Tavern Keeper Preview

Tavern Keeper piqued my interest when I saw the trailer at gamescom, and might I say, the demo was just as fun as I expected. Greenheart Games have presented a truly chaotic world that anyone who’s ever played Dungeons & Dragons or read any fantasy, will love.

In the demo, which has a story that separates it from the main game, you’ll find the Narrator in search of a Main Protagonist. So, think of it as a trial shift. You’ll do the tutorial, where you’ll learn about Adventurers with specific quests for you to do, and how to build and decorate your tavern. Upon the first Adventurer setting fire to my tavern, I was ready to move to the Swamp.

No, no, I wasn’t banished. That was a natural progression. Here in the Swamp, I created my own place, and in honour of the noble Shrek, I called it “GET OUTTA MY SWAMP”. It’s a welcoming place, I swear.

Here, I hired my own staff, bought some alcohol from the Merchant, and got to work. Installing items from the Build Menu is easy enough, and then I just focused on my tiny little Quests. These involved building a dartboard and getting a One-Star rating for “GET OUTTA MY SWAMP”. You might think a One-Star rating is bad, but think of it like Michelin Stars. It’s just like that, all I needed to do was check my approval and what I needed to do to upgrade, which meant just adding another Tap to serve more than one drink.

After I built my Storeroom and completed all my little Quests, I got an Adventurer coming by in the form of a charming Skeleton called Cuthbert. Tired of working in the Dungeon, he was looking for a new opportunity, and so I saw the chance to get another member of staff. Let me tell you, Cuthbert may be a Skeleton, but he’s the most charming Server I have. Upon getting more staff, a Locker, and a Work Schedule, I was allowed to put my employees in different roles, such as Server, Janitor, Chef, Dogsbody, or Generalist. You can then build the rota around them, which is a feature I definitely enjoy.

As you can see, the Quests from Adventurers can be used to your benefit. Helping out a Thief with taxes meant they gave me a Diamond, and so I earned another 99 Gold. This helped, as after completing the Tutorial and getting One Star, I was able to unlock 100 Gold and more furniture to use. By the time I earned that extra 99, I was already running low because I needed the fancy furniture.

With only three days of in-game time to run your own place, it meant that I was able to enjoy a good amount of freedom of what I could do in the full release. While there may have been the odd moment when the game froze a bit, it wasn’t something that was game-breaking. It just meant that I had to open the menu and close it again to get back to the Merchant.

Once the three days in-game pass, it’s up to you to wait for the timer to go down or… blow up your tavern. You can all guess what I did, can't you? Of course, “GET OUTTA MY SWAMP” got out of the swamp and burned to the ground.

I can’t lie, I’ve really enjoyed my time in the Tavern Keeper demo. The narrator is fully voiced, and Greenheart Games knows how to break the fourth wall in a tasteful way with their menus. I’ve never chuckled so much at seeing nesting menus, but I spent a lot of time just enjoying the Adventurers coming by and decorating the place.

Now, I’m looking forward to Tavern Keeper’s full release on the 5th of November. Until then, I’ll patiently wait for the tavern doors to finally open to the public.