I had no idea about Farkle before today. I didn't even know what the word meant, or that it was even a word. It turns out it's a medieval dice game, and it also turns out that I'm addicted to it now!
I used to love games like Yahtzee when I was a kid; anything with dice is usually easy to grasp, and instead of having to learn a load of convoluted rules, there's just 6 numbers to remember and a pretty simple scoring system that anyone can grasp. Well, I've been sent Tavern Farkle by 2ndLawGames, the minds behind the amazing Self Simulated and their follow-up pinball title 'Self Simulated: Pinball Anomaly'. It's a cosy dice game based on an old Medieval game that Martin from 2ndLawGames says he discovered while playing Kingdom Come Deliverance. It's a game that's been recorded well throughout the annals of history, but one that has fallen into obscurity of late, probably because people have TikTok and Nintendo Switch these days.
The premise of the game is simple - you shake a cup and pour out six dice that you use to make points from. The scoring system allows you to play a one or a five on its own - you'll need to have either a one or a five at least to be able to score something in a round. A one is worth 100 points, and a five is worth 50. You can select triples of numbers (three threes, for example) and pick up an extra one to double the score. You can also get runs, just like in Yahtzee - one to five, two to six, and one to six. Three ones get you 1,000 points too.
The controls are simple; you'll use the D-pad on your emulator (Delta in this case) or your handheld to move an arrow on the screen to select which dice you want to play. If you want to continue and have another round and shake your dice again, press 'Continue'. If you've risked enough and want to stop, you must still select a die and press 'Score' instead.
Jokers also exist too, and they can be used for any number to help you with your score. But you have to have at least a one or a five to complete a round. If you don't, then you'll get a Farkle and lose all of the points you've amassed thus far on your turn.
Check out the video below to get a feel for how the game plays.
I spend so much time playing games that require a lot of concentration and me sitting on the end of my seat holding my breath, so a game like Tavern Farkle which I can just pick up and play while having a coffee or sitting down for a break while listening to music is much appreciated. Don't get me wrong, it's addictive, but it's the same kind of problem-solving adrenaline level as you might get from doing your daily Wordle puzzle... which can get pretty heated, I'm not going to lie!
There are two modes to Taven Farkle - Quick Match and Tournament. Quick Match pits you against a random opponent with a different end target to reach, the lowest being 1,500 and the highest being 10,000. Even though there are 6 options here, the computer makes the difficulty random, so one 1,500 match might feel harder than one you play immediately afterwards, for example.
Tournament puts you up against six rivals with pre-determined difficulties. It's a challenge run, which means if you get to the fourth rival and lose, you'll have to start at the bottom and work your way back up to the top again. Random is the name of the game here, with every shake of the dice bringing a different result every time you play.
When it comes to graphics, there's not much to report as it's not a game that needs to be graphically impressive. You won't find the same kind of cutscenes as you do in Self Simulated or the same kind of glitches with the characters, but that's ok as it doesn't need them. This is a simple dice game that's designed to provide a low-stimulation experience where you can just relax. As I said at the beginning of this article, I never knew what Farkle was at the start of the day, and now I can see myself playing this on a regular basis while having a good old cup of Yorkshire Tea.
Tavern Farkle is set to release in a couple of days' time on Itch.io, with a release on Steam coming shortly after. I highly recommend checking it out; you'll be as relaxed as a Medieval lord in no time!
