Tales of the Shire Needs to Live Up to its Name and Namesake

Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game is the first cozy game set in the world of The Lord of the Rings. It will give players the chance to take on the role of a hobbit, decorate a home in the Shire, grow a beautiful garden, and befriend the hobbits living in Bywater. Tales of the Shire's cozy game features, such as its gridless decorating system, robust cooking, and social system.

Cozy games are generally centered around the player building relationships with other characters, while leaning more heavily into decorating and customization. Tales of the Shire already has an advantage with its gridless decorating feature that works both indoors and outdoors. There is one feature that Tales of the Shire, as a The Lord of the Rings game, needs to get right. The goal of many cozy gamers is to relax through gameplay, and so, if there is a story in a cozy game, it's usually low-stakes and takes a background role, second to quietly building a home. However, for this title, that should not be the case, as the narrative deserves to be a focus.

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By Megan Lorich

Stories That Tales of the Shire Can Tell

While cozy game storylines tend to have minimal consequences on the world and characters of the game, as seen in games like Stardew Valley, Tales of the Shire is a part of the world of The Lord of the Rings, which is a series renowned for its worldbuilding and storytelling. As a part of this world, Tales of the Shire needs to step up and include a plot worthy of The Lord of the Rings.

This doesn't mean that Tales of the Shire's story needs to be grand or epic. Smaller stories about relationships and people can have just as much of an impact on audiences as sweeping adventures, and many of them already exist in the world that Tolkien created. What's important is that Tales of the Shire tells a story that makes sense, is influenced by the player character, and makes its players feel as if they have a part to play in the world.

Tales of the Shire's Story in Development

In The Heart and Art of Tales of the Shire - Inside Look trailer, Tales of the Shire's developer, Weta Workshop, gives some details about the Tales of the Shire's story and characters. Weta Workshop has considered the kinds of stories that can be told in the context of The Lord of the Rings, while also remaining true to its genre as a cozy game. Hobbits are the inhabitants of small, rural villages, and their concerns are closer to the state of their gardens and their neighbors, rather than cataclysmic events. Weta appears to have considered this, and has stated that the stories they're pursuing are appropriate for The Lord of the Rings, the Shire, and the cozy game genre.

Weta Workshop has Tolkien scholars on its team who have played a role in creating a compelling and lore-accurate story for Tales of the Shire. Weta appears to be dedicated in their mission to create a game that's true to Tolkien's vision, particularly as the Shire and the themes it embodies were so close to Tolkien's heart. Rather than just taking inspiration from the books, Weta writer Darren Ormandy has stated that Tales of the Shire also takes inspiration from Tolkien's own life, and what influenced him when he created the Shire.

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