Business management games are about building capital, and Travellers Rest is no exception. Simulating a real company, players juggle the assets and resources at their disposal, organizing them into a functioning whole and reaping the resulting profits. They then put those profits toward expanding their arsenal, multiplying their outcome numerous times. In short, everything revolves around money and its strategic use.
Travellers Rest pulls no punches in this respect. Players find themselves managing a chaotic inn. To stay afloat, they allocate their resources and put them toward certain creature comforts. Doing so recklessly can sink the enterprise before it's even begun. Therefore, it's helpful to know the game's structure and which items to purchase. This can lead to more informed financial decisions and a booming business. With a little strategic spending, would-be managers will be rolling in dough.
4 Rent Out Rooms
This goal goes without saying. It's only natural that an inn's major source of income would be renting out rooms. How curious, then, that this service isn't available right away. In Travellers Rest, players must progress a certain amount beforehand.
Turning this place into a thriving hotel takes a lot of prep work. Renting rooms doesn't become an option until reaching Level 8. Even then, managers must invest a significant amount of coins. Not only does it cost one gold coin to open a room, but owners also have to furnish it with a bed, carpet, and various other luxuries. All that may seem like a tremendous waste at first.
Eventually, though, players will see a return on their investments. The higher the room's rating, the more appealing it is to the guest. In turn, it draws more patrons to the inn. Soon, managers will make their money back and then some.
3 Serve Food & Drinks
The other main business branch here is culinary service. Food and drinks keep people coming back to the inn. The main lobby has plenty of tables to accommodate customers. Players must use that space to provide tables and sustenance. That's only the beginning.
Travellers Rest encourages expansion. Players can hire a bartender, cleaners, and other staff members once they reach Level 6. To save on salaries, though, they should handle the bartender role themselves. At Level 10, however, they can open the wine cellar. Every few levels, something new becomes available. That said, the expansion goes beyond simple level gains.
To keep ahead of the competition, managers should always explore new options in their repertoire. They can learn novel meal recipes by completing quests or filling in talent points on the Cooking Skill Tree. The same goes for specialized drink brews. Then comes the gathering of ingredients. Players can grow them, craft them, or buy them from the Postbox. Finally, the inn gets cold at night, so managers should remember to turn on the fireplace at 7 pm. Otherwise, the guests will make a swift departure, throwing all that hard work down the drain. The sheer number of factors can make the eatery an overwhelming task. Thankfully, if fans keep up with these elements, then they'll have a thriving restaurant. The consumers will be comfortable, and they'll have any food and drink combo they can imagine. With these needs met, they practically throw money at the business.
2 Fulfilling Orders
Serving customers directly isn't the only way to profit off of food and drinks. Starting at Level 4, the inn can also take special orders. These involve specific meals or brews. Managers receive three of these per in-game day. Crafting these treats and shipping them out yields sizable chunks of money in return. Then again, it's not just the immediate benefits that make these requests worth the hassle.
In addition, they have oodles of experience. As mentioned before, these points go toward numerous improvements, from facilities to culinary skills. Such upgrades obviously make it easier to draw in customers and earn money. Because of that, special orders act as valuable stepping stones for monetary advancement. They're basically a daily bonus to the inn's growth, one which any self-respecting entrepreneur ought to take advantage of.
1 Haggling
Just as important to players' savings is how they spend their money. Throughout Travellers Rest, managers will inevitably have to purchase several items. These range from ingredients, furniture, and even more space. On the flip side, customers offer money for the inn to service them. Players may see a fixed price on these transactions, but that doesn't mean said price is ironclad.
At certain points, the game opens the door to haggling. This mainly occurs when guests are renting a room. They state how much they're willing to pay. Players can accept that offer or negotiate a more lucrative one. Travellers Rest illustrates this with a meter containing a target section and a moving pointer. Stopping the pointer within the target section wins the minigame. Hitting that Bullseye increases the price by a certain percentage. Succeeding multiple times can propel the price further. Building one's haggling level can milk even more money from that single transaction--up to 150 percent of the original price. Sure, it reduces a silver-tongued deal to a timing gimmick, but it still requires skill from the players. They must have the utmost confidence in their reflexes. Otherwise, the freeloading patron will lowball them.
Travellers Rest is currently available on PC and Linux.