Tavern Crawler

I don't love RPGs as much as I did when I was younger, but can still get roped in if the focus on story outweighs the focus on stats. Tavern Crawler does just that and succeeded in keeping me interested for a couple playthroughs.

You play as a gender neutral hero (with a choice of fighter, mage, or thief) who tags along with a female mage and a male fighter on a quest to slay a dragon and collect a handsome reward. What follows is a charming quest with plenty of plot twists and character development. You can take on many optional quests which can improve your stats but mostly focus on story development and a lot of your time is focused on building or destroying your relationship with your two partners.

Another cool feature is that you can decide to play in a more traditional RPG mode where you can focus on building your stats, but almost every puzzle can also be solved even with poor stats if you make the right choices. Saving and restoring is also easy along the way and there's no way to get stuck. There are multiple endings and every playthrough also has an epilogue that shows you how your actions affected others as well.

This game is likely a success in everything it attempts. No doubt entertaining to those who like traditional fantasy RPG adventures, and especially for those who want the fantasy with some occasional comedy.

A lot is nothing new: an initial quest spirals out, a number of side quests to increase gold and stats. The stats, as well, are traditional RPG fare: tank, rogue or mage. Different options open to the player depending on these stats.

The character begins with a couple companions. I think this element was well-done, and I found an unexpected modern twist particularly enjoyable. When certain options opened, I considered this the most entertaining part of the game (and will be the reason I replay it--(Spoiler - click to show)to see just how toxic one can make the relationship).

In all, there is enough interactivity, and a "Did You Try?" list given after finishing the game, to make a second playthrough interesting.

Since the mechanics seem to be very well-implemented, an individual's enjoyment will likely come down to the quality of writing. And here, the game is also a success. Low fantasy is not a genre I seek out or read for pleasure, but in this case it was a speedy and largely amusing read. Not plagued with purple language or overwriting that is unfortunately sometimes frequent in both fantasy and IF. While perhaps not necessarily my favorite type of game, I would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

This game has the feel and structure of a parser game, but in an extremely user-friendly choice-based, hyperlink format. A marvelous fusion between the two styles and something I hope to see more of in the future.

In this game you play as a member of a three-person team of mercenaries, given a quest to slay a dragon in exchange for more money than you know what to do with. As the game progresses you have to manage a few different aspects of the game including your personal stats, your loot and your relationship with your companions. Along the way to your ultimate goal, you will have the opportunity to explore the town you find yourself in, talk to many different people and even take on side quests to help boost your stats or acquire some loot.

The interface for this game is incredibly smooth and polished. The game gives you very clear directions, both on the instructions screen and weaved in to the text throughout. If I understand correctly this game was written in Twine and I think it really showcases just what Twine is capable of (and it is capable of a lot more than I thought before playing this game). Even though every choice you make might not have a huge impact on the game they all have a subtle impact that can be seen and appreciated in meaningful ways. You really do feel like you are living the story and that you have much more agency then is actually possible in a choice-based game. It really does feel like an old-school RPG or a D&D session, in the best way possible. There are a plethora of choices, the characters feel well-developed and the atmosphere is great.

My only complaint is that it seemed some of the tasks you can attempt to complete have very high stat thresholds for success. While all the major or necessary tasks seemed to have a reasonable bars to get over, some I felt like I would truly have to grind through the story, finding all the hidden ways that I could increase my stats, to be able to succeed at them. That was slightly disappointing. Also, I think there was at least one time that a certain choice was locked to me because I didn't have a certain relationship status with one of my companions, but looking at my stats page I did have that relationship. It might be a minor bug. Neither of these issues really got in the way of my enjoyment of the piece though.

Finally, I thought the epilogue was great. The author did a great job of making all those little side quests mean something in the end and I really appreciated that.

Well worth your time.