Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game preview — It’s a beautiful day in the Shire

Have you ever watched The Lord of the Rings and thought, “I wish I could live in the Shire”? It’s such a peaceful and cozy place, unbothered by the goings-on of the world around it. Your chance to do just that is on the way in Tales of the Shire, a cozy Hobbit-life simulation game from Wētā Workshop. Make your home in your own little hobbit hole, befriend your neighbors, and enjoy that second breakfast. I was invited to go hands-on with the game to see for myself what peaceful life awaits me in one of my favorite fantasy worlds, and, I tell you, it does not disappoint.

At the start of the preview, I’m awoken from my nap in the glade by a figure in a cart passing by. He seems nice, dressed in a long gray robe and a gray, pointed hat. I choose to accompany him and he drops me off in the little town of Bywater. There I meet a nice fellow named Orlo, who helps me get settled into my own hobbit hole and then offers to introduce me to the other Shire-folk. Hobbit hospitality is already on full display, and I’ve only just arrived. We walk around to meet a few people, and then I’m left to my own devices, free to explore and start my Shire living.

The whole game feels cozy and charming. The art design is sweet and whimsical, the characters have a somewhat cute and comical look, and the music instantly puts your mind at ease with its gentle tone. It would be easy to get lost in this world, just going through each day, however I only had a couple hours with the game, so I only got a small taste of what’s to come.

Before you actually make it to the Shire, you go through a fairly in-depth character creation. I was surprised at the number of options available. You have your usual customization options for body type, eyes, ears, nose, hair, and clothes, but they’ve taken it a step further to also include your foot hair. You can choose between eight different foot hair options, from a small tuft of hair to the entire top of the foot being covered. You can also choose between different personality types, such as grumpy or jolly, which mostly just changes what the default facial expression is. I’m not usually one to spend a whole lot of time with a character creator, more interested in getting into the game itself, but I spent a solid 15 minutes going through the different options, although I did pretty much land right back on the defaults.

The level of creativity doesn’t stop there, however. Your hobbit hole will also have more options for customization the further you progress, including flooring types in each room, decorations and furniture, the size and shapes of the windows, and more. Each part of the home is able to be customized by selecting it and viewing the available options. Unfortunately you’re not able to really zoom in to see what it looks like up close, which would come in really handy when working on shelf decorations or choosing furniture. Hopefully that can be something that gets added in a future update.

You’ll make friends and build better relationships with the other hobbits by completing objectives for them and also inviting them over to share a meal. Each hobbit has a particular craving that you’ll have to try to satisfy with your cooking, making sure to hit that sweet spot in tenderness, between chunky or smooth, spicy or bitter or sweet, which is all achieved by carefully preparing every ingredient. You won’t just add stuff to the pot or the plate, you’ll have to chop, fry, and season everything to perfection before combining it into the final dish and serving it to your guest. If you manage to hit that sweet spot, you’re rewarded with a relationship level increase and maybe even a gift.

Some ingredients can be found throughout Bywater, which the butterflies will help you find, and some other ingredients, like tomatoes and brown taters, have to be grown in your garden. You buy the seeds from the vendor hobbits and then plant them in your garden, making sure to water them daily and harvesting them when the time is right. If you go fishing, you can catch some fish to add to your dish as well, though be careful because the fish are bitter, which your guests may not like. You’ll unlock different recipes and find more ingredients along the way, giving you more options to hopefully satisfy everyone’s tastes.

Tales of the Shire is played in first person with a full 360° rotation to look around you. The ‘camera’ zooms in if you’re entering an enclosed space and back out again when you’re in the open. You’re free to roam wherever you like around Bywater, even over other hobbit holes since they’re all in the ground. The other hobbit holes showcase the unique personalities of the hobbits that inhabit them, especially the homes of the named hobbits you’ll interact with. Delphi, for example, short for Delphinium, lives in a hobbit hole that’s inside the base of a tree. She’s very gifted with herbs, which she gets from her mother, and has a beautiful assortment throughout the home.

We’ve barely even scraped the surface. The little snippet of the game that I was able to see showed me there’s a lot to look forward to in Tales of the Shire. I’m sure there’s much more to discover about life in the Shire that we’ll get to see once the game releases. This looks like it’ll be a great game to kick back and relax to, not just for your Lord of the Rings fans, but for anyone who is a fan of cozy simulation games. Keep tuned in to see our full review!

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