The Tavern

About

The Tavern is a single player casual role playing game with fantasy, drama and mystery themes. It was developed by Moral Anxiety Studio and was released on August 4, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Interactive as an RPG, complex as a visual novel, The Tavern uses a new approach to role-playing. You play as mercenary named Nalia - a single mother who tries to earn enough coins to survive the winter. Your children need you to come back, but how are you going to act seeing the cruelty and rottenness of the outside world? No fillers, no grinding, only your decisions and the story. All this take…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 19 reviews

story13 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Engaging story with multiple meaningful choices and endings that influence the narrative.
Strong atmospheric presentation with a dark tone, complemented by good music and well-done character interactions.
Replayability encouraged through branching paths and varied dialogue, offering a unique experience on multiple playthroughs.

The game is quite short, leaving some story elements underdeveloped and the overall plot feeling incomplete.
Technical and design issues including typos, grammar errors, occasional inconsistency in writing, and a save system that lacks description features.
Limited gameplay mechanics with no traditional RPG combat, and some choices that feel superficial or forced, reducing the depth of player impact.

story
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
53%
9%
The story is dark, atmospheric, and driven by player choices that shape multiple endings, though it is relatively short and somewhat incomplete with teased but inaccessible content. While praised for its pacing, moral complexity, and unique approach, some find it shallow with underdeveloped characters and a rushed conclusion. Overall, it offers a compelling but brief narrative experience that relies heavily on replayability and player curiosity.
- “I enjoyed the pacing, the story, and the characters.”
- “It is a story-driven adventure experience where your choices influence the multitude of stories that can happen.”
- “However, it doesn't rely on one playthrough, but on its replayability, given that almost every choice influences the story and can lead to unlocking one of the 11 ending achievements.”
- “On the downside, you're teased with content, locations, and choices that never materialize – other villages you can't actually go to, missions you can't join, characters you can't reconnect with.”
- “It's brief, the third act is very hurried and the story is very convergent after the middle.”
- “You will have one major goal with a few branches that are technically multiple endings (as advertised), except those different endings are just the same story ending at earlier points because you made a choice contrary to the one that advances toward that basic goal.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, oppressive, and mysterious tone, enhanced by effective lighting, music, and strong worldbuilding. However, some users feel that the plot twist doesn't fully capitalize on the promising and immersive atmosphere established early on. Overall, the atmosphere remains a standout and compelling element of the experience.
- “The atmosphere of the game was its strongest point, with a heavy sense of burden and anxiety from a bleak and weighty setting, delivering a good oppressive horror vibe in moments where unknown evil is at work.”
- “Some of the choices were really tough to make, and the atmosphere created by the lighting and music was very mysterious. I loved interacting with the characters staying at the tavern.”
- “The first part of the game had a very good atmosphere—I bought it immediately after playing the demo.”
- “I found the worldbuilding to be very promising; I was immediately fond of Nalia; the atmosphere suggested a murder mystery; finding out that the rest of the game is going to be this thing again was very disappointing.”
- “Plot twist doesn't live up to the potential of the atmosphere, in my opinion.”
- “Some of the choices were really tough to make, the atmosphere with the lighting and music was very mysterious and I loved interacting with the characters who were staying at the tavern.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The music in the game is praised for its atmospheric and emotional depth, particularly enhancing the endings and overall mood. Its dark, minimalist style blends seamlessly with the story, creating a mysterious and engaging ambiance.
- “The soundtrack is great, too, with a depth of feeling - especially in the endings.”
- “Some of the choices were really tough to make, the atmosphere with the lighting and music was very mysterious and I loved interacting with the characters who were staying at the tavern.”
- “The unintrusive, but dark music blends in well with the story and in the end the minimalist design doesn't hurt either.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The graphics evoke a nostalgic Gameboy art style, with some inconsistency and limited dedicated artwork. While the developers clearly put effort into the visuals, the overall presentation feels more like a visual novel than a traditional RPG.
- “Honestly the game is entertaining for a bit, and it's clear the developers put effort into the graphics and script, with a callback to games driven by text-only choices instead of a fully interactive combat system.”
- “The art style reminded me of the old Game Boy times.”
- “Graphics are a bit hit and miss at times.”
- “Little dedicated artwork.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The gameplay of "Roadwarden" combines a compelling mix of RPG mechanics and worldbuilding, focusing on exploration, interaction, and decision-making. While some players appreciate its unique style and story-driven approach, others note that it follows a standard RPG Maker structure. Minor technical issues, such as unintended game shutdowns, have been reported but do not detract significantly from the overall experience.
- “Recently, I played a very interesting demo: "Roadwarden" and I liked so much its gameplay, the worldbuilding and the original mix of game styles that I thought "I'll look for more about this developer" and that's how I learned about Moral Anxiety Studio and The World of Viaticum.”
- “Every other part or mechanic in this game is just beautiful filler for this little story.”
- “The gameplay runtime got racked up by accident (I fell asleep with the game on) and the game reached a point where it just won't let me play or continue, shutting itself down.”
- “Gameplay-wise, it seems to be a standard RPG Maker game: walking, interacting with people and items, and choosing actions.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The game offers significant replayability through multiple endings influenced by player choices, with 11 different ending achievements to unlock. However, its replay value may be limited for players who prefer to experience a single narrative without revisiting alternative storylines.
- “It doesn't rely on one playthrough, but on its replayability, which comes from the fact that almost every choice influences the story and can lead to unlocking one of the 11 ending achievements in the game.”
- “It seems like it has quite a bit of replay value for different endings, but if you don't like to replay narrative-focused games, it's still worthwhile.”
- “It seems like it has quite a bit of replay value for different endings, but if you're like me and don't like to replay narrative-focused games (I'd rather enjoy the ending I got!), it's still worthwhile.”
- “It also makes the replay value low for me, because I'm not interested in aiding the other side.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's emotional aspect is praised for its relatable and human lead character, as well as its well-written, complex characters who present meaningful moral dilemmas and opportunities for deep emotional development.
- “The lead's struggles are relatable and human, and the characters throughout the game offer opportunities for quick, well-written emotional development as well as complexity and plenty of moral gray areas.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users praise the character development for its well-crafted design and expressive facial animations, highlighting the evident effort put into bringing characters to life.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a story-driven, minimalist RPG experience with no grinding required, as battles are narrated rather than involving traditional combat mechanics.