Dealer’s Life 2 Review (PC)

How much would you pay for a scale model that was used by a celebrity to play a once-popular miniature-driven boardgame based on a massive science fiction movie trilogy? Me, no more than 10 dollars. Someone who stalks that celebrity on Facebook and knows lines from the first movie by heart? Probably more.

While playing Dealer’s Life 2 I am constantly hoping that a customer that resembles me in real life comes into my pawnshop to sell me that not-a-Death-Star and that an obsessed collector then shows up to take it off my hands for a big payday.

The title is both developed and published by Abyte Entertainment. Players can pick it up on the PC using Steam. This is a pawn shop simulation with a cartoon look and solid but repetitive mechanics.

Gamers can create their unique character and start off very near to the bottom, living in a slum and working out of a radioactive shack. To reach the industrial zone and beyond, you need to buy low and sell high, making the money required to move to better shops and buy personal items.

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There’s quite a bit of writing in Dealer’s Life 2 and it aims for humor, especially in the news section of the paper the character reads every day. The game extracted a chuckle or two and makes a ton of cultural references but after the first month, I only clicked on the newspaper to hire people or take part in special events.

The gameplay loop is easy to understand and pretty repetitive. A customer walks up to the counter, either to sell or to buy an item. The player gets a look at it and estimates its value. Then the haggling begins. Try to pay as little money as possible and then find someone willing to pay above the actual value to make a profit. Take pride in your ability to take advantage of other people to make a ton of money.

Dealer’s Life 2 quickly adds layers of complexity. Each item has a rarity and condition and the difference in price between them can be massive. Make sure to bank as much money as possible and lie in wait for the moment someone brings in something truly valuable. Try to sell to collectors who are willing to pay way above market value.

Upgrade character stats to gain more insight into customers and become better able to haggle. Hire other people, from clerks to forgers to brainwashers, to add to the stats and get more ways to get extra value from items. Make choices that affect reputation, which in turn influences client types and other interactions.

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The game offers plenty of money sinks. Better shops cost money upfront and in maintenance and you have to pay employees. The character can get personal items to symbolize his growing wealth. There are investment opportunities, with associated risks, and loans for a short burst of cash. Sometimes auctions pop up in the newspaper, bringing out some items that can deliver massive profits with the right strategy.

Dealer’s Life 2 needs to introduce a lot of layers and extra activities to keep players engaged. The narrative, or the idea of investing money in a better house or a new car, was not enough to keep me playing. But the idea of upgrading to get space for a forger or the fact that another auction was incoming were events big enough to keep me pushing through another day of haggling over 100-dollar commemorative mugs.

The biggest issue I have with the game is the massive difference between values for some of the objects that show up. I just re-sold a classic mobile phone for 500 dollars, making a good profit. The next customer shows up hoping to sell a rare book for 100,000 dollars when I have just a tenth of that in reserve.

Dealer’s Life 2 wisely doesn’t aim for realism. The stylized locations, objects, and characters work well with the lighthearted approach to the concept. The art pops, which is important given the incredibly repetitive nature of the gameplay. The music very much matches the tone of the game but becomes annoying after a few hours.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion