Supermarket Together is DeadDevsTellNoLies' co-op shop management game, released on 9 August 2024, and it runs up to 16 players inside one store. You order stock, set prices against the market, stack shelves, work the tills and chase shoplifters, with difficulty scaling to how many people are connected. Solo works, but the game is designed around the moment four players realise nobody restocked the dairy fridge.
Starting Supermarket Together can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Supermarket Together is a simulation game built around Franchise Points board and Ordering and restocking loop. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cashier | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Restocker | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Security | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Technician | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Storage Handler | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Restocker. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Storage Handler as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Franchise Points board
Levelling the supermarket through checkouts pays out Franchise Points, which you spend on a blackboard of perks. Most perks cost a single point while the heavier ones, such as extra employee slots and Recycling Courses, cost several.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Franchise Points board works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Produce Section
Fruit and vegetables: low unit price, high turnover, and the shelves that empty first on a busy day. It is the department that teaches you how fast restocking has to be.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Double Fridge: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Twice the frontage of the Basic Fridge for chilled goods, which is where drinks and dairy volume lives. It also empties twice as fast.
Step 4: Understand Ordering and restocking loop
You order boxes on the store computer, they land in the storage room, and somebody has to move that stock onto the shelves before customers walk out. Storage Shelves hold the surplus, and upgrades push total capacity toward 49,000 items.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Pharmacy Department
Unlocked later through the Franchise board. Small items with strong margins per shelf section, which makes it excellent value for the floor space it occupies.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Franchise Points board
Levelling the supermarket through checkouts pays out Franchise Points, which you spend on a blackboard of perks. Most perks cost a single point while the heavier ones, such as extra employee slots and Recycling Courses, cost several.
Ordering and restocking loop
You order boxes on the store computer, they land in the storage room, and somebody has to move that stock onto the shelves before customers walk out. Storage Shelves hold the surplus, and upgrades push total capacity toward 49,000 items.
Product pricing
Each of the 300 plus products has a reference market price and you set yours against it. Price well above it and customers abandon the item; price at or slightly under it and volume carries the profit.
Employee hiring and job roles
Eighteen employees are available across seven jobs: cashier, restock, security, technician, packaging, manufacturing and storage. Each Employee perk on the Franchise board unlocks one more hire, and staff improve as they work.
Shoplifters and store security
Thieves walk in looking exactly like customers until they pocket something. An employee assigned to Security guards the entrance with a broom, and metal detectors plus CCTV cover what one person cannot watch.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Buying more floor shelves while the back room is already overflowing with unplaced boxes
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
2. Pricing everything well above the market figure and wondering why the store empties out
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
3. Leaving tills unmanned during a rush until queues grow long enough that customers give up
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
4. Hiring staff without first taking the board perks that make those staff faster
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
5. Inviting eight players into a store built for four, then losing money to abandoned baskets
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Franchise Points board and Ordering and restocking loop
- Choose Restocker as starting build
- Clear Produce Section main content
- Acquire Double Fridge or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Pharmacy Department
- Franchise Points come from levelling the store through checkouts rather than from raw profit, so keeping tills moving is the fastest route to perks. A player standing at a register out-earns the same player wandering the aisles.
- Storage capacity is the hidden bottleneck. Deliveries that will not fit jam the restock loop, so buy Storage Shelves in the back room before spending on extra floor shelves you cannot keep full anyway.
Tips for New Players
- Franchise Points come from levelling the store through checkouts rather than from raw profit, so keeping tills moving is the fastest route to perks. A player standing at a register out-earns the same player wandering the aisles.
- Storage capacity is the hidden bottleneck. Deliveries that will not fit jam the restock loop, so buy Storage Shelves in the back room before spending on extra floor shelves you cannot keep full anyway.
- Pricing above the market reference figure loses customers straight away. Sitting a few percent under it moves far more volume, and volume is what levels the store and pays out Franchise Points.
- Take the Employee perks on the board early. Each one unlocks a hire, and a single restocker working full time is worth more than any individual speed upgrade you could buy instead.
- Agree roles before opening rather than during a rush. The standard four player split is one on tills, one restocking, one on ordering and pricing, and one covering security and cleaning.
- Shoplifters look identical to customers until they take something. A Security employee with a broom at the entrance, plus metal detectors and CCTV, catches most of them without anyone sprinting across the shop floor.
- Difficulty scales with connected players, so a store four people ran comfortably becomes chaos at eight. Add tills, shelves and staff before you invite more people, not after they arrive.
- The manufacturing department needs at least two Research machines at 3,500 each before it produces anything worth selling, so treat it as a mid game project rather than an opening purchase.
- Demolish interior pillars once the money is there. They chop the floor plan into awkward pockets and force customer paths into loops that slow checkout throughput for the whole store.
- Footfall perks such as Wifi Connection and Air Conditioning only help if you already have the shelves and staff to serve the extra customers. Buy capacity first and demand second, never the other way round.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players can play Supermarket Together?
Up to 16 in a single store, with difficulty scaling to the player count. Solo is fully supported, and you can raise difficulty manually if you want the pressure without the people.
How do I earn Franchise Points?
By levelling the supermarket through checkouts. Points then buy perks on the blackboard, from extra employee slots to Recycling Courses and Logistics, with most perks costing one point and the strongest ones costing several.
What is the best early purchase?
Storage Shelves and the first Employee perks. Storage keeps deliveries flowing, and a hired restocker frees a human player to handle ordering and pricing, which is where the real decisions live.
How do I stop shoplifters?
Assign an employee to Security so they guard the entrance with a broom, then add metal detectors and CCTV as the store grows. Electronics is the department thieves target hardest because the unit values are highest.
Does the game have an ending?
No, only bigger stores. Progression runs through store levels, the Franchise board, up to 18 employees across seven jobs, and storage capacity that eventually reaches 49,000 items.
More Supermarket Together Guides
- Supermarket Together Supermarket Together Overview
- Supermarket Together Best Builds
- Supermarket Together Tier List
- Supermarket Together Walkthrough
- Supermarket Together Tips & Tricks
- Supermarket Together Weapons Guide
- Supermarket Together Combat Guide
- Supermarket Together Boss Guide
- Supermarket Together Maps & Locations
- Supermarket Together Crafting Guide
- Supermarket Together Classes & Characters
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