Tavern Keeper feels like being a fly on the wall in a D&D campaign, and I never knew I needed that in a management sim
Aug. 23, 2024Preview | Sims 3 Medieval, eat your heart out
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An adventurer wanders into my tavern just as I’m serving up a pint of something almost certainly inedible. Clicking on his valiant armour-plated character model opens up a story book, and with it, one of many unique moments of randomized storytelling in Tavern Keeper.
Greenheart Games’ fantasy management sim neatly pairs tabletop RPG-style storytelling – courtesy of its fully-voiced narrator – with fastidiously detailed design and business systems. From purchasing casks of ale to placing furniture items, decorating tables, and preventing an all-out fist fight from breaking out in my nice respectable establishment, my brief half hour with Tavern Keeper surprised me with just how exciting life as an old-timey barkeep can be.
Roll for initiative
Our list ofbest sim gameshas plenty to keep you busy until you can head behind the bar in Tavern Keeper
After opening a pub of my own in a dank swamp, furnished with naught but wooden crates repurposed as tables, barstools, and countertops, one of the first things I have to do is hire a worker. I select a tall, spindly-looking elf, underskilled and undertrained for the job at hand. However, her worker bio mentions that “thinking of ogres makes her laugh,” and that, in turn, makesmelaugh. Even the wholesale deliveryman, a beady-eyed cyclops who pulls into the swampy waters behind the tavern to peddle his wares, adds a unique vibrance to the proceedings. It’s these little moments of humour and silliness that infuse Tavern Keeper with a sense of whimsy – it’s clear Tavern Keeper’s 10-year development journey has been paved with nothing but love for the fantasy world and management sim genre.
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