I was worried because the top reviews were about the game from quite a long time ago. The game in 2024 is really nice, and it's a blast to play.
Great graphics, creepy mechanics, fun game.
Be aware: I only played this game with all the DLC installed, which include major gameplay features.
The game is very enjoyable, thanks to its beautiful pixel art, nice soundscape, the characters and their mysteries, as well as a dash of humor. There's some truly disturbing stuff going on here, if you think about it too much, so I'd recommend that don't.
The main gameplay is a lot of fun and quite addictive, with a ton of variety in how to run your graveyard/farm/vineyard/tavern/quarry/church/secret laboratory/refugee camp:
There's always a ton to do and there are so many options, sometimes it can get downright overwhelming. Thankfully, there don't really seem to be any timed failure states, so you can always come back to a particular project later.
That huge variety is a large part of the appeal, of course. You should bear in mind, though, that a lot of the interaction basically boils down to holding down a button while at a workstation of some kind.
Also, the entire thing is a grindfest by design: Expect most quests to be about delivering more and more complex and pricier goods. Usually, there's some funny dialogue or story tidbits thrown in, though.
Some mechanics (like item quality or fishing) can be a bit confusing at first and aren't properly explained.
Worse, nobody tells you what workstation particular items are created at, which can lead to a lot of searching around. It would also be a great help if there was a way to see what ingredients are needed for crafting, outside of the appropriate workstation (in the tech-tree or a journal or something): Too often did I walk up to a workstation, only to realize I didn't bring the right ingredients.
Buy a teleportation stone to avoid tons of walking around, by the way.
I suffered no crashes and I only really noticed one bug, where the black bars of a cutscene persisted into gameplay afterwards; restarting the game fixed it, though.
Overall, a fun experience, but lots of grinding; which is expected in the genre.
The comparisons to Stardew Valley are inevitable. I really like both, but for different reasons. Still, since I imagine most people who're considering this have already played Stardew, that'll be a good frame of reference.
Where Stardew is very zen, Graveyard Keeper keeps you much busier. There is still an energy meter, but I find it much easier to fill. You can sleep whenever you want, and only for as long as you need to fill it up (or less, even). The day/night cycle exists and affects what's going on, but I've yet to come to a point of being forced to sleep. Crafting is also a much bigger part of GK, and I'm cranking out bread and other foods which give a good return on energy. Gathering has been much easier as well.
Stardew, to me, involves a lot of just waiting for things to happen. It's fun, but at least in the early game you get into a routine. In GK I feel like I have 800 things going on, but in a good way. I haven't encountered any deadlines yet, instead it's "oh yeah, I wanted to do that" or "maybe I'll try this today today instead." The NPCs are well-written enough, although building relationships doesn't seem to be a core mechanic like it was in Stardew.
I also haven't found the learning curve to be particularly steep. Money barely matters, since you can build basically everything yourself (or at least I haven't hit anything I couldn't in my few hours so far), and you don't need money for new crops (or bodies in this case). I've gotten some cash from burials, but have only needed to buy some beer for a quest and I just grabbed an iron ingot since I haven't farmed the mats to make my own furnace yet. But this was convenience rather than necessity, and the ingot was 80 copper out of my 5 silver. You also get research points by doing the stuff you'd be doing anyway: crafting, gathering, which lets you unlock new skills or buildings.
And remember: if you don't want to bury someone or you run out of space, there is a river nearby....
I bought this game in 2020 and after near 60 hours of gameplay, finally managed to finish it.
What can I say about this game? Well, in my opinion it is an amazing game that I enjoyed in every minute of gameplay.
The graphics are just beautifull. The game has a pixelated art, which is a pleasure to the eyes. In a first moment I tought it was too simple, until I realized that every aspect of the graphical part of the game is a minucious work, with details that make the game world to look alive.
The sound is a good work, with many sound effects that complement the experience and fits exactly the way a think they should fit.
Game mechanics is really interesting. Although the game may look hard in the beginning, with the player having to do many activities (like cutting wood, mining stone and constructing tools and itens) it change completelly once the player achieves the capacity of creating zombies. Then, the zombies can be used to automate many of the activities, leaving more time to the player to do other activities.
The experience system is excellent, following the concept of tech trees that can be unlocked accordingly the player needs.
And the storyline is a nice job, with a solid main questline and some side quest that unlock new skills or helps the player to achieve parts of the main quest.
The game difficulty is excellent. Not so easy that makes the game boring, nor so hard that makes the game annoying.
And, to my pleasant surprise, the game is available in Portuguese, with a excellent translation, in wich I could found only one error.
Resuming, the game was an excellent addition to my collection. In my opinion, a solid 5 star game. I just wishlisted the DLCs, which I should buy as soon as I finish other pending games, or as they go on sale.
Stardew valley with much better theme, more interesting story but gameplay-wise it feels a bit shallow. Nevertheless, enjoyed every bit of the game. Great soundtrack.