Elven Revenue Service

Nestled in the heart of the Kingdom, at the foot of the mountains, is the small city of Chilverre. It’s not the sort of place that adventurers and warriors would go out of their way to find; it’s a relatively peaceful land, where elves and dwarves, demons and humans, and everything in between can be found living side by side. Amid the inns and apothecaries, there’s a hole-in-the-wall tavern that doesn’t look like much from the outside. It’s been a place for parties of travelers to meet and those of all races to relax and unwind for decades—and even being under new management hasn’t changed that.

The new Barkeep, an easygoing human from Chilverre, has finally gotten used to running a tavern. After closing up in the wee hours of the morning, the Barkeep is shocked to see a long-lost childhood friend, Vivi, has arrived back in town. While initially cause to rejoice, there’s another side to this surprise: the tavern is under audit from the Elven Revenue Service, and Vivi will be the auditor responsible. Can the Barkeep muddle through the complexities of love and taxes and keep the place running, or will the doors of this historic tavern be closed for good?

Elven Revenue Service is a game about love, life, and the mundane existing alongside the fantastical. As players progress through the story, they’ll have to decide how they want to run the bar, handle the audit, and build relationships with the people around them. Players can shape the course of events radically with their choices, ranging from how involved with the audit they get to what characters (if any) they’re hoping to romance. With seven characters planned to be available for romance, this creates a wide array of possible endings, ensuring the game will be enjoyable to play again and again. Players will be able to set the protagonist’s gender without affecting their romance options, providing gay and lesbian options for those interested. And while building relationships is a major part of the game, they won’t necessarily have to be romantic to "win," either. Our hope is that Elven Revenue Service will have a little something for everyone rather than simply being thought of as “a dating game.”

Stylistically, Elven Revenue Service has drawn from the golden age of RPGs in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, using an art style reminiscent of classic series like Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, and Final Fantasy. We’ve taken influence from a variety of other fantasy works, of course, ranging from seminal works like Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings to more modern fare. We’ve also learned from popular visual novels, fixing what we thought didn’t work and studying what did. The end result is a complex, anachronistic fantasy setting where the modern mundane exists alongside the magical, bringing with it all that such a situation would imply.

Features:

• 7 characters available to romance, including male, female, and gender-fluid love interests. Relationships do not need to be romantic for good endings, however.
• Dozens of possible endings, with multiple endings per character.
• Random bar events occurring each night in-game, offering a unique spin to every playthrough.
• Run your Bar: manage the tavern's inventory, set specials, and earn gold to further influence endings.
• Pixel artwork inspired by the great JRPGs and text-based adventure games of the 1990s.
• Custom music composed for the game, in a 16-bit style befitting its retro aesthetic.

If you download the demo, please also consider filling out our short survey. It will aid us in development greatly!