Tales Of The Shire is Stardew Valley for hobbits, and it's adorable

Tales Of The Shire is an adorable little title that seems almost perfect for fans of Lord Of The Rings and Stardew Valley.

The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films have treated fans to some iconic locations, many of which are places fans have wanted to visit in real-life for years. Out of all of those locations though the most picturesque is obviously The Shire, home of the hobbits.

Check out the trailer for Tales Of The Shire below

You can actually visit The Shire in real-life, as the filming location can be found in New Zealand, adorably called Hobbiton.

However, for those that don’t have the finances to book a flight to the other side of the world, Tales Of The Shire brings the delightful habitants and views of the hobbit’s home to your living room, or wherever you tend to play games.

Like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, players will create their own custom character and move into a strange new town, filled with friendly faces and plenty of jobs to keep you occupied. It’s a stark contrast to other Lord Of The Rings games, and you won’t be following in Bilbo or Frodo’s footsteps on some grand adventure, you’ll have your oversized feet planted firmly in the ground as you create your dream Tolkien life.

First things first it looks delightful. While it doesn’t champion the latest feats of graphical fidelity and can look a little rough around the edges at times, what it does have is a lot of style.

Boasting some picturesque landscapes and oozing with colour, it really captures the magic of one of Middle-Earth’s most cosy locations, even more so as you see your character gleefully skipping around. The world will also change depending on the seasons, which open up new opportunities and events to discover.

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In terms of gameplay it has everything you’d expect from a Stardew Valley-style game. You’ll have your own home which you can decorate at will, as well as a garden to tend to that’d give Sam a run for his money. You could spend hours in this part of the game alone but there’s even more to see when you venture into town and its surrounding areas.

There are loads of hobbits living amongst you, so chatting and interacting with them all can net you some sweet rewards as well as generally build meaningful relationships with them. You can even trade material with them and cook a lovely little meal to win them over that little bit more. You’ll even bump into some well-known Lord Of The Rings characters, like Gandalf himself who we all know has a fondness for the hobbits and their Shire.

As you venture further out you can spend your time fishing or foraging for supplies, which you can take back for cooking or crafting purposes.

While it’s not the most advanced game ever made, what Tales Of The Shire has in spades is that deep connection to a beloved IP. I don’t think anyone can look at The Shire in the films and say it doesn't look like a fantastic place to live, and the game seems to capture all of that magic whilst ensuring you can do everything you’d expect a hobbit to do in its daily life. The whole point of The Shire is it’s a place of peace, and while some like Bilbo Baggins did grow weary of it towards the end, I don’t think anyone is going to be playing it until their 111th birthday…

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Tales Of The Shire feels like the definitive hobbit experience, and a perfect option for both fans of the books and/or films as well as more relaxing games like Stardew Valley. It also offers a nice change of pace to previous games in the series that focused more on the darker sides of Middle-Earth and its many conflicts.

It’s also the next Lord Of The Rings game to release after last year’s Gollum, so it might as well be Game Of The Year compared to that disaster.