In 2024 Gentle Troll Entertainment released Tavern Talk, a visual novel about running a tavern in a Dungeons and Dragons inspired world. As of January 2026, the game has received very positive reviews on Steam. Gentle Troll Entertainment is hoping to have another success on their hands with Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker. So far, they don’t have anything to be concerned about.
On January 27th, Gentle Troll Entertainment launched the Kickstarter for their prequel and the campaign was funded in one hour with two stretch goals already unlocked. As of the time of this article, they’ve hit all but one of their stretch goals.
Despite being the next game from Gentle Troll Entertainment, Dreamwalker is actually a prequel to the original Tavern Talk game taking place 36 years prior to the events of the original. This means you can dive right in with no context and enjoy. Having spent time with the demo, I can confirm this is true.
So what does the demo play like?
Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker dives you right into the game after choosing your name and pronouns. You welcome your first customer within minutes and set the relationship you have with this patron. Old friends, old strangers? The choice is yours which I appreciated. It felt like my decisions did matter in the course of the conversation. Whatever you choose, it’s only minutes before you begin creating your first drink from your recipe book. This is the tutorial stage that will introduce you to the mechanics of making your drinks. This is a bit enhanced from the original Tavern Talk so even those familiar with the series should play the tutorial.
Choose from the ingredients at your disposal by seeing how they adjust the stats of the drink. Will it increase charisma and dexterity? Is this even a beverage or a potion? Perhaps a bit of both. If you don’t make the drink you intend to make, don’t worry, there is a way to start over. Your faithful companion, this lovable bee, will drink the rejects. As you pour each ingredient you’ll see the stats change in the window. Thankfully you don’t need to memorize the drink components and stats as you can draw it on the chalk board for easy reference. Once you complete the drink, Captain Beebug, your companion at the drink nook, will confirm you’ve made the drink by name. Serve it up to your customer and get back to the chatting! The mechanics here are pretty straight forward and enjoyable once you get the hang of it.
As it is a visual novel, most of the time spent is speaking with your customers and making choices. However, these patrons will also share gossip from around town. It’s up to you as the barkeep to use these rumors to build out quests for these adventurers. Oh, did you think you just listened to them complain? After all, this is a fantasy world. They do more than just complain sometimes they give you great insights into the world at large.
Each night you’ll compile your thoughts to create quests for these brave adventurers. Choose from your post it notes which belong together and you’ll see a quest appear in front of your eyes. After the quest is built, it will be posted on the board in your bar waiting for the right adventuring party to come along. The quest will also lead back to you as your drinks will help inspire them or boost some of their stats. Again we ask, are we making beverages here or are we making potions? Perhaps we’ll need to play the full game to really know the truth. We’ll just tell you that fate isn’t written in the stars but it may be in your cup.
During the demo, you’ll also sometimes get to choose a drink based on the characteristics they tell you. Quite different from actual bartending when a customer tells you exactly what they are looking for. Be ready to view your book of drinks quite often to find what matches their mood to help them on their way. Some of these patrons will also help bring ingredients to add to the complexity of drinks and create new beverages to be served.
Did I mention it’s pretty?
Obviously the aesthetics of the game are quite inviting. The colors of the characters pop nicely against the backdrop of the tavern. Even the lighting of the drink nook allows you to feel you know how early or late it is in the day. Those rays of sunlight shining on the drink nook while you concoct your latest brew.
The character designs also feel so wonderfully ripped right from Dungeons & Dragons. Any of these characters could be part of a campaign and would feel as though they are in the right universe.
These are only five of the characters you’ll meet in Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker and the Kickstarter promises additional characters along the way. Of course, even with just these few to start, the bar is set pretty high for the remaining cast of characters. The characters do also come with varying expressions that will allow you know exactly what is on their mind. Are they flirting with you? Did you shock them? Sometimes the facial expressions are small changes and the attention is detail is fantastic.
The music also adds to the charm of the game. Sound cues also allow you to know when something is happening to be mindful of. Sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much. Focus on what is happening around you when a sound feels out of place. This could help you see when your story is about to continue on. Even barkeeps can have something interesting happen to them!
Final Thoughts
Overall, while the demo will take you about 90 minutes to 2 hours it’s quite fun for visual novel fans. If all goes well, perhaps the game will hit its goal of be out by Q2 of 2026. The development team has shared that the Kickstarter campaign is really for the final stretch of game development so they could meet this timeline. Between the first game and the polish this demo brings, I have no doubt that Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker will be a fantastic addition to any visual novel collection. Even in the demo the dialogue did feel like it was varied enough for an introduction. The ability to choose drinks and how you make them instead of having to memorize one recipe was also a nice game play mechanic. It allows for experimentation, flexibility, and a bit of creativity even if the end result is the same.
Be sure to check out the demo for yourself over on Steam and see if you agree. Once you do, will you be looking to get to know the characters of this bar? Don’t worry, even if you don’t, we won’t poison your drink. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below by joining us over at the Gamer Social Club Discord server.
