Most D&D campaigns that open with “you start in a tavern…” usually place you as an adventurer patronising said tavern. But why not try experiencing things from the other the other side of the tavern counter? In Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker, you get to do exactly that as a humble tavernkeeper!
Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker (“Dreamwalker” for short) is a prequel to Tavern Talk (2024), both games developed by Gentle Troll Entertainment. As the series’ name implies, Dreamwalker is all about the experience of being an RPG tavernkeeper. Aside from serving drinks, you run a hub for adventurers to hang out, share stories, get information, accept quests and more!
Drinks & Tales Aplenty
As the tavernkeeper, you are the first person many adventurers will engage with. While getting to know your patrons, you also gather intel about them and the various happenings around the world. Whatever intel you get can be saved as a conversation piece for later, or even given out as the beginnings of a quest. You indirectly affect the events of the world around you by sharing all the info you get, essentially spilling tea (or ale in this case, haha). Your supporting role goes further as your brew also provides buffs!
For some of you this may feel familiar. It’s because this game perfectly captures how it feels to be a Dungeon Master! Everything is set in motion by the friendly and informative tavernkeeper, who serves as the guiding hand that sends off adventurers. You take the back seat to adventuring, indirectly affecting some events around the world by sharing information with your patrons.
Aside helping to stir world events, you also stir relationships amongst your patrons, and even yourself! By nurturing these bonds, you can discover new info that can be used for later quest-building, while also making new friends for yourself.The quirky cast of characters provide lots of fun interactions, and even bring you gifts, which can help with your drinks or decor.
Brewing 101
For the main gameplay of Dreamwalker, you’ll be mixing all sorts of potions for your patrons. Along with hearing their tales, as described above, you get to hear hints of what they’d like to drink. Using those hints, you then look for whichever recipe can hit the notes that your customer wants, select the drink, and write it out on the whiteboard for reference.
For example, Voyager’s Dream requires you to mix potions that result in certain stats being buffed. Once you’ve got it, the constellation for the drink will appear on the blue chart, and you then ring the bell to serve it. If you messed up, just dump the layer or the entire thing, and Captain Beebug will dispose of it for you. By the way, you can pet him, he’s adorable!
Recipes, chat log, potion details, etc., can be found in a journal kept by your trusty cephalopod friend. Your journal also serves as your glossary of information and lore. You can read up on the world and character lore here.
Anyone Up For A Quest?
Questing is another major aspect of adventuring in RPGs. As the tavernkeeper, you can design quests for your patrons to accept. As I said above, you get intel from your patrons. Some of said intel are rumours, which can be pieced together with other related rumours to becomes an entire quest. You normally do this at the end of the day. If there’s no quests for you to create, simply place the rumours in “Not Related”.
Side Effects May Vary
To be honest, Dreamwalker had me when I first started. The visuals, music, characters, etc. were all very cozy and welcoming. I had a pleasant time learning about the lore and its characters. However, rather quickly, I found myself a tad bored as I was repeating the same few orders, and there are only so many drinks you can whip up. Only on occasion does someone ask for some variation, but even then the reactions you get are a little dull, which is pretty disappointing because you would think that a stronger brew would have stronger effects. After all, our drinks also provide stat buffs.
I previously mentioned that you experience a little of what a DM does by being the tavernkeeper. You indeed get to experience being the tavernkeeper… and only the tavernkeeper. While that is the main point of the game, it also means your role in what goes on in the world is miniscule. You send characters on adventures, and hear of events in the world, and that’s about it. Even if the characters take up quests that sound like they could lead to something big, each day passes all the same.
The same can be said about the characters. They feel rather one-note, staying largely the same from the moment you meet them, and seem barely affected by anything that happened to them or the world.
Essentially, I would have liked to see more variety in interactions, and more character growth. Since the game is meant to be enjoyed casually, I don’t expect to see Doomsday affecting the world. However, as the game is all about socialising as the tavernkeeper, the game can quickly feel repetitive since everyone stays the same from the get-go, on top of having so few drink options to mix.
Verdict: A Pleasant Time, But Could Be Better
If you’re looking for a chill and cosy game where you run a tavern and meet interesting characters, Dreamwalker is for you! The game is certainly is more of a long-winded tea/ale spilling session. You meet interesting characters and mix beverages, all accompanied by gorgeous art and lovely music.
There’s certainly room for improvement, such as in the variety of drinks you can make. More importantly, the characters need to grow more as the game progresses, in order to provide a more in-depth experience. It would have been great to see more character development as the characters set off on quests you put up. As-is, Dreamwalker can be very repetitive and could do more.
