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.
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.