Ever wondered what it’d be like if Overcooked had a lot more freedom in movement and a lot of other frantic mechanics? Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2 offers all of that set in a cutesy medieval fantasy world, where your clientele consists of a whole host of hungry goblins, ogres, and more.
I’ve played it for a few hours both solo and in co-op, and here are my thoughts on its very early pre-alpha state!
NOTE: Full disclosure, I received a set of review keys from the developers, though I believe the game has a public demo now!
Absolute Chaos, In a Good Way
Rather than placing your kitchen crew in a regular kitchen, Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2 makes you and a group of up to 8 other players work in a large, open tavern setting. Here, you have to manage not just the customers, but also your supplies, trash, furnace, and even pesky thieves that’ll occasionally steal your supplies.
It may sound overwhelming at first, but… well, yeah, actually it is, in a good way. Here’s how the general flow of gameplay goes:
- Take the customer’s order and throw their tickets at the service area (and you better aim well!)
- Cook or brew whatever they asked for
- Serve them their food/drinks
- Throw the trash they leave behind at any of the bins
- Permanently dispose of the trash whenever needed
Those are just the bare basics, and you’ll quickly learn that there are varying customer types that will very quickly throw you out of whatever rhythm you think you’ve settled into.
It’s these elements of micromanagement and improvisation that make for a heavily engaging experience where you’re practically forced to delegate and have your group work specific tasks if you want each day to go somewhat smoothly. Things will eventually get too frantic that mistakes are inevitable, and that’s just part of the fun.
I spent most of my playtime with my non-gamer partner, and we had a blast just rushing around trying to serve customers while keeping the tavern in tip-top shape. I’m glad to report that it’s incredibly easy to pick up and learn, even for those who don’t play a lot of games in general (or at all).
For those who wanna be sweaty, you’ve got some basic but insanely fun movement mechanics to play around with. Between jump dashing and using trampolines to throw stuff or even yourself around the tavern, there won’t be any shortage of ways to “speed up” the gameplay.
I’d imagine more silly stuff that’ll help you move around or serve customers better will be present in the final version of the game, especially considering the “upgrade” mechanic that lets you improve the tavern’s facilities over the course of each level.
A Promising Party Game
Overall, my first impression of the game is that it’s an extremely fun party game that’ll only get better the more people you have in your group. Even with just a small group or in a duo setting, there’s so much chaotic fun to be had.
I tried playing it solo for a bit, but it’s definitely not designed for that in its current state. I could keep up and perform just fine on easy difficulty, but a group is definitely needed for anything above that if you want to get a flawless run, especially with how fast things can go wrong early on.
If you’re looking for your next Overcooked fix, I highly recommend keeping an eye on Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2. I’m definitely going to revisit it when it releases, as my partner and I really enjoyed playing this very early version, and I have a few more friends who I’ve played stuff like PEAK and Deep Rock Galactic with who I just know won’t pass up the chance for some Dwarven shenanigans.