Tostchu

About

"Tostchu is a single-player Simulation game set in 90s Turkey, where you manage your father's toast shop during late evenings. Prepare toasts, serve customers, and manage finances in a retro setting. Witness mysterious events through conversations, radio, TV, and your surroundings, adding intrigue to your toast-making duties."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 172 reviews

gameplay14 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game features a captivating atmosphere that effectively captures the essence of 90s Turkey, making it nostalgic and immersive.
The core gameplay loop of making toasts is addictive and enjoyable, providing a unique blend of mundane tasks with eerie, mysterious events.
Despite its flaws, the game shows great potential and creativity, with a strong foundation that could be expanded upon in future updates.

The game suffers from a lack of guidance and tutorials, making it difficult for players to understand the controls and mechanics, leading to frustration.
Many gameplay elements feel underdeveloped or irrelevant, such as the impact of food quality on customer satisfaction, resulting in a repetitive experience.
The story and character interactions are often vague and unsatisfying, leaving players with unanswered questions and a sense of incompleteness.

gameplay
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
64%
11%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a simple yet engaging core loop that combines cooking mechanics with atmospheric elements, though it suffers from unfinished features and a lack of depth. While many players find the mechanics enjoyable and the atmosphere captivating, there are significant complaints about repetitiveness, unfinished content, and a steep learning curve that can lead to frustration. Overall, the game offers a unique experience but is hindered by its limitations and bugs, leaving players wanting more depth and variety.
- “The atmosphere and visual style are fantastic; gameplay is simple yet has a nice flow to it.”
- “Even though it has a few irritating bugs that can be fixed very easily, Tostchu is a very fun game with its hypnotizing main gameplay loop, nostalgic environment, and unique approach to horror.”
- “Core mechanics and core game loop are well designed and addictive for a game that aims to deliver intended notions.”
- “There are literally unfinished game mechanics, events, and 2 unfinished endings out of the current 4 (2 of them are early finales).”
- “Wasted potential with many oversights, boring gameplay loop, badly written story/dialogue, buggy interactions. I can't even 100% the game (which has just 4 different endings, 2 of which are easily achievable; 1 is default gameplay). Nobody should spend 12+ hours in a game stagnant like this to get all different 'endings' which aren't that good or conclusive.”
- “However, I must say that the game’s biggest flaw is its extremely repetitive and boring gameplay loop.”
atmosphere
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
39%
7%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and eerie qualities, effectively capturing the nostalgic essence of a 90s Turkish toast shop. Reviewers highlight the unique visual style, psychological tension, and the ability to evoke feelings of loneliness and melancholy, making it a compelling experience, especially when played in solitude. However, some note that while the atmosphere is strong, the gameplay could benefit from more depth and variety to enhance the overall experience.
- “The atmosphere and tension are well-crafted, keeping you on edge in a more subtle, psychological way.”
- “I loved the visual style—it’s richly detailed and creates a unique, immersive atmosphere that captures the essence of a 90s Turkish toast shop.”
- “The atmosphere, along with the authentic feel of a Turkish shop, really managed to pull me in while also keeping me on edge.”
- “The horror element is just based on the atmosphere and there are not too many events in the game to elevate it.”
- “Although the modeling, music, and TV/radio content do create the desired atmosphere beautifully, the monotonous gameplay, repetitive content, lack of interesting events, and the sometimes irritating bugs make it hard for me to recommend this game to anyone—especially fans of retro horror games, as they’ll likely be disappointed.”
- “The atmosphere is eerie.”
story
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
63%
13%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it compelling and atmospheric, particularly appreciating its intriguing setting and cryptic dialogue. However, many criticize the narrative for being disjointed, poorly executed, and lacking depth, leading to a sense of wasted potential and unfinished elements. Overall, while there are interesting themes and moments, the story often fails to engage players meaningfully or provide satisfying conclusions.
- “Once you get the loop down, it isn't hard to keep up with orders, and the story it's telling is very compelling and worth the playthrough.”
- “What got me really interested in it is the part about William Butler Yeats; it was really surprising to see the merging of Yeats's 'Apocalypse' and the game's obscure story.”
- “It has quite an insightful story about Central Anatolia and the myths within.”
- “Everything else is a chore and the characters and how the story is told really couldn't get me to care.”
- “Weak storytelling.”
- “Story and dialogues have giant holes and feel empty.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The graphics are praised for their nostalgic and polished visuals, effectively blending comfort with a darker tone. However, some players note issues with readability and frame rate, suggesting that the art style can occasionally hinder gameplay clarity, and express a desire for more graphic options.
- “Overall, I find the graphics highly polished and requiring little improvement.”
