Rowdy Neighbors Games

A small independent game studio in Olathe, Kansas. Our first game, Aisle Be Back, is coming soon to Steam.

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Full controller support

Restock it all, or you're fired.

You're the only one on the overnight shift at Hammer & Hearth Home Center. STOCKBOT, the store's new robot, has decided the best place for every product is everywhere, and locked the doors behind you. Put it all back.

Read the briefing See the gear
  • Coming soon to Steam
  • Windows PC
  • Single-player
  • Keyboard & mouse
  • Controller
  • English

The briefing

One shift. One robot. Every product.

At 2:14 AM, corporate pushed a firmware update to STOCKBOT, the store's new restocking robot, in the middle of a thunderstorm. It decided the most efficient place for every product was everywhere.

Then STOCKBOT's security module slammed the steel shutters down: STORE LOCKDOWN until inventory reconciles to 100%. You're the only one on shift. The district manager arrives for the Grand Reopening at 7 AM, and she has made it very clear: restock it all, or you're fired.

LOCKDOWN DOORS UNLOCK WHEN INVENTORY RECONCILES TO 100%
BY ORDER OF STOCKBOT SECURITY SYSTEM v3.0.0-rc1

No countdown, no game over. The 7 AM Grand Reopening is the story, not a deadline. Regular Play goes at your own pace; Speedrun adds a clock if you want one.

Store #427 by the numbers

One very big
box store.

A 72 × 50 m home center on two floors, with a double-height atrium for lumber and appliances and a mezzanine up the stairs. Every item has its own spot on a shelf, peg hook, tool rack, lumber bunk, pallet rack or floor display.

In-store safety poster: This store has gone 0 days without an incident. Previous record: 1,204 days.
70,786
Items in the store
272
Different products, each modeled in-house
12,240
Shelf slots
24
Departments in 8 color-coded zones
13
Aisles across two floors
24
Made-up brands

Store directory

Everything has
a place.

The in-store directory kiosk shows both floor plans with a live restock tally for every department. Here's what you're up against.

Tools & Hardware

  • Hand Tools
  • Power Tools
  • Hardware
  • Automotive

Electrical & Lighting

  • Electrical
  • Lighting
  • Smart Home

Paint & Décor

  • Paint
  • Décor
  • Flooring

Plumbing & Bath

  • Plumbing
  • Kitchen & Bath

Building & Lumber

  • Lumber
  • Building Materials
  • Millwork
  • Ladders

Garden & Outdoor

  • Garden Center
  • Outdoor Living
  • Seasonal

Home Essentials

  • Heating & Cooling
  • Safety
  • Cleaning
  • Storage & Organization

Appliances

  • Appliances
Kitchen & Bath poster: A Royal Flush.
Kitchen & Bath
Appliances poster: Keep It Cool.
Appliances
Millwork poster: Open-Door Policy.
Millwork
Garden Center poster: Roll With It.
Garden Center

How it plays

Clean up aisle everything.

01

Finish product lines

Every copy of one product in one size makes a line. Finish it for 3 ★ Hearth Rewards points per piece, and clear a whole aisle for a bonus.

02

Big goods are big

Fridges, water heaters, wheelbarrows and doors can take up several cart slots. You'll need a bigger Flatbed Cart before you can haul a full-size fridge.

03

Sale tags fix the wreck

Finish yellow sale-tagged lines to clear STOCKBOT's mess piece by piece: cartons, broken pallets, runaway carts. The last one puts the forklift back on its wheels.

04

Piles act like piles

Loose stock heaps up in real piles that slide and settle. Pull an item out of the middle and the rest shifts down.

05

The mess is real

In the opening cutscene STOCKBOT tears through the front of the store flinging real stock, and every piece it throws lands exactly where you'll find it when your shift starts.

06

Find the good boy

Somewhere among all those products is exactly one line of something special. You'll know it when you see it.

Employee gear

Redeem at any register.

Spend your ★ Hearth Rewards at the four checkout registers up front. There are 12 pieces of gear with 50 upgrade levels between them, and maxing out everything costs 25,998 points.

Flatbed Cart

7 levels · 6–380 ★

More cart slots, from 3 up to 16. Most items take one; fridges and other big goods take more.

Aisle Locator

2 levels · 4–40 ★

Your handheld marks the exact shelf slot of the top item in your cart, through walls. Level 2 adds arrows along the route.

Anti-Fatigue Sneakers

4 levels · 10–140 ★

Walk faster: 3.4 m/s up to 6.8 m/s. Hold Shift to jog.

Reacher Grabber

4 levels · 14–220 ★

Shelve from farther away: from 2.3 m up to 11 m.

Scan-to-Shelf

6 levels · 25–520 ★

Your scanner auto-shelves carried items whose slots are in range. At max, 16 items at a time, every second.

Spring-Loaded Boots

3 levels · 12–120 ★

Unlocks jumping: onto pallet stacks, over railings and up to the mezzanine.

Inventory Ping 1

5 levels · 5–240 ★

Light beams show every loose piece of the same product line as the top item in your cart.

Shop-Vac Pull 2

5 levels · 20–320 ★

Sucks up to 16 loose pieces of your top item's line into your cart, from anywhere in the store.

Rebooted StockBots 3

6 levels · 100–750 ★

Patch the rogue STOCKBOT firmware and put its drone swarm to work shelving for you. One drone at first; twelve that never stop at the top.

Late-shift gear

Straggler Scanner

2 levels · 1,500–3,000 ★

Lime beams mark the last loose pieces of nearly finished lines, through walls.

StockBot Firmware

3 levels · 1,500–5,000 ★

Faster StockBot drones that fetch more pieces of a line on each trip.

