Tavern Tales: Review

Tavern Tales: Review 

Information:

Mechanics: Hand Management, Modular, Betting, Set Collection

Player Age: 14+ 

Player Count: 2 - 5 Players

Time to Play: 20 Minutes 
Game Designer: Gregory Skulnick

Game Artist: Gong Studios

Publisher: Phase Shift Games

Year Published: 2021

BGG Weight: 1.33

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Introduction:

The dungeon from Phase Shift Games' previous ‘Dungeon Drop’ has been raided and cleared out of anything even remotely valuable. Now, those raiders have come to the local tavern to boast away. If your heroes are truly doing what they say, and no one can spin a better tale, you will gain one or more feats which gives you points based on their condition. The first to 30 points is the winner. 

This review focuses on the 3-5 player game mode, however, there is an adjusted game mode for two players.

Game Anatomy:

Hero:

At the top of the hero card is an indicator showing what depth they can claim/one-up for (i.e. target). There is also a value on the top right that shows how many feats the claiming player can declare. There are two main types of heroes; Adventurers and Specialists. The adventures have two options of depth they can be played for but can only claim for one feat. The specialist is the opposite, they claim for two feats but only have the choice of one depth.

For an advanced game, you can also shuffle in three elite heroes. They can't start a claim for any feat card, however, they can be played for any depth and have a special when played/win-a-claim ability.

Feats:

Each feat card has a number in the top right depicting how often they appear in the deck. There is also a point value fount at the top of the card. 

Each time the player claims this feat they will gain points according to the amount of identical feat cards they have. For example, the first Pink Gem card gained will only equate to 1 point, the third will score 5 points, and the sixth pink gem will score 11 points.

Some feats have special text written below that can have other game-changing effects. These tend to appear a lot in the monster feats.

Depth Tile:

These denote the five available depths. They will also have cards below them equalling the iconography shown on the bottom of the tile.

For advanced play, each depth can have a room tile randomly placed on it at the start of the game. These rooms create special effects for the depths and also adjust how many feat cards are below them.

Prestige Tracker Tile:

This is where the players keep track of how many points they are currently on, remembering that at 30 points they win the game. After a player has 16 points or higher they will lessen their hand size from four cards to three.

In an advanced game, players can use the alternate side which will unlock a special character ability. These can be activated as an ongoing effect or during setup.

Setup:

- In a row, display the five depths in the centre of the table.
- Shuffle and place feat cards underneath each depth based on the amount on the depth tile.
- Deal each player 6 hero cards. Players will now choose 2 and discard those 2 cards back into the deck. The deck will be shuffled after each player has done this.
- Each player gains a prestige tracker and token to match.
- The most recent person to tell a lie goes first.

How to Play:

On a turn the player can either; 

think and drink, or stake a claim (explained below). After the choice is resolved it becomes the next player's turn and the depth is refilled if needed.

Think and Drink:

This action allows the player to draw three cards as long as they don't start their turn at their max hand size. Once in hand, they must discard a card first from their hand (after drawing), then discard cards down to the hand size. 

Stake a Claim:

With this action the player is picking a character from their hand and declaring the depth they are claiming. They will then move cards from this depth equal to the amount claimed. This is what they are staking your claim on. Players in clockwise order will now either pass (can one-up later), or one-up the current claim. Playing a card that matches the chosen depth, the previous claimer will flip their card face-down indicating the new claim is the current winner. If no one opposes a claim with their one-up, it becomes the current winner's turn to pass or one-up before winning the claim. They then gain the cards indicated for the claim and the points associated with them. 

Final Thoughts:

- Plenty of built-in modules that increases variability and difficulty.
- Timing is important in the one-up phase of a round.
- Feat cards have a wide range of variability
- All players need to keep an active eye on the game for it to be fast.

Tavern Tales is a fast-filler game with a good array of set collection, creating choice for the players and variability to keep the game exciting. The problem with Tavern Tales is that it needs the right group of focused players. When playing the game, players need to be constantly engaged, otherwise it will slow the gameplay down drastically. This isn't a fault of the game but something to be aware of when looking to buy, as the content is great for the right group to get involved in, numerous rooms change the depths, advanced heroes in the form of elites and a great range of feat cards with monsters, in particular, in particular shaking up scoring. This is all wrapped up in an easy-to-learn package using the fun theme of Dungeon Drop.

Click...feed the addiction: 

Phase Shift Games
Tavern Tales on BGG
Expand Your Game Facebook page
Expand Your Game Instagram