Interacting with this game's media and product itself caused a massive instance of deja vu. It brought back memories. Memories of being scammed by fancy trailers and shiny screenshots. And it reminded me of someone.

Experts already made a connection to another game called Zoochosis. It was fairly criticized for being nothing like promotional material presented to the public. Oh, and also being kinda bad. Crashing, performance issues, shallow gameplay mechanics, pitiful length, focus on grindy replayability, boring bosses etc. Future updates didn't really improve anything in a way it would matter, which is a pity.

I've got the same feeling upon beating Hellmart. Half of the game turns out to be a tutorial that teaches you how to do things without actually letting you off the leash to experience expected randomness and insanity of this odd place. A free demo is literally that half. It feels unfinished and more like a proof of concept than an actual completed game. It's scripted af and there is no reason to replay it beyond getting all the achievements. It's a pretty lazy mishmash of supermarket sim, anomaly spotter and some average hide'n seek monster walking sim, latter is optional if you get lucky or play "properly". It ends with an abrupt "The End" screen. An entire credits section is just missing from the game, which I found suspicious. Googling employee names of GAZE IN GAMES gives you nothing. However if you start digging you'll find some interesting info.

For starters, company name is GAZE IN GAMES. Company's founder is Oleg Gaze, at least according to this tweet [x.com]. Checking that name out on IMDb [www.imdb.com] reveals that Mr.Gaze was actually an executive producer of Zoochosis. Overall elusive nature of Hellmart creators except for one important key figure along striking similarities in both fake presentation and core idea of "taking a shady job at maintaining a location where something horrible is happening" leads me to believe that Clapperheads - developers of Zoochosis decided to form a new company in order to avoid heat for their previous scam product.

I personally don't believe it was made by the new staff, as was stated by Oleg. The fact that Hellmart follows almost the same exact path as Zoochosis could just be a management issue, but again, didn't you learn from your mistakes? Or this is a new tactic of overhyping a game by releasing eye-catching pre-rendered footage with some AI in it. Then getting some free advertisement by a bunch of content creators buying into this new hip cool looking indie game. Then have playtesters leaving positive reviews and thanking you for allowing partnership resulting in boosted review score. And then finish up with making a game just long enough so people can't refund it and call it a day. No matter how you put it, it's bad.

I'm not claiming it to be THE ultimate truth, but rather a very curious observation that you should pay close attention to before purchase.

I adore the concept and hope devs will continue updating and improving the game, but for now it's just super mid. I unironically expected a twist where multiple playthroughs lead to different encounters, anomalies or situations, but during my very first playthrough I got the achievement "Meet all of Hellmart's unique customers" which basically was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. It's fine if you are a ha-ha funny streamer or a YTber, but for normal people, stay away.

EDIT №1:
Upon embarking on another journey in the store to collect remaining achievements I put this quote - "designed for multiple playthroughs and different endings" by the devs to the test. I encountered 0% new content except for the bad ending by being terrible at my job. Being rude to customers doesn't affect anything. One of the NPCs said that he "taught previous worker a lesson for being bad" but nothing actually happens to you. The ominous text saying "this action will have consequences" is a ruse and affect only your ending. Obviously I didn't have any expectations, but it would be fair to assume that the worse you are doing, the more you are punished for misdeeds. And the funniest thing, if you just straight up play the game badly you are getting a cooler ending imho. Bad ending and its consequences are genuinely a treat. Nothing groundbreaking or jaw dropping ofc, rather just fitting.

EDIT №2:
Despite the criticism I gotta give devs credit when credit is due. They completely removed pre-rendered promotional material from the store page, trailers included, that's how it was supposed to be in the first place. Now lets see some juicy content update.

I just finished the game and also played the demo beforehand. The demo was great and gave me the feeling of: “Okay, I like the gameplay, but the full game needs more — more jumpscares, more creepy moments, more everything… but hey, it’s just a demo.”
Sadly, in the end, the full game feels like the demo — just longer.

The game clearly has potential. There are so many things that could have been added: creepy customers watching you from outside,, unsettling things appearing on your computer, cans flying off the shelves so you have to pick them up again — all the classic creepy ideas known from other games. Hardly any of that is actually in the game, but it easily could be.

They also could have added a ton of weird customers. If every customer had been strange or unsettling in some way, the game could have worked as a weird “eye-candy” experience — and that alone would have been enjoyable.
Instead, most customers just talk a bit and leave. Nothing really funny, disturbing, or memorable happens with them.

There is this big weird guy — in the demo, I clearly remember him ordering cigarettes, and when you turned around, he suddenly had this long neck and stared directly into your face. That moment never happened to me in the full version. And that is exactly the kind of stuff that would have made the game much more fun and memorable.

I liked the old lady, but she just tells you a creepy story and yells at you… and that’s it? Why is she not comming back with a knife running towards you? That's what she promised and i was waiting for that! There could have been so much more done with her for example.

Overall, it feels like the developers ran out of time.
For example:

You have a weather forecast on your computer — it does nothing.
You have a program to order groceries — it does nothing.
You have a “personal folder” on your PC — it does nothing.
You als ocould hide in the fridge, why? I never need that?
Why is there a shotgun you can't get?
What about the beartraps?

You can watch customers through security cameras — but you never actually need to use them. They have no real purpose.

There are many things in this game, but it just feels they are not finished.

The story also feels incomplete. I watched all three endings and I did like them, but it still feels like something is missing.
Who is the guy in the jacket?
Who is the big monster? The previous worker? Okay so who are the customers?
Why does it want to enter your supermarket?
Why is everyone smiling?
Why am i trapped in this place?

Maybe I missed a note or some hidden detail, but overall the game does a poor job of clearly explaining what is actually going on.

And lastly, what really disappointed me: the screenshots on the Steam page — don’t trust them. They are misleading.
They sell you a vision of a game that does not exist.

A guy outside while you’re holding the pager with “Don’t trust them?” — not in the game.
Stocking shelves while creepy customers silently watch you — not in the game.

The screenshots and the first trailer sell a concept and atmosphere that the actual game never delivers.

This game could have been so much more. I really hope the developers release a 2.0 version someday, because there is potential here — but right now, something important is missing.

If you played the demo, there really wasnt much added to game to make it worth the price.

Its like pay for the ending

Ads and pictures dont match what the game is