Good news, Tavern Keepers,
Major Update 2 "Digging Deeper" is now available on the Experimental branch for early testing and it's time to lift the curtain on some surprises!
The experimental branch is where we polish new updates before they become generally available.
Note: The experimental branch still has missing translations, missing voice overs and can have bugs and balance issues. Do not use the experimental branch, if you'd rather wait for the fully polished experience.
If you do want to help test the new version, please check the instructions here:
How to play on Experimental
We'll forgo flashy trailers and gifs until this update releases properly but Update 2 is a HUGE step-up for Tavern Keeper and comes with several headline features:
A brand new dwarven level and scenario
Tavern expansions
Cellars (Surprise!)
Run your own tavern shop
Bake cakes and serve desserts
Run your own blacksmith
Gain Guild Levels and reach 3.5 tavern stars in all your taverns
Assign job duties and better control staff
And more...
The fourth and largest campaign scenario takes you deep into the mountains of Domhain to build a tavern for the dwarven clans. Deal with 24/7 demand from patrons, handle earthquakes and help the clans to unearth an ancient artifact. "Digging Deeper" is the biggest campaign scenario yet with a new level, new mechanics: open a tavern shop, bake and serve cakes, run a blacksmith and reach 3.5 tavern stars!
In addition to the new scenario, we went all in and also addressed your most important feedback! You wanted to have more space to build your existing taverns, you wanted more control over your staff, and you wanted a reason to go back to your older taverns and grow them further too.
Update 2 gives you way more room to play with. You can dig a cellar, not only in the new dwarven level but in all(!) existing levels too. Similarly, expandable areas have been added in lots of other places so you can now extend your tavern over the swamp in Riverbottom or dig further into the hills in Halflington!
Both cellars and tavern expansions require staff with the new "Construction" skill (in the Dogsbody role) and can cost a fair bit of gold. Depending on the game difficulty settings, creating a sizable cellar can be quite the undertaking.
On the tavern management side, a brand new 'staff duties' system lets you manage your staff in more detail. You can now designate staff to particular sub-tasks which opens up a whole range of new strategies for micromanagement. For example: you can tell your servers to only take orders at the bar or split your chefs into those who do the cooking and those who do the preparations. While we worked on the Staff Schedule, we also added much-requested options to filter and sort your staff.
A new "Guild Level" feature now tracks all your scenario taverns across the world map and with Update 2, you can now go back to older taverns and raise their star rating to 3.5 stars in each of your taverns.
A new scenario is a ton of work to begin with, much of which has been years in the making. Update 2 also adds hundreds of minor and major improvements and fixes but the tavern expansions, cellars (and staircase) required the most additional effort as these features weren't ever planned. Indeed, we ruled out multi-level taverns (and expansions) at the start of Early Access before your feedback convinced us otherwise, but we are so glad we listened!
Having the option to run a tavern over multiple levels (and who knows, there might even be an upper level in a future update) brings the way you can build and manage your taverns to a whole new level!
We can't wait to hear what you think of this new update. If you do want to try out the experimental version, please do and please report any issues with F3.
Depending on the feedback we receive, we expect that Update 2 will likely graduate to a full release in about a month's time.
Thanks,
Patrick and the Tavern Keeper Team