J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and the surrounding stories are iconic. They’re the backbone of high fantasy as we know it today, and they stand as a testament to resiliency. The stories show the smallest among us carrying the world’s weight, suffering great loss, and still finding the hope and compassion to keep moving forward. To put it simply, Tolkien’s legacy is about the light surviving the darkness. But that isn’t all he has offered; he’s also given us everything we need for Tales of the Shire.
Developed by Wētā Workshop and published by Private Division, Tales of the Shire is best described as a cozy Hobbit life sim set in the Middle-earth universe of J.R.R. Tolkien. But more importantly, this game is establishing a unique identity in games about Middle-earth, it’s just comfortable joy. Not every story nor game needs to be a world-saving battle or struggle against dark forces. Sometimes, you can just be a little Hobbit in a little Hobbit hole in the Shire, living your life.
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At Summer Game Fest, we got the chance to go hands-on with Tales of the Shire and experience the storybook return to Middle-earth’s most inviting region living in the town of Bywater. In the game, you play a Hobbit who inherited a small dilapidated home in the town of Bywater. As you build your life in the town, you bring your home back to life, garden, cook, and, more importantly, become a vibrant part of the community. Set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, there isn’t a great danger to overcome, but the stories of adventure that have been brought back to Bywater and the others you meet in the town will inform your vision of the Shire and Middle-earth.
The game itself will boost 120 recipes at launch, support full customization of your house (down to individual wall panels and archways), and allow you to build your little slice of Bywater how you want. Want to put your bed outside? Go for it! More importantly, Tales of the Shire‘s customization system also features great quality-of-life elements, like allowing you to move full items like flowerbeds without disturbing the growth process of your crops.
In addition to customizing your home, Tales of the Shire allows you to customize yourself as well. With body sliders, no generlocking of choices, a good variety of skintones and hair styles, you can make your Hobbit represent you if you want—I know I will. Additionally, the fashion system in the game is applied in interactive layers depending on the items you equip. But the real joy of crafting your Hobbit experience comes from defining your personality. From neutral to grumpy to joyous and a few more in between, picking your personality impacts how you walk through Bywater, your resting animations, and how you interact with those around you.
In terms of gardening, you’re able to water your plants with multiple days in mind. You can fill one of the indicators for one day’s worth of water or, if offered, can fill up more to allow your plants to thrive without your attention for longer periods of time.
Additionally, cooking what you’ve grown or gathered also varies in difficulty, with different identities impacting the quality of your food. You can chop into fine, smooth pieces or leave chunkier depending on what your goal is or what the recipe calls for. The game also features a cozy staple: fishing. Which, when accompanied by its immersive score, makes for an easy way to let yourself sink into the Shire and lose time.
Tales of the Shire also features an overarching narrative that connects you to the community of Bywater the more you play. To complete quests, you rely on birds. Seamlessly integrated into the environment, birds perch on fences and fly down paths, guiding you through the town. One key element of the quests in the game is to fulfill community requests and achieve official village status by throwing the greatest Bywater Festival the Shire has ever seen—because Hobbits love to party.
Taking community a step further, the Tales of the Shire doesn’t feature a true economic system. The Wētā Workshop developer who guided us through the demo explained that the team didn’t want players to focus on getting on currency to fulfill their needs. Instead, they wanted to create a gameplay loop that prioritized getting connected and close with the others in Bywater and, by doing so, learning the tales that the Shire has to offer. That said, instead of using money, you are encouraged to barter.
You will build deep connections with different Hobbit NPC and trade what you collect and grow. The sense of becoming one with Bywater is also impacted by the dinner table mechanic. You can invite other townspeople over to eat with you, getting close to them in the process.
But where the game’s core loop makes sense and fits into the broader cozy genre, it’s the game’s small touches that will capture any Tolkien fan’s heart. I know they did mine. Two standouts are the choice to elongate the day and night cycle, which takes into account the comfortable slow pace at which joyful Hobbits move (and, of course, their seven meals a day).
Additionally, the map of the Shire is one of the most beautiful elements of cartography in a game I’ve seen. The developer we spoke to walked us through how he uses Tolkien’s writing and extensive detail to illustrate the map of the Shire and the surrounding areas for Tales of the Shire. The map features detailed locations like the Green Dragon and Brandywine Bridge and more.
While all of this is only detailed in 45 minutes of hands-on time, it’s clear that I just began to scratch the surface of what’s possible in Tales of the Shire. An unassuming game that just wants to give its players joy, Tales of the Shire is a game I deeply need right now. It’s simple and yet infinitely detailed in its attention to the lives of Hobbits. It’s joyful, vibrant, and will let you be a little Hobbit in a little Hobbit hole and that’s all that matters. Sometimes, a small story can be as influential as an earth-shaking one.
Tales of the Shire is scheduled to be released on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 sometime in 2024.
