Tavern Talk is a cozy visual novel coming this year from Gentle Troll Entertainment, a studio based in Wurzburg, Germany, with a background in creating educational games for PC and mobile. Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, as well as games like Coffee Talk, my time with the hour-long demo of Tavern Talk left me excited for the full release, and thirsty for some of the colorful beverages I mixed up for my patrons.
If you’ve played games like Coffee Talk, you get the basic premise of Tavern Talk. You’re the Innkeeper at a cozy tavern, spending your days talking to patrons and whipping up tasty drinks. While Coffee Talk has its cast of colorful and fantastical characters set in a fictional version of Seattle, Tavern Talk fully immerses itself in the high fantasy world we associate with DnD.
The art is gorgeous, with warm colors and an inviting glow to it. The small details stand out, whether it’s the bird that hangs out in your establishment, to the shine in the characters’ eyes when you say something they like, or delight them with one of your drinks.
Instead of having an espresso machine and those add-ons to work with, making drinks is a bit more involved. Drink-making in Tavern Talk revolves around DnD characteristics like charisma, dexterity, strength, and defense, with you taking what you’ve learned about your patron to give them the correct mix. It took me some time to find the groove, but once I did, I found it extremely clever.
Another thing that sets Tavern Talk apart, other than the setting and drink brewing mechanics, are quests. You can take rumors from your patrons, and if you’re able to match up three rumors together, you can create a quest for your adventurer board. It’s a crafty way to add variety to the gameplay loop and get more invested with the NPCs you serve.
Your choices will also matter. In the demo, I created one quest for the first NPC I met, a shy elf named Fable. (Also, if you don’t fall in love with Fable, I have to wonder how small your heart is.) Fable requested a drink for her journey and I had the choice between two. One to up her dexterity to make her quick and nimble, and the other to raise her charisma, making her more diplomatic.
She makes it clear that the drink you make will influence the outcome of her quest, something I haven’t gone back to try, because if I hadn’t made it clear, Fable is adorable and must be protected at all costs.
The release date on Tavern Talk is TBA, but the team has written on Kickstarter that they plan on releasing the game on Steam in the second quarter of 2024. The game will also be coming to Nintendo Switch.
If you want to keep closer tabs on this one, you can follow Gentle Troll on TikTok and Twitter! Let us know if you give the demo a try.