AI is coming for my job, so I’ve started searching for an alternative among the many job simulators available on Steam. This week’s mission involves Gun Store Simulator, an early access gun store sim where I manage a retail outlet in a high-saturation market.

With roughly 400 million privately-owned firearms in the United States, the market is already saturated. However, as a level one weapons distributor, my initial inventory doesn't even include guns. My starting stock is limited to:

  • Baseball bats
  • Brass knuckles
  • Knives

The Strategy of Blunt Force Trauma

Because I can't sell firearms yet, I decided to embrace a "blunt damage only" business model. If I could rename my store—which the game currently doesn't allow—I would call it The Blunt Hut.

Instead of selling long-range weapons, I focus on items that require customers to get close and personal. My strategy is simple: stock the shelves with knuckle dusters and baseball bats, then wait for the robotic customers to arrive. They march straight to the shelves, grab their non-guns, and pay me without a single complaint.

This approach allows me to earn enough profit to hire Jackson, a cashier in camo pants, to help manage the register. My primary focus remains on brass knuckles because they are easy to move, though I do run into a minor physics issue. Every time I empty a wooden crate, I drop it on the floor. These crates never disappear; they just pile up, forcing me to use the outdoor dumpster to avoid being buried in wood.

Scaling Profits in This Gun Store Sim

While selling knuckles is profitable, the real money lies in expanding my inventory. While knucks only cost $17, I noticed that knives are much more expensive at $58. I decided to test the limits of consumer greed by cranking the price of knives way up.

I moved a knife shelf to the far side of the store and raised prices from $75 to $100, and eventually to $115. To my surprise, the mindless, soulless customers didn't even blink at the markup. The success of this expansion allowed me to hire a second Jackson clone to run a second register.

The Costly Shooting Range Mistake

With the extra cash, I decided to make a massive $10,000 investment: a shooting range. I wanted to see if I could operate a range without having any actual guns in stock. Unfortunately, the customers of this gun store sim are much more demanding than my knuckle-buying regulars.

As soon as the range opened, visitors began appearing with large word bubbles stating, "Picture Of A Gun." Since there is no option to let them shoot paper targets with blunt objects, I am left with a costly, useless facility.

This investment has left me in a financial hole. To recover, I have had to consolidate my inventory, take down shelves, and even fire one of the Jackson clones to save money. For now, the dream of a massive empire is on hold while I struggle to keep my stabby inventory stocked.