My secret desire of being a hardworking roguish innkeeper is second only to becoming a burly half-mad lighthouse keeper, and now through the magic of digital escapism at least one of the two might be actualized. In Ale & Tale Tavern you end up inheriting (or by a weird rule of acquisition, acquiring) a dilapidated old tavern at the edge of nowhere. Alone, or with the help of friends (or serfs if you are into the RP-crowd), it is up to you to bring the establishment back to its former glory by dusting cobwebs, brewing ale and cooking vaguely nourishing gruel. This demo nailed down the early concepts of running the tavern in a rather meditative but limited selection of tasks such as serving guests, cooking food, doing dishes and establishing a small garden. In principle this works like a quirky 3D version of Plate Up! with the added inconveniences of drunks and zombies..

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3292624503
All in all the tasks/chores work, even if I fear some of them, such as running endlessly for water, might get monotonous if it's not expanded properly. The graphics are on the cartoony side and reminds me of the Warcraft aesthetic, all in a positive way. The customers on the tavern are a bit on the automaton side, but that's fair, this aint Tavern Talk. The two interactable NPCs were serviceable, although a bit jarring since they constantly react to my presence, even if I was just fetching water. The character creator is quite solid with a lot of options to choose from, but since this is a demo you only got male avatars to choose from, something that should be redeemed come release.

On paper I love the core concept and the gameplay presented in this demo shows a lot of potential, if only they manage to nail the landing. The fantasy revolves around working at an expanding fantasy tavern and on full release the immersion needs to be great for it to be not just another slightly medieval chore simulator. Since some of the tasks were less enjoyable in the long run I would love to see automation in the way of hireable NPCs to do some of the more braindead chores would be great, but we shall see what way they choose to go on that note. Despite being locked out of many recipes, quests and the expansion of the tavern I really enjoyed this short demo and really look forward to the full release.

Check out the demo now if you find the concept of working at an forlorn tavern intriguing. Do note that since I played this solo, I can only judge it from that angle, and as you all know almost everything is better with friends! My only friend in the playthrough, at least the only one not capitalizing on my ceaseless toil, was a weird scarecrow a bit too invested in the local variety of weed..

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3292624407

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A very good game for a demo and I really think that the full release of the game will be a very good one! ( especially for an indie game )

could be cool if they get it up and going a lil more not bad for a demo but its def a demo