A completionists honest thoughts about the game.

[SassyBird]

I have serious beef with this game. I regret buying it, because it is so darn frustrating. Never the less, maybe the devs will read this so I will list it all.

The ECONOMY is so unbalanced. You get way more coin than you will ever need to spend. I decided to make things pretty to use up some of that coin. Which leads me to...

The PRESTIGE. Oh lord, if the economy is unbalanced, the prestige is game breaking. The higher prestige the higher level adventurers. You can also organize special events, but you dont really need 160K prestige for an event. You need 30K at most for the best event. It's also connected to...

The THIEF which comes by roughly once a week. While you can rent a guard, with higher prestige two bandits will spawn and that one quest you have "Defend against thieves" will be perma-stuck, because you dont need to defend, you need to defeat.

The ADVENTURES was something I was excited about, but that ended fast. If you want the achievement connected to this, start very early to send parties out with less than 30% chance, because very soon you cant. Because prestige.
Also, sending out adventurers to search the market, fish, and pick berries? Why not have a travelling merchant with randomized inventory instead? And let the adventurers find loot, armor, and buff items?

The HOTEL is a joke. You spend all that space, all that money to make 5 star rooms, and the profit from a 5 star and a 2 star room is the same. Founds out later on that you can adjust the price, but if you want to be sure to rent it, the income is nihil.

This is a Tavern MANAGEMENT game. There is no management screens, there is nothing really to manage.
*You open the tavern, hire people to do absolutely everything, and hit double speed.
*You'll be prompted to sometimes refill containers if they run out.
*You get to micromanage employees to put out fires. These fires are random and frequent, even with the best wax and oils. The fire extinguishers can be upgraded, but just to add more buckets. As far as I have seen, the first bucket kills the fire so it's a totally pointless upgrade.
*You level up the employees manually. You can re-spec them anytime you like, it's free. You can cycle through the offered employees to hire, and if you dont like them (i.e. if they cant carry 8 cups, just hit refresh a couple of times.)
*You get the pleasure of manually buying new casks every time the thief has been, he always steals two, and always from the ground floor.
*You can decide what it served by de-selecting items in the menu. This wasn't described anywhere, and was found by accident. Before I found this out, I arranged events that would serve soup, main, or dessert, to get those quests.
*You may pick an event, and then you sit and look at it.

As you can see, the game is more about looking at double speed people and watching a movie at the same time. Refill containers, open the tavern, and watch some tv. Rinse and repeat.

The first 4 hours were awesome.
I had seen in the reviews that it's a grindy game. I LIKE grindy games, but this is another level. It's kinda like a mobile game, in the sense that you are bored while watching tv and you just need another layer of activity.

The BUILDING is a joke. You can make walls, only where it's allowed. Which is every 4x4 squares.
The PLACING of items is a joke. Nothing in the ratio of items is logical in comparison to the building grid.

The ITEM PRIORITY is also a joke.
*All the waitresses walk to the closest packing station to the kitchen. They dont stack, so 1 table is used, and in my case, 9 tables stand unused.
*All the researchers go to the same bookshelf. And why is there not described anywhere that they need a bookshelf? And why would you need to hire 10-20 of them to finish the research tree at late stages of the game?
*All the chefs, regardless of where they work, on what floor, walks to the first placed item. In the case of soup, this is game breaking. I have 4 kitchens on the ground floor and instead of making 3x4 soups on that floor, I make 3 soups. And those chefs just keep walking away from their own kitchen, waiting to use those 3 cauldrons for the 3 variations of soup the game offers, and then walks back to their own kitchens service counter. Customers get beyond frustrated waiting for their food. Which makes...

The TAKEOUT a frustration of its own. Not needed at any stage of the game and just slowing the dysfunctional kitchen situation down even more.

Dont get me started on THE SKILL TREE. It is extremely linear, and the further in you get, the more frustrating it gets because there is no management to do. Just watching the screen on double speed and waiting.

Then we get to the last part of my story... Because I spent the money on this game, I want something out of it. It was enjoyable for 4-5 hours, and then it has been pure unadulterated waiting. Not a grind, a wait. A long, slow, wait.
I am now 31 hours in, and I want that damned last achievement. Because this game was SO not worth the money.

The QUESTS. The questline is very very long. Last thing I will finish before I uninstall this mess. You need a total of 800 points to finish them all, and you get between 2 and 5 points per finished quest. You may have 4 quests active per day, and you cannot reject them.
As soon as you get enough prestige, you will only have 3 quests a day because there is no way to Defeat/Defend against the thief. Since you cant abandon this will slow you down even more.

Hear me, dear reader, I have played 31 hours, and I am not done with the repetitive quests yet!

The discord channel they want you to join does not work, and there is no tutorial. No help page, and no explanation what furniture are needed and not needed.

The last thing I unlocked is WINTER MODE. Start the game over from scratch, on a 4th of the map, all the same bugs, no research done, no quests done, and you can start over.
Instead of treating me to a less buggy game, I get the same one again, with some very minor changes, like heating is required.

[Wai]

You are a far more tenacious character than I am. Kudos to you for your staying power. That stupid, pointless thief cut scene finished me off long before I ever got to the wash and repeat winter mode.

However, as far as I managed to progress, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment.

The concept is brilliant, the execution is abysmal. Game is now consigned to my "hidden" library which I use as a depository for games which I cannot bare to see in my main library because I hate wasting money.

[SassyBird]

That is exactly where the game has gone now!

[L3wt]

Originally posted by Wai:

Game is now consigned to my "hidden" library which I use as a depository for games which I cannot bare to see in my main library because I hate wasting money.

Hah I do the same.

And thanks Sassybird for the heads up and saving me money. I just saw your review too

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Upgrade the guards equipment and he can keep every thief out.

I 100% the game in a week my first playthrough. Ya, it has some flaws but its hardly "teh werst ting evah".

$8 for 30 hours of entertainment is still cheap entertainment.

[Cougarific]

Originally posted by SassyBird:

I regret buying it, because it is so darn frustrating.

That was quite a review! Next time try posting it in with the other reviews so people can ignore your opinions and not feel tempted to mock the many mistakes you're making while playing the game!

"Reviews"
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1525700/reviews/

[SassyBird]

Maybe there should be a tutorial or a help page so one can learn the RiGhT wAY tO Play.

I had no idea you could upgrade the gear since it was never explained.

And yes, the 4 hours I enjoyed was nice.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Originally posted by SassyBird:

Maybe there should be a tutorial or a help page so one can learn the RiGhT wAY tO Play.

I had no idea you could upgrade the gear since it was never explained.

And yes, the 4 hours I enjoyed was nice.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1525700/guides/#scrollTop=0

[SassyBird]

Thanks @AmsterdamHeavy, but I am old. I want the tutorial and help pages inside the game.

[trashoras]

Yep, have to agree on this harsh but truthful review. I also lost interest after 8,5hours and have no interest in completing the game.

[Fortigan]

It's just a casual sim, and it's cheap. If you are looking for a relaxing time and/or want to do some creative designs, then this is the game for you. If you are looking for a strategy challenge, then you're in the wrong place.

I wouldn't call it a bad game, it's just not what you were looking for. I'd kind of like to have a mobile app version that I could mess around with while on a flight.

[Arthur Pendragon]

...maybe Graveyard Keeper is more your style OP

[SassyBird]

@Arthur It was awesome, what got me into tavern games :)

[Scott Pilgrim vs the Multiverse]

Originally posted by Arthur Pendragon:

...maybe Graveyard Keeper is more your style OP

thats real grind