I remember reading a Kotaku (I think it was Kotaku) review of this game claiming that all this game's tedium and reluctance to let you automate any part of your workload was a deliberate strategy to illustrate its allegedly critical view of capitalism: much like the way capitalism grinds down our dreams and hopes through endless labor, the game distracts you with so much repetitive busywork that you gradually start to forget that your ultimate goal is finding a way back home. It's an interesting take, though not one I'm sure I agree with; in the time I spent with the game its attempts at direct storytelling were hamfisted at best, so I'm not sure if the creators were actually savvy enough to make their farming sim into a commentary on farming sims. But, y'know, death of the author and all that.

What I can say with certainty is that the grind got to me very quickly, and I had to jump ship lest I succumb to the game's madness. I don't think a game needs to be fun to be good (currently playing Death Stranding, thanks), but what I find most satisfying about farming sims is when they're able to nail a perfect balance between chill and stress. This game has barely an ounce of chill in it.

Here's my impression after playing Graveyard Keeper for over 15 hours.

The developer or publisher refers to this as an 'inaccurate medieval cemetery management sim', but I think that's a bit misleading. The focus isn't necessarily on managing a cemetery like you would a hospital in a game like Two Point Hospital. Graveyard Keeper is more of a crafting game first and management game second, or at least crafting is central to being good at managing, which some might find disappointing.

With that out of the way as a crafting game, Graveyard Keeper has a sound gameplay loop. There's never a day spent in a game where you won't have some soft objective in your mind, like; chopping down trees, to craft planks, which you'll to craft a fence, and build the said fence. Maybe, that's me dumbing it down a little too much, but it's the general gist. The claims of inaccuracy might spice things up a little. Another daily loop might involve doing an autopsy, then cooking the flesh your retrieve and selling it in the town. I imagine people looking at this are familiar with other titles like Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, or maybe, the most popular of these titles on PC Stardew Valley will have a concrete idea of how this plays.

My biggest complaint about this game is that it can be incredibly vague. It isn't limited to a single area either; crafting can be that way, progressing or even starting quests feels random, it's hard to figure efficient layouts for all the crafting tables, etc. You'll constantly want to look at another screen with a Wiki, a guide, Reddit, or YouTube video open. Not necessarily the worst complaint, but one that might be a deal breaker for people looking for a game 'chill/farm to' since there is a bit of a learning curve that's hard to overcome in-game outside of trial and error.

Overall, Graveyard Keeper is a fun way to pass a few hours here and there, but time investment and repetitive loops might grow old fast. BYO soundtrack if you're in for the long haul.

I originally posted this review on Fanatical.

Bem divertido, acho que a melhor definição pra esse jogo é Stardew Valley nerfado só que de coveiro.
É um jogo bem gostoso de jogar, a progressão é muito boa, você passa de um cara que não tem tempo e nem energia pra nada, pra um cara que só fica de boas olhando seus zumbis fazendo todo o trabalho, obviamente tem algumas coisas que zumbis não fazem e você precisa fazer, mas num geral é muito bom.
Meus únicos problemas com o jogo foram que ele vez ou outra ele dava uma morrida nervosa, e travava igual uma véia de coluna fudida, e ter que ficar comprando ovo pra fazer bolo, chato pra caralho, mas são uns problemas bem bobos até.
Agora é esperar uma promoção pra pegar as DLC's