Tales of the Shire Should Be More Like Hello Kitty Than…

While previews have already given gamers a good look at Tales of the Shire, some of the game's features have yet to be fully revealed. Players know the title will feature standard simulation gameplay, like farming, collecting resources, fishing, and cooking, but some details about its NPCs, decorative furniture and clothing, and events are still unknown. Hopefully, when these details about Tales of the Shire are finally revealed, it will be clear that developer Weta Workshop has been taking inspiration from other titles in the simulation genre.

Several big-name IPs have entered the realm of simulation games over the last few years, with Disney Dreamlight Valley and Hello Kitty Island Adventure being two key examples. These games have clearly paved the way for Tales of the Shire, which turns Tolkein's world into a life sim, and they are perfect sources of inspiration for the game, perhaps even more so than simulation giants like the Animal Crossing franchise. In fact, Hello Kitty Island Adventure should directly inspire one aspect of Tales of the Shire: its approach to events.

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By Megan Lorich

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Keeps Events on a Steady Rotation

Hello Kitty Island Adventure has a lot of events, and they come in four different types; primary events that last between five and six weeks, secondary events that are shorter, flash events that last one to two days, and the daily calendar. These events are accessible to all players, regardless of how far they have progressed in the game. Five to six weeks may seem like a long stretch of time, but with multiple events sometimes running concurrently, Hello Kitty Island Adventure always feels like it has new content to offer its playerbase. Most of the events in Hello Kitty Island Adventure involve earning the event’s specific currency by completing daily quests, interacting with characters, or finding them around Seaside Resort. Players can then claim their rewards via daily login, the event stand, or the shop.

The frequency of Hello Kitty Island Adventure’s events is specifically what Tales of the Shire should emulate. In contrast to this approach is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has limited events that coincide with real-world holidays and those that have been established over the course of the series, such as the fishing tourney and bug-off. Of course, holidays are a great excuse to add an event to a game, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure is proof that constantly offering new gameplay experiences via events is a great way to keep players engaged.

Tales of the Shire Should Adopt HKIA's Approach

Tales of the Shire should have seasonal events that are rooted in canon celebrations from the Tolkienverse, like the Hobbit holidays Yule and Liteh, but that should not be the end of things. Simple collection events, like a harvest competition, a cook-off, or a fishing tourney, could be the perfect way to bring even more activities to the game. While little information about this aspect of Tales of the Shire has been officially shared, despite the early previews that are available, events that incorporate the types of gameplay that have been revealed, like fishing, farming, and foraging, seem like the most obvious route for the game to take.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure and the Animal Crossing franchise take different approaches to the simulation genre, and they both have features that Tales of the Shire should take inspiration from. However, when it comes to events, the upcoming life sim should definitely look to replicate Hello Kitty Island Adventure's approach rather than Animal Crossing's.

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