Simulator is overall a well-made and worthwhile investment for its price point. Compared to similar games within this sub-genre, it holds its own in terms of both content and UX, despite still being very much in early access. I'd love to see the developers continue fleshing out the quirky little world, including deeper customer behaviors, more shop and employee customization options, expanded item variety, or even improving AI pathing and behavior. There is a ton of potential here to be capitalized on, and if the developers continue listening to their supportive community, Alien Market Simulator could evolve from a fun novelty to a strong competitor for other simulation titles.
Joystick Score 4/5
Exile and debt collection has never been more enjoyable.