Electric Stock Cart

3 levels · 800–3,200 ★

Ride instead of walking: faster than the best sneakers.

Hearth Rewards poster: Earn points on every project. Redeem at any register.

Modes

Pick your shift.

How much of the store STOCKBOT threw on the floor. The rest starts on the shelves.

Easy
a quieter night
4,200+ items on the floor
Normal
the full lockdown
7,000+ items on the floor
Hardcore
every last product line in the store
Every product line in play
Speedrun

Restock all of Store #427 against the clock. No gear at the start, the same mess every run so you can learn the route, and a best time kept for each difficulty.

Regular Play has three save slots, each its own shift, with its own difficulty, points and gear.

Meet the staff

STOCKBOT never sleeps.

Hammer & Hearth's new restocking robot was Employee of the Month twelve months running. Then came firmware v3.0.0-rc1. These posters went up around the store before the meltdown, back when both of its eyes were still cyan.

Poster: Meet STOCKBOT! Your friendly inventory assistant. Always here to help!
Poster: Lost? STOCKBOT knows where everything goes. Just ask!
Poster: STOCKBOT never sleeps. 24/7 inventory accuracy ...so you can!
Poster: Employee of the Month, January to December, all STOCKBOT.

STOCKBOT

The store's restocking robot. It got a firmware update in a thunderstorm and decided the optimal location for every product was everywhere.

Optimal location for all products? Every- everywhere! Everywhere!

The StockBot drones

STOCKBOT's quadcopter swarm. A few sit in the charging bays under the stairs; the rest are out causing trouble. Reboot them and they shelve for you.

You

The overnight employee. The only one on shift. You clock in at checkout lane 3, and the shutters won't lift until inventory reconciles to 100%.

The district manager

Arriving at 7 AM for the Grand Reopening. Never seen, always felt. She has made it very clear: restock it all, or you're fired.

The soundtrack

Live from the ceiling speakers.

Eight original in-store songs, from lounge and bossa nova to a country two-step and 80s synth-pop. Every one was synthesized from scratch with no samples, then run through Store #427's tinny old PA. In the game they play from nine ceiling speakers, with a chime before every song.

These are the in-game PA mixes, lo-fi on purpose. Press play and you'll hear the chime first, just like in the store.

Now playing over the PAAisle SerenadeLounge · 96 BPM
0:00

    Controls

    Keyboard, mouse or controller.

    ActionKeyboard & mouseController
    WalkWASDLeft stick
    Look & aimMouseRight stick
    JogShiftLeft-stick click
    Pick up · shelveELeft clickRT
    Drop top itemXRight clickLTX
    Change top itemWheelLBRB
    Jump (with boots)SpaceA
    CrouchCtrlB
    Ping · Vac · StockBots123D-pad ↑ ← →
    PauseEscPMenu

    Most keyboard keys can be rebound in Settings › Controls (Esc and F11 stay put). Button prompts switch automatically between Xbox, PlayStation and keyboard.

    Development

    A month
    on the clock.

    From an empty project to a controller-ready playtest build in a month. Here's how Store #427 came together.

    Sep 2026Work begins
    DozensOf playtest builds
    1Store-wrecking robot

    1. Day one. The game starts life in Godot under its working title, Lockdown at Store #427. The same night it gets sound effects, new lighting, abilities on keys 1–3 and music over the PA.

    2. Title screen. Regular Play with three save slots, plus Speedrun with a clock and a best time.

    3. The big remodel. The store becomes a 72 × 50 m, two-level big box laid out by department, with difficulty levels.

    4. Gear and the cutscene. Upgrades go on sale at the checkout registers, STOCKBOT gets its opening scene, and the first playtest build ships.

    5. Lockdown. Eight PA songs, late-shift gear, the storefront shutter and storm, and rebindable controls.

    6. Aisle Be Back. The game gets its name, title card and Steam store art, plus Hammer & Hearth branding, wayfinding zones, STOCKBOT posters and Hearth Rewards.

    7. Brand rework. A 24-brand line-up led by house brand Stoutworks, and every product now built in Blender.

    8. Packaging. Retail boxes, house numbers, automatic graphics quality and one very good boy hiding somewhere in the store.

    9. Heavy lifting. Upright tool racks in aisle 5, and big goods now take up several cart slots.

    10. Controller support. Full gamepad play, and sale tags that clean up STOCKBOT's mess. Next up: Steam integration.

    FAQ

    Ask an associate.

    Is there a time limit?

    No. The 7 AM Grand Reopening is the story, not a countdown. There's no game over, and your shift ends when every item in play is back on its shelf. If you want a clock, try Speedrun.

    Can I play with a controller?

    Yes. Every gameplay control works on a gamepad, and the on-screen prompts switch automatically between Xbox, PlayStation and keyboard.

    What platforms is it on?

    Aisle Be Back is coming to Windows PC on Steam. No other platforms have been announced.

    When is it out, and how much will it cost?

    It's coming soon to Steam. The release date and price haven't been announced yet.

    Is it multiplayer?

    No, it's a single-player game. It's just you, STOCKBOT's mess and the PA music.

    Does the mess change every time?

    No. Each difficulty starts from the same mess every run, so speedrunners can learn the route.

    Are those real brands?

    No. All brands and products in the store are fictional. There are 24 made-up brands, led by the house brand, Stoutworks.

    About the studio

    Small studio.
    Loud neighbors.

    Rowdy Neighbors Games is a small independent game studio in Olathe, Kansas. Aisle Be Back is our first game.

    Olathe, Kansas · Independent

    Say hello

    Questions, press or bug reports?

    hello@rowdyneighborsgames.com
    Email the studio