Service With a Shotgun is one of those rare indie games that feels like a fever dream, equal parts clever, absurd, charming, and occasionally rough around the edges. Developed by solo creator Nolyn Vansyckle and released on Steam in November 2025, this hybrid experience refuses to fit neatly into any one genre. It’s part visual novel, part wave-based shooter, and wholly committed to satirising the mundanity of retail work … even as the world literally collapses around you.
A wild concept that works, in a way
At first glance, Service With a Shotgun might sound like a novelty: you’re a retail clerk in an apocalypse, taking orders and chatting with customers during quiet moments, and blasting zombies with a shotgun mid conversation. This mash-up of genres, dialogue-heavy storytelling meets frantic shooting and survival, that rewards players that pay attention. Surprisingly it works really well and the first stage sets the grounds for a fantastic experience, but it won’t let you get used to it.
The charm of the game really lies in keeping a conversation with an NPC , that will ask you questions and react differently whether you were listening or not, and defending the gas station in between. As I mentioned, the first hour or so really sets the theme and nails it. The defence upgrades, managing ammo and money reserves, paying attention to the conversations and regular customers is all very exciting! But then Service with a shotgun switches it up.
I am as confused as the game is
Gameplay in Service With a Shotgun is deceptively simple, and stays simple across its five story chapters. You start by serving customers and learning the basics of the games loop, chat, defend, spend money, repeat. Ultimately that is the loop but every chapter is a new setting with a new problem at hand. Dragging characters through sewers, across the deserts and into bunkers. The characters however are the only thing that stays persistent which means your upgrades and cash don’t really matter at all.
That said, the game IS fun if simple and the story IS engaging even if the choices are limited. I wish whatever the game wanted to be in the first place continued. The solo developer was clearly trying out ideas which puts them on my radar for hopefully their next title.
Visually, Service With a Shotgun strikes a pleasing balance between pixel art and chaos.
My Conclusion
Service With a Shotgun isn’t flawless. MY biggest complaint is that I wish chapters were longer to make the games mechanics feel important. Still, the strengths, clever genre fusion, offbeat humour, bold creative vision really shine through. It’s a reminder that indie games can be weird, emotionally resonant, and genuinely entertaining without needing massive budgets or complex systems.
For players craving something different, a game that combines light storytelling, frantic shooting, and a darkly witty take on retail and survival then Service With a Shotgun is well worth your time. At its best, it’s a brilliantly bizarre love letter to indie game ambitions; at its worst, it’s still a fun little experiment that’s more satisfying than many high-budget titles could hope to be.
