Moonstone Tavern
- May 13, 2016
- Trevor Jones
- 15h median play time
Get on Steam"Moonstone Tavern: A Fantasy Tavern Sim" is a role-playing simulation game where players manage a tavern in a fantasy world. They must cater to the needs of various patrons, from warriors to wizards, while also dealing with challenges such as sourcing rare ingredients and managing staff. The ultimate goal is to build a successful and popular tavern, while uncovering the mysteries of the moonstone and its connection to the realm.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique concept of running a tavern while also engaging in RPG elements, providing a blend of management and adventure.
- The pixel art style and graphics are appealing, reminiscent of classic RPGs, and the game has a charming atmosphere.
- Despite its flaws, some players find the game enjoyable and addictive, with a lot of potential for future updates and improvements.
- The game suffers from significant performance issues, including low frame rates and lag, making it difficult to play smoothly.
- Many players report clunky controls and a confusing user interface, which detracts from the overall experience.
- The game feels unfinished and lacks depth in gameplay mechanics, with repetitive quests and a lack of meaningful character interactions.
- story52 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as interesting and engaging, featuring a mix of main quests and side quests that involve various characters and challenges. However, players note a lack of clear instructions and some repetitive quest design, which can detract from the overall experience. While the narrative includes common fantasy elements, it is generally well-received, with some players appreciating the plot twists and character interactions, though others feel it could benefit from deeper storytelling and character development.
“The story is quite good and did keep me wanting to find out more.”
“So this game is built on an awesome concept, and a very enjoyable storyline, (with two plot twists so far that I did not see coming!) there are dozens, and I do mean dozens, of varied characters to meet and interact with, interesting events, and a variety of quests, (from easy to impossible!) altogether I've found it an enjoyable game so far.”
“There is of course a story, and although it uses some common fantasy tropes, such as a blight spreading across the land, it does so in a way that is new and interesting.”
“There are no instructions or storyline in this game; right away, the game gives you basic instructions on how to move, and that is it.”
“I have tried playing through the story three times now, and every time the game glitches at the same point, stopping me from re-entering the human town.”
“It's been fun for a few hours, but without a deeper story or stronger motivation, I'm not feeling a lot of incentive to keep grinding.”
- gameplay32 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 28 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky mechanics, unresponsive controls, and repetitive questing. While some appreciate the nostalgic pixel art and the potential for fun with its unique concepts, others find the combat boring and the overall experience marred by technical issues and a lack of depth. Despite these criticisms, there are hints of enjoyable gameplay elements that could improve with future updates.
“There are a lot of really cool mechanics, and the concept is something I'm happy to see explored.”
“The gameplay is basic: use your keyboard or mouse clicks to move your avatar around as they quest through friendly villages and deadly forests.”
“The thing I like about this game is that it is simple; you do not need to have big fancy graphics to have a great game. This has the 'old school' graphics with excellent gameplay.”
“Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low-quality copy-pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay.”
“The frame rate and mapping are wack, the controls are unresponsive, the battle mechanics are boring, and it seems the developers have long since abandoned it.”
“The actual questing and gameplay are very repetitive.”
- graphics31 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the charming pixel art style reminiscent of classic RPGs, while others criticize the limitations of the RPG Maker engine, including poor fullscreen support and lack of graphics options. Performance issues, such as lag and optimization problems, have also been reported, detracting from the overall experience. While some find the aesthetic appealing, the lack of modern graphical capabilities leaves dedicated gamers wanting more.
“Okay, so I bought this game a while ago and had not gotten around to playing it yet... oh boy, let me start off with the pros of this game; its art style is actually really pretty and the idea of the game is a really neat idea.”
“Graphically, it has a lot of 'eye-candy', as everything is done in pixel-art style and always looks coherent with the rest of the scenery elements.”
“The graphics are nice, really pulling you back to those SNES, Secret of Mana age.”
“As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer.”
“I like the concept, but the design, optimization, and graphic options are absolutely pathetic.”
“This game had a great premise and I really looked forward to playing it; however, the graphics settings were too limited.”
- music14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 36 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it monotonous and not fitting the game's setting, while others appreciate its electronic vibe. Many users express a desire for more variety and the ability to adjust the volume, as the music can be overly loud. Overall, while some find the music decent, it lacks the charm and quality that would elevate the game's experience.
“The music was pretty good, although I wish there would be more of it.”
“Pretty designed levels, old-fashioned electronic music, but gameplay is absolutely different.”
“The music is fairly interesting too.”
“The music is bad.”
“I'd love to be able to say 'but the story/art/music is so charming that once you get used to the controls it's great', but those aren't stellar either.”
“The music is ok but not stellar; the art kind of irks me for reasons I can't quite put into words, and while the story (so far) is ok, the dialogue for it is weak.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with users reporting major frame rate issues and poor graphics performance, particularly in busy areas. Many players express disappointment, noting that while the concept is promising, the current state of optimization renders the game nearly unplayable on various systems. There is hope among some users for future improvements, but as it stands, performance issues dominate the feedback.
“As someone already pointed out in a review, performance issues seem to be the only issues with the game so far, and that was taken care of in most cases.”
“Hey there, if you're being discouraged by the bad reviews, note that almost all of them are due to performance issues.”
“Hopefully it will be optimized a little better here in the near future for people like myself.”
“Performance tanks in busy areas (places with lots of things).”
“There have been a number of reports of poor graphics performance, and my laptop has these issues when playing Apocalypse Hotel as well, which I attribute to issues with the RPG Maker engine on this hardware.”
“The performance is horrible.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is largely criticized, with many users reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, particularly during travel and story progression. While some players experienced only minor issues without crashes, the overall consensus highlights a frustratingly unstable experience that detracts from enjoyment.
“Traveling is literally awful because the game is buggy and laggy.”
“I have tried playing through the story 3 times now, and every time the game glitches at the same point, stopping me from re-entering the human town.”
“Not even worth leaving a review; it's just that much of a buggy mess.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and lacking in motivation, with some expressing enjoyment in exploring the world but feeling that the RNG elements detract from the experience. While grinding is a common feature in RPGs, many reviewers feel that the current implementation does not provide enough incentive to continue, especially in the absence of a deeper story. Overall, the grinding can feel tedious and underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more.
“It's been fun for a few hours, but without a deeper story or stronger motivation, I'm not feeling a lot of incentive to keep grinding.”
“I hope this will be developed further, but right now it just doesn't feel like enough to spend the time grinding.”
“It excessively feels grindy... though I did enjoy running around its world, I found there was a lot of RNG.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted through interactions with quirky characters like gnomes and orcs, as well as amusing dialogue from guests, making conversations enjoyable. However, some players find the overall experience frustrating due to significant lag, which detracts from the comedic elements.
“You’ll get to meet and interact with cool characters like elves, funny gnomes, brutal orcs, and many others.”
“When I first started, I began without a class, which, in all honesty, was funny.”
“I spoke to my guests and met some new ones (all guests have a funny few things to say – definitely worth talking to).”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as feeling exploitative, with some users perceiving it as a cash grab despite acknowledging the challenges faced by indie developers.
“I understand these are indie developers and making games is difficult, but this just screams cash grab to me.”
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
“It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully without spending extra money.”
