
- 80/100
- Metacritic9 critic reviews
More scores
- Metacritic usersuser score
- 73/100
- Player reviews
- 87% positive1,459 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac
- Price
- US$17.99
Where to get it

2024 · Gentle Troll Entertainment · Adventure · Indie
Tavern Talk
Nintendo console exclusive
A cozy visual novel about running a tavern in a D&D-inspired fantasy! Gather rumors, serve magical drinks, and meet adventurers on a life-changing quest.
- Released
- 20 June 2024
- Platforms
- Nintendo SwitchWindowsmacOS
- Genres
- AdventureIndieSimulationVisual novel
- Developers
- Gentle Troll Entertainment
- Publishers
- Gentle Troll Entertainment
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Text
- Themes
- FantasyDrama
- Country
- Germany
- Age ratings
- PEGI 7ESRB E10+USK 6
- Languages
- Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
- Time to beat
- 16hmain story24hcompletionist
About
Tavern Talk is a visual novel developed by Gentle Troll Entertainment, and released on June 20, 2024 for Nintendo Switch and Windows. Players take control of a fantasy innkeeper who serves drinks and interacts with adventurers in a magical medieval setting.
›Story
The game is about the owner of Wayfarer's Inn, a tavern in the fantasy land of Asteria and the patrons they meet along the way. The player must serve magical drinks and interact with adventurers who visit the tavern, including elves, vampires, vukakin, dwarfs, echoes, phantasm, meerfolk and so many more. As they talk to the various adventurers, they uncover more lore about an ancient threat which is rising in Asteria.
Maybe they prevent the worst from happening, but this is up to the player.
You walk into a tavern and get to work! You are the owner of the Wayfarer’s Inn, a popular watering hole in the fantasy land of Asteria.
But you’re no ordinary barkeep. Be it a potion of seething fury or prancing swords, the drinks you serve can change your customer’s destiny forever. You can also turn the rumors you hear at work into intrepid quests for your patrons!
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Players must mix a variety of different drinks and potions for customers. Each recipe has different effects on the characters' stats, which can influence their story. Players can also post quests for adventurers to go on. When patrons return from adventures, they can bring back items for the tavernkeeper to decorate the inn with.
Story
The game follows the owner of Wayfarer's Inn, a tavern in the fantasy land of Asteria. The player must serve drinks and interact with different adventurers who visit the tavern, including elves and vampires. As they talk to the various adventurers, they uncover more lore about an ancient threat which is rising in Asteria.
Development
The game was developed by indie game developers Gentle Troll Entertainment. It was inspired by tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons and visual novels like VA-11 Hall-A (2016) and Coffee Talk (2020). A free demo for the game was released on Steam on June 10. The full game was released on June 20, 2024.
The game's development was funded through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, receiving more than twice its €20,000 fundraising goal within a day.
Reception
Tavern Talk received "generally positive" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 79% of critics.
Ben Sledge of The Gamer gave the first episode a positive review, writing that: "Tavern Talk doesn't just inhabit the cozy genre, it embodies it. Everything about this game exudes warmth, whether it's talking through your Elfin friend's anxieties about becoming an adventurer or the portents of the apocalypse." Katherine Castle of Eurogamer compared the game favorably to Coffee Talk and the Legends & Lattes novels of Travis Baldree. Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp of Destructoid found the gameplay to be satisfying yet shallow, but called the writing and dialogue options "incredible".
Awards
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Included in
- Tavern Talk + Pirate Palooza (Costume AOC)Tavern Talk and Dreamwalker Bundle
- Downloadable content
- Tavern Talk: Tempest Tantrum
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Collections2 collections
Platform libraries
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
