Graveyard Keeper: Game Review

Howdy reader and welcome back for another PLM review! Before we go into it, just wanted to remind you that I have a merch shop! Cute merch, spooky merch, silly merch. Peep these designs:

The Game

From the creators of Punch Club comes the most inaccurate medieval cemetery management sim of the year. Welcome to Graveyard Keeper. — Graveyard Keeper website

Released in 2018, Graveyard Keeper throws players right into the thick of things when the main character dies in the first 5 minutes. Waking in a medieval world, players find themselves in the new role of the "Graveyard Keeper", responsible for the dead of the village. In order to return home,you have to complete all kinds of quests, all while managing your graveyard. Think Stardew Valley but more goth.

Face ethical dilemmas. Do you really want to spend money on that proper hotdog meat for the festival when you have so many resources lying around?

Gather valuable resources & craft new items. Expand your Graveyard into a thriving business, go ahead and gather valuable resources scattered in the surrounding areas, and explore what this land has to offer.

Make business alliances. These dead bodies don't need all that blood, do they? Why not sell it to someone who can put it to good use. Same for body parts. Hey, it's being efficient with recycling!

Explore mysterious dungeons. No medieval game would be complete without these. Take a trip into the unknown and find useful new ingredients which may or may not poison a whole bunch of nearby villagers. Capitalism. — Graveyard Keeper wiki page

Currently available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

The Review

This game is really relaxing considering the grim subject matter at times. Like I mentioned above, it’s pretty much goth Stardew Valley. Instead of a farm, you cultivate — well actually you can have a garden… Okay, but the main focus is maintaining your graveyard and church, while running the various quests.

You also get to perform autopsies and eventually sell the meat to the unsuspecting townsfolk for mad cash. There’s talking skulls and donkeys, ghosts and the Inquisition. And you are just trying to get home.

My attention span for games like these are hit and miss, I’ll play it for a few hours here, then forget about it for a couple weeks before getting back into it.

Upside about Graveyard Keeper is it’s easy to do that. I like the art style and the concept, there are some pretty humourous moments, and it has a wonderful musical score. Overall, it’s a relaxing game because it’s low stakes.

Obviously, if you’re a fan of games like Stardew Valley, this would be a great game for you.

8/10

x PLM

p.s. want to read something free? What happens when a live studio becomes a target for a live haunting? Read Lights, Camera, Haunt! today!