Tales of the Shire

CGMagazineChris de Hoog

8/10

Tales of the Shire brings enough original content to the second breakfast table to satisfy Tolkien fans and devout cozy gamers alike.

Impulse GamerPaul Stuart

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

TechRaptorBrittany Alva

7/10

Tales of the Shire has a lot to enjoy for Lord of the Rings fans and cozy gamers alike, but several key problems hold the game back from its potential.

PC GamerUnknown

67/100

Great cooking and foraging systems, but not a lot else to keep you busy.

DexertoJessica Filby

Tales of the Shire is a confusing cozy game. It stars the Hobbits, who cook up a great meal and enjoy fishing. However, many of the other activities they get up to in the Shire are as dull as the last 30 minutes of Return of The King. Stardew Middle-earth, this is not.

Nintendo World ReportJohn Rairdin

5.5/10

Tales of the Shire is a really solid idea. It should work. There are great ideas here and some solid writing. This feels like the early access version of what could eventually be a very good game. But right now, it isn’t. Instead it is a shallow glimpse at what could be. When you factor in significant performance issues that even the Switch 2 can’t seem to brute force, and constant stability problems, it becomes very hard to recommend this game. I really want to like Tales of the Shire. I think there is a reality in which it could potentially get better in time, but it just isn’t there y…

WCCFtechNathan Birch

5/10

There’s been no shortage of The Lord of the Rings games over the years, but precious few of them focus on the real stars of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books, the humble hobbits. Granted, outside of the unlikely adventures of the Baggins family, hobbits are known for living rather unexciting lives, so perhaps it’s not surprising that game makers would rather focus on Middle-earth’s elves, orcs, and dragons. But, of course, not all games have to focus on action and excitement – enter Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game,  a new cozy life sim in the vein of Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing t...

TechRadar GamingJosephine Watson

All of the groundwork is there for this Hobbit life simulator to be a delightful jaunt through the rolling hills of Tolkien’s imagination, but the execution is lacking on almost every front. From bugs and poor optimization to uninspired dialogue and ill-paced progression, Tales of the Shire takes what should be a reflection on the lessons we might learn from Middle-earth’s most humble of races and mangles it into a bleak reminder that the “simple life” is no fun at all.

SiliconeraStephanie Liu

4/10

Welcome home, Hobbit! Live the cosy life of a Hobbit in the wonderfully serene landscape of the Shire. Discover, decorate, and share in this idyllic corner of Middle-Earth. PC version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.

EurogamerLottie Lynn

A great idea lost under the weight of tiresome game mechanics.

GameSpotJessica Cogswell

4/10

Tales of the Shire has some charming ideas, but dull gameplay, heaps of bugs, and a general sense of emptiness ultimately drag the promising life-sim down to the pits of Moria.

Screen RantDeven McClure

0/10

There’s no way to progress individual relationships outside shared meals, so if players focus more on the main story, milestone cutscenes between characters later on become odd. After spending weeks being integral to the village campaign, I got cutscenes with my neighbors about how I’d just arrived and that they knew nothing about me. My relationship didn’t rise with anyone through any of the quests I worked on with them, which feels like a real oversight for any players who tend to focus on the main storyline first.