Gloomwood's last update for 2022 opens the doors to its dodgy tavern

Creepy stealth fest Gloomwood snuck into early access a few months ago and made fans of immersive sims look out from under their hoods - but sadly the work-in-progress won't let you slip past its city gates. With Gloomwood’s final update for this year, though, you can at least nip in the local tavern now. Only, it seems there’s something pretty nasty dwelling inside its presumably one-star walls. Have a watch of the trailer below, and get us a Guinness and a packet of Golden Wonder from the bar. Ready salted, please.

You can find the tavern at Gloomwood’s cliffs. The devs say that it contains the “deadliest foe you've yet to encounter”, and I don’t think they mean a bunch of students necking shots of Goldschläger. Unfortunately, once you’re inside the tavern you’ll find it’s a lock-in. You won’t be able to get out until you’ve bested the foe waiting for you, because they have the key. If you don’t fancy taking on whatever leary patron is prowling the tavern then you can always steal it from them instead. If you find the tavern tricky then there’s always the new Crescent Moon difficulty, which makes resources more plentiful and enemies easier.

Alice Bee had a go with Gloomwood back in September after the game launched into early access, and thought that it was very good despite feeling a bit short. “It's a grubby delight of a game full of as many nail-biting clutch moments as masterful plans you can set up and execute,” she said. “You can distract a guard by throwing a severed arm through a window just as easily as chucking a bottle into the corner, which is a wonderful thing to know about a game. But right now the fun stops just as you feel you're properly ready to get going.”

Gloomwood’s in early access on Steam for £16/$20/€17. You can read the notes for the tavern update here. Sneak a beermat into your cloak before we leave, will you? I collect them.