Forming Friendships Over Second Breakfast: Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game ™ Review | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform Reviewed On: PC (Steam)

Also on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X & Series S

Price: $34.99

I was that kid in high school that walked around with a book of my own from class to class. I have vivid memories of roaming the halls with either The Hobbit or one of The Lord of the Rings books on top of my textbooks. Tolkien is still one of my favorite authors and the world of Middle-Earth is a core inspiration for my love of the fantasy genre. So, when I heard of Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of Rings ™  Game being in development, I was ecstatic to dig my hands into this cozy sim. While the aesthetic of the game hits the spot on living life as a hobbit in Bywater, I truly believe that there is potential for a great “Oh, it's midnight already?” game, even if it falls unfortunately short in some aspects. 

In character creation, I am one of those gamers that will spend a decent amount of time forging the exact character I want to play. I’m not afraid to spend an hour on this screen; I’m going to be looking at this character the entire time, so why not? Each tab I was presented with allowed me to customize the usuals; hair, body shape, facial features, and starter clothing. I appreciated the added detail of picking the hair on my feet. A small, but important, detail for hobbits. While it didn’t take me an hour to create Primrose Puddifoot, I still found myself fiddling with different body shapes and face shapes until I found the exact combination for my little hobbit.

Food. The main activity throughout the game is cooking meals, which is of little to no surprise, Hobbits love food. With it comes a small mini-game of utilizing different tools and ingredients to make each dish as spicy, sweet, chunky, or smooth as my guest craved. If I was able to create a dish that my guest wanted, I was then awarded a gift of sorts through the mail the next day, as a way of thanking me for my hospitality. If I fell short, though, I would still receive a letter in thanks, but nothing more. I also encountered a situation where I hadn’t invited a hobbit over for a meal, and they became upset at me to the point where I couldn’t invite them over for a determined amount of time. I appreciate the creativity, but I also feel as if the devs could have expanded on this mechanic just a little bit more. Adding in a small task (that wasn’t making them food) to make up for it, would be a fun, engaging experience to have, rather than just waiting for them to stop having their grudge with me. Or even have the other hobbits comment on this fact while I roamed the paths would have added more of an impact to my neighbor’s disappointment.

I was happy to see some familiar faces and names throughout Bywater. Including a very specific individual who arrived precisely when he meant to. It gave me some familiarity to grasp onto but it wasn’t oversaturated with these characters, so I still felt as if this was a new adventure amidst a story I already knew. I felt that each hobbit and villager I encountered had a story of their own to tell, and while some had more depth than others, overall, I wish I was offered more of their stories. Maybe a short conversation while they were over for Second Breakfast would have added to this. Even adding in a calendar of birthdays and special events within the village would be another great way to engage with them and add another level of bonding. Beyond that, I highly enjoyed listening to the casual conversations as I walked along, including some of the personal grudges some hobbits had with each other. I truly felt like a newcomer in a well established place with history amongst its inhabitants. 

Tales of the Shire had a creative way to guide me through the land when I tracked a quest. Rather than the usual marker in the distance or a lit path along the ground, I followed a trail of bluebirds that would land specifically in the direction I was supposed to go. However, I did encounter a few mishaps in this. When going home, the bluebirds would lead me through a gate that I hadn’t fixed yet, requiring me to then find the open gate on my own. An inconvenience, but it was tolerable until I eventually memorized the pathways. There were also some collision issues in the way of bluebirds landing on seemingly nothing but this wasn’t game breaking. 

Butterflies are also used as a guide throughout the world. I found many kaleidoscopes of butterflies as I wandered about and they would lead me to any nearby gatherable object. I personally loved this as I would have just walked right by whatever herb or fruit otherwise. 

In my opinion, both of these greatly added to the immersion and it was refreshing to see something different than what I have seen used many times before.

Additionally, when I stored any ingredients in my pantry, I was able to watch, in real time, the empty shelves filled with what I put in there. So satisfying!

As I played, I eventually was able to unlock the mission boards for the clubs I helped form in Bywater. These added the ability to upgrade certain aspects in my hobbit’s life as I leveled up the clubs. Between backpack upgrades, opening up more areas of my own hobbit hole, and upgrading my fishing pole, I had some variety to work towards. However, I wish I had the opportunity to upgrade things that the game just purely doesn’t offer. I feel Tales of the Shire would have benefited greatly from utilizing these clubs as a means to increase my hobbit’s skill in actual crafting within the game. Introducing the ability to craft furniture, clothing, and tools would have added so much more to the gameplay. It would be yet another way to motivate me to continue the life sim grind through the seasons that I so very much enjoy. 

Final Grade: B

Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings ™ Game offers a means to jump into Tolkien’s world of Middle-Earth to live a life as a humble hobbit in Bywater. I loved embodying the simplistic life of a hobbit just trying to fit in, and forming bonds with the locals by ways of making them meals. While I fully believe that this game would benefit greatly from some quality of life changes as well as additional crafting and NPC engagement amidst a broader story, I have had a lot of fun as a hobbit and I can see the potential for it to be a fabulous game that will bring me back to continue my new adventure!

Review code provided by Fortyseven Communication