Rewind 99

When Rewind 99 landed on my PC I expected a cute shop sim with jokes about late fees, but I got much more: a full-blown playground of 90s nostalgia, emergent chaos and deliberately silly systems. You run the last video rental store, juggle customers and inventory by day, and dive into illegal hustles and film production by night — often with hilarious consequences. The developers, Gunmetal Games and Real Fake Games, pack the city with secrets and ways to make money or ruin everything, which keeps every play session feeling unpredictable. If you like sims that let you break the rules and laugh about it afterwards, this one scratches that exact itch.

Running the Last Video Rental on Main Street

Every day in Rewind 99 starts with the tiny ritual of flipping the "Open" sign and hoping the rent gets paid, and that small moment perfectly captures the game's loop as you juggle customers, tapes, and the seemingly endless pile of late returns. The primary loop has you serving customers at the counter, rewinding tapes, restocking shelves with VHS, snacks and quirky collectibles, and deciding which tapes to order next to satisfy oddball tastes; it feels tactile in a way most sims don't because you actually perform each action rather than watching menus tick down. Transactions are satisfyingly physical — grabbing a tape, rewinding it, slapping a sticker on it — and that hands-on feeling makes every successful sale feel earned, especially early on when money is tight. The day/night split adds nice pacing: daytime is shop management, quiet and methodical, while nights open up the city's chaotic side hustles where you can gamble, fight, or scavenge to keep the lights on. Employee AI is useful without being magical: hire clerks to handle basics, but expect to micro-manage more complex tasks or face the delightful disaster of a shelve collapse. Progression is steady but deliberate, and that slow burn kept me invested rather than rushing through upgrades.

Side Hustles and Chaotic Choices

If the main store is the spine of the game, the side hustles are the limbs that let you stretch in ridiculous directions: underground fight clubs, claw machines, producing illegal films, and gambling on bull-riding minigames give you so many ways to make — or lose — cash. Each hustle has its own risk/reward curve; some are instant money, others eat your bankroll and teach painful lessons, and that uncertainty creates tense, memorable moments. Some mechanics are gloriously silly — mixing horror tapes into abominations or paying a repo man to fetch late returns — and they carry the game's best stories when they go right or spectacularly wrong. There are clearly knobs to tweak in balance, as some systems feel expensive or gated early on, but the devs' rapid updates and community-first attitude have already smoothed a lot of rough edges. Co-op multiplies the chaos in the best way: dividing tasks, arguing over who gets to drive the scooter, and watching a buddy accidentally trash the display is pure gold. I loved how the game encourages emergent play, letting me roleplay a petty late-fee enforcer one session and a shameless hustler the next. Overall, the variety keeps the loop fresh even after repeated weeks of opening and closing.

A City to Roam and a Presentation with Personality

Technically the game leans into a low-poly, neon-soaked '90s aesthetic that hits the nostalgia sweet spot without feeling like a cheap costume, and the color palette alone made me want to keep exploring. Sound design is playful: odd little jingles, tape static, and snappy voice quips give the world personality, while a soundtrack that winks at era-appropriate beats helps scenes land emotionally. Performance on Windows (my test platform) felt solid for the most part, though a few users report crashes and multiplayer sync hiccups that the team seems to be actively working on. Accessibility options are modest but present — keybindings and mouse-friendly controls work well, but controller support feels like a community request still waiting to be fully addressed. The UI is readable and intentionally tactile, but sometimes the inventory tedium of tiny items can become a chore if you don't automate early. All told, the presentation matches the game's heart: scrappy, funny, and made by people who clearly love this niche.

Rewind 99 is a love letter to tape culture with a hilarious, chaotic backbone that rewards curiosity and rule-breaking. It stumbles occasionally with balance and technical hiccups, but the charm, variety and strong developer presence make it a worthy buy—especially for co-op sessions. If you want a cozy sim that lets you cause delightful mayhem, this one’s a blast.