Graveyard Keeper is the most inaccurate medieval cemetery management sim of all time. Build and manage your own graveyard, and expand into other ventures, while finding shortcuts to cut costs. Use all the resources you can find. After all, this is a game about the spirit of capitalism, and doing whatever it takes to build a thriving business. And it’s also a love story.
Face ethical dilemmas. Do you really want to spend money on that proper burger meat for the witch-burning festival, when you have so many resources lying around?
Gather valuable materials and craft new items. Expand your Graveyard into a thriving business. Help yourself -- gather the valuable resources scattered across the surrounding areas, and explore what this land has to offer.
Quests and corpses. These dead bodies don't need all those organs, do they? Why not grind them up and sell them to the local butcher? Or you can go on proper quests, you roleplayer.
Steam User 173
At this point, I've played for nine (Nearly ten) hours straight. In short, it's a great game, but definitely don't be afraid to go googling things when you're confused! Also a word to the wise, don't be alarmed when you get a quest that you cannot complete yet. Just let it sit, do other things, and eventually, it'll become really obvious what your next step is towards completing that quest.
I started off initially kinda skipping through dialogue and running around aimlessly with no clue what to do, so at about 3 in-game days in, I restarted and paid more attention. If you really read through everything and pay attention to what's going on, you'll do fine! Sometimes though, the game kinda leaves you in the dark. Some more touching up on the quest lists and recipes would be nice. Not everything I need to do is added to the NPC's list, I can't really find anywhere that says what I need for crafting unless I'm at the table, and sometimes I don't understand instruction but the NPC won't repeat it. But really, those are my only issues, and they're minor. As you play, you kinda just start figuring out to do when you get lost or confused, and naturally, the internet is a great source of explanation.
If you're someone who likes the typical farming sim (i.e. Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, etc.), but also the kind of "darker" humor, you'll probably like this. It has the charming characters, pretty pixel environment, fun dialogue, great music, etc., that is present in a lot of good "farming sims" (Though, in this, while farming produce is an aspect, you're moreso farming corpses I guess?). On the flip side, this has more of a story than the other games I mentioned. While you are free to go about your business, there's a lot more linear stuff to do than just "plant seed, grow plant, sell plant, buy chicken, pet chicken, sell egg, etc." It's more like, there's all these characters with different requests, you satisfy said requests while unlocking new features and tending to your graveyard. There's foraging, farming, gravekeeping, crafting, fetching, and so forth. You progress more through specific tasks rather than just collecting a lot of money from selling things. It's enough like a "farming sim" that I feel like I can compare it to one and recommend it to friends who like farming sims, but different enough to be enjoyable and unique in its own ways. It really is interesting, in many more ways than one, and the darker content is something that isn't usually very present in this genre of games, I mean, you start off with someone getting in a car accident, and within the first few minutes of the game, you're digging up a skull that tells you how to harvest human flesh. (Not really that big of a spoiler, but whatever)
As a small side note, if you're someone who is more comfortable playing with a controller, I feel as though it is very controller friendly and even the menus are easy to navigate!
It's got great humor, interesting mechanics, some pretty intricate crafting, and is overall done very well. I mean, I played it for nearly ten hours with no break. It is now 4am, I have work in the morning, and I've lost all control over my life and sleep schedule because of a communist donkey and talking skull with amnesia.
Steam User 128
So I pre-ordered this game on the Tiny Build site, bought in at the highest tier I could, specifically for the art pack and soundtrack. I figured it was a great buy, and when the game released I was quite pleased with how the game played, and chuckled at the little jokes in it. Loads of fun.
HOWEVER.
When the game ENDED, I basically just got a cutscene of Keeper and Gerry flat out saying all the things that were promised on the tinybuild site prior to full release were now going to be marketed as DLC, instead of being in the full game as advertised.
To say I was upset is like saying a tornado is 'windy'.
I will not buy another TinyBuild game, because of that bait-and-switch.
Yes, the game is good, but TinyBuild's actions speak of a serious concern for any consumer.
