Tavern Crawler is a choice-based, screwball noir fantasy by Josh Labelle. It had everything I like about fantasy RPGs with none of the tedium.
The experience was less about fighting through obstacles and more about finding opportunities to apply your skills. Combat sequences are rare and resolved in a few choices, leaving you to enjoy conversations with other characters while you choose the best way to complete several quests.
Even as it uses standard fixtures of an RPG fantasy world, Tavern Crawler leaves room for the unexpected. You can make choices that are in character for a Tank (fighter), Mage, or Rogue, and I found each path supported by strong writing that kept things interesting. Quests develop unexpected dimensions as new information is uncovered, and you gradually learn more about your companions and their backstories while working your way through the narrative.
While the story unfolds, information updates in the sidebar to explain what has happened to your character. Different text formatting makes it clear when choices have affected your status, showing you which options are (un)available due to your current state. These updates helped me understand how I was altering the story.
Overall, this entry tilts more toward "game" than "interactive drama," which I appreciated. Too much dramatic tension might have cramped the interactivity and left me feeling like an observer. Instead, I had enough slack to play around inside the story and enjoy myself.
Artwork from Donald Conrad:
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