I recently had the opportunity to experience Tales of the Shire, a delightful life simulation game set in the picturesque Shire of Bywater, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels. Unlike the movies, this game takes on a cheerful, colorful, and low-pressure vibe.
Taking place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the game begins with your arrival as an outsider to the town of Bywater, where you start building relationships with the locals. Right from the start, you have plenty of options to customize your character, from hair and skin tone to beard and even foot hair. You can also customize your home, including furniture, decorations, and the garden. As you progress, you can expand your property, adding a layer of progression to the game.
During my time with Tales of the Shire, I was introduced to the cooking feature, which quickly became my favorite pastime. It also plays a significant role in developing relationships within the community. For instance, I had to cook a meal for Orlo Proudfoot, a cousin of Bilbo Baggins. The cooking process involved chopping, assembling, and cooking the necessary ingredients to achieve the desired texture; getting it right on the first try was immensely satisfying. It was clear that cooking more complex meals with specific ingredients and precise timing would offer even more depth to the gameplay.
After cooking, I was able to freely explore Bywater and interact with the locals to complete tasks, earning rewards such as new decorations for my home. Deepening relationships by inviting characters over for a meal increased friendship levels. Since Bywater is quite large, the game provides bird guides to help you navigate from point to point. These guides were particularly useful for discovering spots for fishing, which turned out to be an intriguing and enjoyable minigame of pull and tension.
Tales of the Shire features a living world with a day and night cycle. The game kindly reminds you when it’s time to rest, as losing out on rest can affect the following day. In-game events are also impacted by the day and night cycle, with seasonal and time-dependent occurrences providing an endless variety of events and challenges, promising a high level of replayability in this cozy life simulation. There’s also a photo mode available, which I’m sure I’ll spend a lot of time using to capture the perfect shot.
Since 2021, Weta Workshop has been working on Tales of the Shire, originally pitching it as a cheerful, wholesome representation of the Shire in a single-player format. Although there are still some lingering questions regarding in-world events such as festivals and visits from known characters from the franchise, it sounds like more details will be addressed in the coming months. Tales of the Shire is set to release during the holiday season of 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