This review is referring to when they added the ending in 1.0, so they've likely removed the actual conversation.
Caveat Emptor, my friends.
Steam User 71
Addicting. Certainly not for everyone (but definitely for me). In my first 20 hours of play I finally found that feeling again of playing Stardew Valley for the first time. I continued to enjoy my next 45 hours in this capitalist purgatory and expect to continue twiddling away.
On the negative side, this seems like a corporation's response to Stardew Valley. It seems partially thought-out, has scope creep, and is missing some heart. It is clear when so many little things are off - inventory management problems (many glaring but also batch-moves are inconsistent), translation, pause, inconsistent animations (why does the Bishop still use the mirror he gave me?), and annoying crafting inconsistencies.
There was a nice effort in putting this game together and it has even more potential, along with these and other several issues. There are a decent number of funny moments but I feel like there could have been more too.
Additional Details
Operating System
Ubuntu Linux 18.04 x64
CPU
Ryzen 5 1500x
GPU
GTX 1050, nvidia-440.100
Game Saves
Automatically when you wake from sleep
Notes
Did Steve Breslin (credited) get paid for the English proofreading? If so, where can I apply for his job?
Technical Notes
Unity game engine, no problems
Steam User 44
I enjoyed this game a great deal. At this time, I have 359 hours in it, much of it trying to learn all the interesting lore.,
Its quirky, odd, has strange humor, fun at times, frantic at times, and all about managing your grind.
I enjoyed the grind here, far more than Stardew valley.
There is so much to do, its ridiculous, I hope for more content tho.
Steam User 43
Very very grind-y.
I highly suggest installing mods that allow you to sprint & increase crafting speed.
I was about 8 hours in when I decided to do that and I STILL took 60 hours to complete the game WITH mods.
It's WAY WAY **WAY** too grind-y
But that being said?
The art: Absolutely fantastic A+++++ +
The characters: Hilarious and adorable
The story: Compelling and interesting
The atmosphere: Very immersive & enjoyable
Totally enjoyed this game.
Steam User 27
I'd recommend this grinding simulator if you have nothing planned for the next 40 hours or so. It's really good and satisfying, a classic in my opinion. A darker take on the Stardew Valley-like mechanics of farming, trading and fishing with some fighting elements. Play this!
Steam User 25
Graveyard Keeper is a story-driven Crafting/Time-Management/Simulation/Pseudo-Rpg game with a dark humor setting, and often explained as dark counterpart of Stardew Valley.
Pros:
+ Humor and story. It is well written, and Stranger Things dlc worths its price let alone for the story it provides. References to pop culture and other games are great, at one reference game really smashes the great Geralt of Rivia :)
+ Many things to do, even sometimes it is overwhelming, you have to remember that theres no time limit to achieve any quest, even if you missed the day quest points, you can complete it next week (speaking of game time). So just chill, set a goal and go for it.
+ Game mechanics. Ideas are great and unique. Managing corpses, a graveyard, a church, a tavern, a kitchen, a merchant business, conducting sermons, farming, fishing, mining, crafting, science & alchemy... And a small dungeonering, Too many mechanics are tied to each other beautifully.
+ Gfx. Pixel art is brilliant.
+ Sfx & music. Even the variation is a little limited, it keeps you in the game.
Cons:
- Doing some of the quests can become quite a chore. Just get ready to grind sometimes.
- Game map works against the player. Damn i hate some obstacles in the game... It consumes your time more than grind quests, going from point a to b becomes tedious sometimes and theres no logic in it, i can build walls, fat gravestones and manage marbles but cant create an opening in a pre-set f.'in fence? Come on.
- Some balancing issues there and there. Just be careful about spending blue points while acquiring technologies, always ask for yourself if it benefits you with more blue points, especially in early and mid game.
Final:
8.5/10 Wow. What a time i had with it. It is absolutely fun, story is cool, all game mechanics works well, if you can get past some grinding you will love it, if you like games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon etc. definitely go for it and preferably buy with 'Stranger Things' dlc.