Summary

• Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game focuses on peaceful hobbit life with cooking mechanics and no combat.
• The game's setting in Bywater offers colorful charm, quests for clubs, relationship-building, and customization.
• Cooking involves detailed dish crafting, individual preferences, and dinner parties to build bonds with residents.

Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game takes a wholly different approach to Tolkien's universe, centering around hobbit dinner parties rather than grand adventures. The life sim comes from Wētā Workshop, a developer with intimate knowledge of Middle-Earth, having worked on the special effects for the original LOTR film series. Recent hands-on time during Summer Game Fest showed off a title that seems to offer a completely unique experience that will be satisfying for both Lord of the Rings fans and cozy game fans alike.

Life as a hobbit is an incredibly peaceful one - Tales of the Shire has no combat whatsoever, and every goal in the game can be done at one's own pace. One of the main activities in the title is cooking, but even that has no potential for failure, eschewing the minigame mechanics of games like Cooking Mama in favor of an overall dish rating system. Players can decorate their hobbit hole, throw dinner parties, fish, grow ingredients, and much more as they build their cooking prowess and improve friendships through food.

The World Of Tales Of The Shire

A Village Full Of Friends & Forageables

Tales of the Shire takes place in the rarely-seen village of Bywater, which is having trouble reaching official recognition as a proper town. Raising Bywater's status is one of the main goals of the game, which seems similar to the town-rating mechanics of games like Animal Crossing. The world itself is filled with colorful, cartoonish charm, from the design of its hobbit inhabitants to the sprawling hillsides and quaint buildings. Forageables are easier to find with the help of butterflies that gather near them, and players can be led to quest points and villagers by flocks of birds.

Though raising the status of Bywater is a big focus, it's certainly not the only way for a hobbit to spend their time. Instead of an outright skill system, players will complete quests for various clubs around town, and there are also specific heart quests that will raise relationships with residents. These quests can also help unlock things like new purchaseable seeds, ingredients, and recipes, increasing players' overall cooking options. Hobbit holes also have plenty of customization available, with the demo showing things like different home exteriors and an impressive free placement system for furniture.

Cooking In Tales Of The Shire

Crafting Dishes To Suit Different Tastes

Crafting dishes is a huge part of Tales of the Shire, which removes all the stressful elements that many popular cooking games include, like time limits or the possibility of creating inedible failed dishes. The cooking system is incredibly detailed, with all recipes having the ability to improve and have their overall flavor profiles changed. Seasonings can be added during each step, and as players cook, the dish will move around on a grid with the labels smooth, chunky, crisp, and tender based on preparation - they can try to hit the perfect balance marked on the grid, or ignore it.

Each hobbit has their own likes and dislikes, which will impact their reactions and any relationship improvements after gifting dishes or throwing dinner parties. Dinner parties are a great way to build multiple bonds at once, and even if the menu features an attendee's disliked food, the event won't be a failure - it won't improve the relationship, but it also won't degrade it. Ingredients come from a combination of foraging, purchasing, and farming, with the preview showing off a garden full of things like onions, tomatoes, and - of course - plenty of potatoes.

Final Thoughts On Tales Of The Shire

The Cozy LOTR Sim Fans Didn't Know They Needed

Tales of the Shire is undoubtedly the most relaxed take on a Lord of the Rings video game ever, finally allowing players to experience the magical fantasy elements of Tolkien's universe without strife. One of the best parts of the game is that it has enough relaxing mechanics and gently introduced lore that it's fun even for those not familiar with Middle-Earth. The title walks a fine line between including details for long-time fans alongside key elements of a cozy life sim skillfully, serving as a great jumping off point for entering the world of LOTR.

The world of Tales of the Shire is so warm and inviting that I was sad to leave it when my 30-minute demo had ended, and found myself wondering about recipe possibilities long after my time with the title was over. The life of a hobbit has always seemed wholesome and idyllic - an ambiance this game has in spades. It's not clear right now just how long players will have to wait to venture to Bywater, but Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is certainly worth keeping an eye on for both cozy game fans and LotR fans.

Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is currently slated for release some time in the latter half of 2024.