Tavern Tycoon – Episode 09: Nothing Is On Special

Having successfully brought my latest tavern franchise back from dead(in more ways than one), I was ready for a bit of a change of pace. What I ended up getting was a fresh new challenge in a somewhat familiar abode.

[G^G] Let’s Play Tavern Tycoon – Episode 9: Nothing Is On Special

Episode Index

Instead of being forced to build a bar from scratch, this time around you actually already have some basic rooms and furniture already built at the start of the level. Unfortunately this comes at the trade-off of having less funds initially, and even more unfortunately the initial layout needs a little help.

I tried to keep around as much of the original tavern as I could, but ultimately ended up scrapping a few rooms early on to optimize the layout. In the end I was able to complete the level on the first try, but I struggled for quite some time to hit the break-even point.

This level is actually considerably smaller than most of the levels in the game, as a result building an instance of each tavern service was actually quite a challenge! I was able to cobble it all together in the end, but it took considerably longer than I expected.

Lesson Learned: Read The Magazines

I have to say I felt like a phenomenal idiot when I realized that there was a mini-encyclopedia of game mechanics at my disposal the entire time. It turns out that be default you are subscribed to the “Tavern Keeper’s Digest” and “Quest Insider” magazines by default, and they do a lot more than provide color to the world. Both magazines have detailed explanations of core game mechanics that everybody should read the moment they become available.

Much like my “right click to move employee” discovery, the main reason I didn’t read these sooner was simply because I ignored them in my haste to each level. Had I taken 15 to 20 minutes early on to poke and prod the game, I probably could have avoided a lot of pain and confusion.

Lesson Learned: Replace Your Furniture

In the previous level, I was forced to learn that damaged furniture(such as the receptionist desk) will not perform the way you want it to. In this level, with the help of “Quest Insider Issue 5” I learned that as furniture breaks it loses maximum durability.

Armed with this knowledge I became much more pro-active repairing and replacing furniture, and what do you know my tavern prospered for it. It turns out that guests use properly maintained furniture much more quickly and consistently. This resulted in me having much better control over what is going on in my tavern, and ultimately having an easier path to success.

Lesson Learned: Right Click Moves Employees

Before you ask, yes I am annoyed that it took me this long to realize that I had the power to immediately move idle employees around the entire time. I like to think that this added another layer of complexity to the game, but in reality it was simply due to a lack of preparation and experimentation on my part.

Something I’ve noticed about myself whenever I record game-play is that I tend to stick to my guns when the camera is running. My desire to keep the rate of play up comes at the cost of me sometimes not fully investigating the options and techniques at my disposal.

Final Thoughts

I actually kind of like the fact that you didn’t start the level off with a blank slate. I initially considered tearing all of the rooms down and starting fresh. However, the cost of doing so was uncomfortably high, so instead I decided to take a more measured approach and slowly renovate the tavern over time.

In my opinion this change of pace actually made stage 9 much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. I was forced to change my habits, and the game was much more engaging as a result.

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Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great rest of your day, week, month, year, and life!

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