Graveyard Keeper
Graveyard Keeper | |
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Developer(s) | Lazy Bear Games |
Publisher(s) | tinyBuild |
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Platform(s) | |
Release | August 15, 2018
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Genre(s) | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Graveyard Keeper is a graveyard-themed simulation role-playing video game developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild. The game's alpha version was released for Microsoft Windows in May 2018[1], followed by the regular release for Windows and Xbox One later that year.[2] Versions for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 were released on June 27, 2019. It was released in Japan on February 6, 2020.[3] Its soundtrack was created by Hazma el Hamri.
Story
The player takes the role of a person hit by a car and awakes to find himself taking care of a dilapidated medieval cemetery. The player manages their character's time and energy levels as they clear brush, dig graves and place headstones, keep honeybees, craft goods, mine for stone and metal, and engage in social activities (such as witch burnings) with the various residents of the small village, all while earning in-game money to expand their graveyard. The game is open-ended, allowing the player to take on activities as they see fit.[4]
Gameplay
Graveyard Keeper is a graveyard-keeping simulation game inspired by Stardew Valley and based on Harvest Moon.[5] At the start of the game, the player becomes the recipient of a plot of land including a small graveyard once owned by his predecessor near a small town. The cemetery plot is initially overrun with boulders, trees, stumps, and weeds, and the player must work to clear them in order to restart its operation, tending to graves and even the church so as to generate revenue and bring donations to church coffers. Your ultimate goal is to get your character back to his old world. To that end, you need information and help from various NPCs, whom you will be trying to please them, or do their quests. Such quests usually involves gameplay elements like bringing them some crafted or collectable items like oil, honey etc. More gameplay elements and areas slowly unlock throughout the game as you unlock new technologies. The skill tree in this games is called a Technology Tree, and you unlock new technologies to progress in the game. Beyond the early game, Graveyard Keeper requires you to have three different types of experience points: Red, Blue, and Green to unlock most of the technologies. Other than tending to graves and clearing out environmental elements, the game also has farming, smithing, rudimentary combat, multi-level dungeon, fishing, and an extensive crafting system.
DLC
The DLC for Graveyard Keeper, "Breaking Dead" was announced in 2018 free for owners of the base game. A resurrection table is added to your morgue, and you can reanimate corpses and set them to work on any of the many ongoing tasks that fuel your enterprise, from gathering stone and wood, to crafting items and writing books, as well as taking care of your garden and hauling merchandise to market. With enough zombies of high enough quality, it becomes possible to automate your entire supply chain, leaving you free to focus on progressing through the main storyline.[6][7]
A second, paid DLC called "Stranger Sins" was released on October 28, 2019 (just in time for Halloween), which finally begins to explain the back-story of the strange world in which you find yourself, particularly the Ancient Contract you keep hearing about. It introduces a new Tavern for you to manage by producing and selling food and drink in large quantities at excellent prices, and an entirely new quest-chain which adds personalities to many of the previously-silent villagers. It also adds a new ending for completing the main game after finishing the DLC questline.[8][9]
References
- ^ "Graveyard Keeper Alpha Launch Trailer and Release Date". TrueAchievements. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/17/17702466/graveyard-keeper-farming-sim-pc-xbox-one
- ^ "Graveyard Keeper". Nintendo Japan. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ Donlan, Christian. "Graveyard Keeper is a glorious, sinister game about dealing with the dead". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Wilde, Thomas (August 12, 2018). "Q&A: tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik on the ideas that 'curl up on you and manifest into game design'". GeekWire. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ S, Becca (October 30, 2018). "Graveyard Keeper Gets Free "Breaking Dead" DLC". GameSpew. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ "Graveyard Keeper :: Breaking Dead is out now". steamcommunity.com. October 29, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ "Stranger Sins Description". Gamepedia Official Graveyard Keeper Wiki. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Gibson, Nathan (October 17, 2019). "Graveyard Keeper's 'Stranger Sins' DLC Releases This Month, Gets Teaser Trailer". onlysp.escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved June 7, 2020.