Does local establishment The Stars At Night stand up to scrutiny?

July 26, 2017 3:17 PM

On a shelf behind the bar was a small, green plastic elephant. It belonged to a local called Sedge. Whenever he had a pint, he'd drop the elephant into it. It was called the Sedgephant. This is not a good anecdote, but it is the sort of thing that happens in pubs. - Phil Savage from PC Gamer reviews a pub. A pub in the game Everybody's Gone To The Rapture.
posted by ambrosen (8 comments total)

Some fair points there. The lighting is a shambles. However, the point about barrels is potentially misplaced. Since the pub has limited real ale on tap you might expect higher turnover of lager than ale. Hence it is possible to see lager barrels at the rear rather than real ale barrels. Bear in mind that it is only the empties that are left outside in this fashion, no landlord would leave full barrels out, especially of real ale. I would also quibble with the assertion that the empties shown could only be lager, from the design they might well be nitrogen assisted bitters. Now this seems like it would be poor judgement on the part of the landlord but it may be possible and might fit with the limited selection at the pump.

The absence of any crisps or savoury snacks at the bar would also fit with a landlord of poor quality.
posted by biffa at 4:07 PM on July 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Show of hands here: how many people can't read the name of this pub without having an inescapable urge to clap rhythmically about three seconds later?
posted by Navelgazer at 6:54 PM on July 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

I feel no urge to clap, but I can't shake the notion that the pub's name is either a character or a starship in the Twilight Mirage.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:28 PM on July 26, 2017

I hear they're big and bright
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:22 AM on July 27, 2017

"...drink pint after pint without saying a word."
I don't like to make generalisations, but perhaps this is more of an English thing? When I used to go to pubs in Scotland the people who sat in silence all night were notable oddities.
posted by 1head2arms2legs at 2:30 AM on July 27, 2017

I was going to object to the ash tray, before watching another video and seeing the C64 and a few other clues that this game is set in the 80s. OK.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:35 AM on July 27, 2017

The 80s setting would also go to the scarcity of real ale on draught compared to today.
posted by biffa at 3:20 AM on July 27, 2017

All the pubs I'd go to more than once have people chatting in them, but I've definitely been in some pretty quiet ones and then not gone back.
posted by ambrosen at 3:58 AM on July 27, 2017