Graveyard Keeper

This is a slightly tough one to recommend. I can't deny playing it somewhat obsessively, but I don't know that I can say I have a ton of fond memories for playing it. Short of the very end of the game, when some automation starts taking off, there is just always so, so, so much that needs to be getting done at any moment. And it's not in the Stardew Valley way, where you'll get to it tomorrow. It's just always piling up, more and more to do, and some of it has to happen on certain days of the in game week, and it's just a lot to keep track of and do. It doesn't encourage healthy gameplay.

The game is also very bleak. From helping burn witches, to helping neighbors do bad things to each other because they hate each other, you'll be forced into doing a lot of bad things if you want to progress the plot. Not even bad for the greater good, but just being rotten.

It's not the break I was looking for from a sometimes bleak and overworked life. I hoped it would paid off, but it really didn't.

But the gameplay is fairly solid, so I'm sure it's the right game for some people. Complements to the devs for making your basic tools not take up valuable inventory slots, and for using the E and F keys to "do" rather than endlessly having to switch between the right tools.

The depth of the trees for upgrading what you can do is really good, and the barriers to getting to the next part of it seem really well thought out. It's a pain to work around, but one that's pushes that Fun button every time you figure out how to get the points you need.

Crafting is really neat, and the ability to automate it later is a huge boon.

The fact that they block you from getting too rich too fast could be annoying, but I think is a good mechanic in the end. It keeps prices from having to ascend into the millions of gold pieces to keep up with what you're bringing in.

While I complain about the schedule with some people only being available once a week, it does keep the town fresh, with specific things that you can only do that day.

It's a good game, with solid design and a lot of plot in it. It wasn't really for me, but I think it's worth a try.

The biggest rabbit hole I have ever played. ADHD on max, even Zelda can't compare with amount of distraction you get while playing this game, you collect the farm, boom corpse arrived, you done with corpse, damn it's a day when you can buy stuff from Astro guy, you do that oh hell nah it's church day need to pray. 12/10 Surgeon's Mistake would recommend 110%

So i must caveat this review by saying I absolutely - and had to for my own sanity - add some mods.
In general I thoroughly enjoyed the game, the macabre farming was pretty fun, the characters were cute and an army of automated zombie slaves was epic. I even enjoyed the day "system" which for me having a colour coded calendar like system was super helpful rather than trying to remember on "Mondays" or the "first day of the month" even if it was a massive pain in the butt if you missed it.
But 10 hours in, what I could absolutely could not stand was walking at snails pace, teleport cooldowns and the most ridic inventory limitations when you've got to walk from one side of the map to the other to pick up/ drop off the one item you almost definitely forgot.
So I got:
A sprint mod
No teleport cool down
Bigger inventory
..and a fishing mod - coz that shit was annoying af too.
I would still say start the game at the intended pace, but when its so painful you could harvest your own organs on an anatomy table... check out some mods for your own sanity :-)

Pros:
+Great art. I have no issues looking at this game at all, and I can be sensitive to that kind of thing.
+Funny characters and dialogue. A few jokes made me laugh out loud.
+Feels cozy somehow, even with the macabre theme.
+Very well-balanced.
+I genuinely enjoy my time playing it.
+Not combat-heavy. I'd even consider it to be rare in this game. You can easily avoid most combat unless you're entering the dungeon, and the enemies I've encountered so far have been weak. Gives me less to worry about, which I like a lot.
+Can be modded!

Cons:
-Incredibly grindy. It's practically a crafting simulator, in which you need y thing for z, but wait, you need x thing for y, but wait, you need w thing for x... yeah, something that you think will take 30 minutes can take 3 hours or more.
-Not intuitive. There's no tutorial at the beginning of the game, which I can certainly appreciate, but if you think you're getting through this game without the wiki... honey, you've got a big storm comin'. No quest tab, no hand-holding. You had better remember the dialogue!
-Lacks customization options. No character creator, can't decorate much... heck, you can't even see your armor on your character when you put it on. As a creative, I'd love more options all around.
-The Town is currently completely inaccessible. Any attempts to go are a waste of time and effort.

Despite my qualms, I do love this game, and will absolutely be recommending it to friends and family. I wish I made more progress with the time that I invest into it, but I still enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn't be playing it. I'd like to see it get even better. 4 stars.

I like the crafty aspect of this game, it certainly has a learning curve in the end. It is certainly rough around the edges, and the developers left a few bits that should have been removed from the build, but hey, I played it for over 130 hours, so it was entertaining enough.

Don't forget that when the game character shows that he's sleepy, it's not about your energy level, it's the way the game tells you to sleep (save) before it crashes, and, considering the amount of work you put in in the beginning, you'll want to do that often to avoid having to do the whole day over.

If you're a new player, get the teleportation stone from the tavern as soon as you can to avoid walking between the graveyard and the village.

The best source of energy is honey in the early game, so it's worth it to get the bees from the beekeeper, some sticks, and paper early on to build the hives. When you need more points, don't forget to use the honey, fruits, and pastry dough to make the cake, it will be useful to get those precious extra tech points when you begin.

Collect blood, skulls, and skin often in the early game, store them somewhere, you'll thank me later.

When you have coins, speed potions from the witch, after you start walking faster, you won't wan't to come back.

In the mid game, try your best to write a gold quality book to make a split prayer, that will give you tons of faith points.

Anyway, lots of small details I could go on and on. The ending of the game is underwhelming, and you'll play this feeling like it could be so much more. But it is certainly fun.

It looks simple but is actually an incredibly complex game. It's terrible at explaining what you need to do to advance so you will be spending a lot of time googling for answers. But even with that it's still a very fun game if you're willing to put some time in.

Recommended but...:

>1. Be aware it's one of those games you need a wiki open to your side, because the game does a poor job (deliberately? I don't know) of explaining its mechanics or telling you what you need to do most of the time.
>2. You have a list of NPCs and their related quests (fetch quests all of them). But you have to figure out how to find everything they want by yourself, as they are vert vague usually.
>3. You have dozens of quests active at the same time, and it get overwhelming even after 50 hours.

This is not a farming sim, it's a crafting game, or a resources administration game. You need to enjoy task solving to enjoy this game. There's nothing chill (or cozy, as the cringe community prefer to call it) about Graveyard Keeper.

If your favorite part of Stardew Valley was the community center, and you wish there were five community centers scattered around Pelican Town and Calico Desert, you might like this.

I like it but it makes me mad.