- “Graphics and art style are fine; I like these kinds of looks for games.”
- “But sometimes the art style gets in the way of the intelligibility of the game; for example, I can't read the numbers on the work clock until I get really close.”
- “There are problems with FPS and the vision distortion; I wish we had some graphic options.”
- “The nostalgic setting lures you in with its familiar, almost comforting visuals, only to turn them into something dark and sinister.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marred by numerous bugs and glitches that detract from the overall experience, leading to frustrating gameplay and immersion issues. Players report significant oversights and clunky controls, which hinder the ability to fully explore the game and achieve all endings. Despite some captivating elements, the overall execution leaves much to be desired, resulting in a stagnant experience.
- “Wasted potential with many oversights, boring gameplay loop, badly written story/dialogue, buggy interactions. I can't even 100% the game (which has just 4 different endings, 2 of which are easily achievable, and 1 is default gameplay). Nobody should spend 12+ hours in a game stagnant like this to get all different 'endings' which aren't that good or conclusive. I just wanted to get my money's worth, but even when I followed guides and did many trial and error, I couldn't get the 'eyes inward' ending.”
- “There were some minor bugs or glitches that lowered immersion for me.”
- “The atmosphere and the core gameplay loop are captivating, even though the controls are clunky and maybe buggy at times (which can be expected from a PS1-style game).”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find the simple gameplay loop encourages repeated play, others feel there is limited incentive to return after the initial experience.
- “The variety of choices and outcomes keeps me coming back for more.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the dynamic events and character interactions.”
- “I would recommend trying it out, but there is little replayability.”
- “The simple gameplay loop allows for more replayability.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and monotonous, with repetitive gameplay that detracts from the overall experience. While some express a desire to explore all endings, the tedious nature of the timer and the grinding loop makes it difficult to engage in multiple playthroughs.
- “I really want to see all the endings; however, I can't bring myself to play it again and again as the timer is a bit tedious.”
- “In a game like this, you’d expect some repetitive gameplay to keep the budget manageable, but the loop here is so monotonous and focused on doing the same things repeatedly that it quickly becomes tedious.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy of the game effectively leverages Turkish nostalgia and is supported by a strong social media presence, indicating that the developers are skilled in engaging their target audience.
- “It's clear to me that the developers know what they are doing when it comes to capturing nostalgia, but the constant advertisements are overwhelming; this game was all over my social media.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, as it seems like every feature is locked behind a paywall.”
- “I feel like I'm being pressured to spend money just to enjoy the game; it's frustrating and takes away from the overall experience.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is praised for being both original and genuinely funny, providing players with a refreshing and entertaining experience that enhances overall enjoyment.
- “The humor in this game is original and genuinely funny, making every moment enjoyable.”
- “I found myself laughing out loud at the clever jokes and witty dialogue throughout the game.”
- “The comedic timing and absurd situations had me in stitches; it's a refreshing take on humor in gaming.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting their excitement for upcoming content updates and appreciation for the developers' positive and supportive attitude. The resolution of previous bugs and performance issues has further enhanced their overall experience.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users report that previous bugs and performance issues have been resolved, leading to a smoother gaming experience. Additionally, there is anticipation for an upcoming content update, and players appreciate the developers' positive engagement with the community.
- “The bugs are gone, performance issues have been resolved, and there's a content update on the way! I'm excited for the upcoming content, plus the developers are incredibly wholesome and great people.”
- “The optimization has made a significant difference in gameplay, making everything smoother and more enjoyable.”
- “I appreciate how the developers are continuously working on optimization, ensuring that the game runs flawlessly on various systems.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
100%
The music effectively enhances the game's atmosphere, but the overall experience is marred by monotonous gameplay and repetitive content, which may disappoint fans of retro horror games.
- “The music in this game perfectly captures the eerie atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience and immersing players in the world.”
- “I was blown away by the soundtrack; it adds so much depth and emotion to the gameplay, making every moment feel significant.”
- “The blend of haunting melodies and ambient sounds creates a captivating audio landscape that keeps you engaged throughout the game.”
- “Although the modeling, music, and TV/radio content create the desired atmosphere beautifully, the monotonous gameplay, repetitive content, lack of interesting events, and sometimes irritating bugs make it hard for me to recommend this game to anyone—especially fans of retro horror games, as they’ll likely be disappointed.”