Imagine waking up in a strange place, separated from your lover and the words you speak seem as gibberish to most people you seek for help and information. You’re then forced to become the Graveyard Keeper in hope of getting answers and finding a way back home. That’s basically the situation you’re in during the game and you must find a way to get back home to your normal life.
Graveyard Keeper will keep you on your toes by having you collect resources, craft items, upgrade tools, complete chores and finish quests. From cutting up flesh from corpses for meat and organs to burying dead bodies to growing your own crops, it’s the type of game to occupy your time to the point where you may even lose track of it. When you’re not trying to make ends meet, you’ll find yourself exploring the world, maintaining your graveyard’s condition and attempting to make new friends from favors they ask of you.
Quests may seem as simple tasks that you can quickly finish up, however, they can be stretched to the point where you can possibly run out of things to do on specific days. A majority are fun enough to keep you entertained, nonetheless. Some activities may feel complicated to get into such as fishing.
Combat does exist in the game. Although it may seem difficult in the beginning, there is no penalty for depleting your health bar, which can be a bummer for certain people. All you really need is time, motivation and of course, food you make in the game to replenish your energy to keep fighting. Other than that, you can basically brute-force your way through enemies that threaten your life on repeat.
Energy is used for most actions, from swinging a sword to chopping a piece of wood. You may find yourself sleeping a lot to recover lost energy, unless you get into the habit of collecting ingredients to make food/drinks yourself to replace the need of rest (even then, there is a penalty for a lack of sleep, although minor). Therefore, players will sometimes need to watch their actions carefully and calculate what they’re willing to use their remaining energy on. That, or bring lots of snacks/drinks to chow down on.
Controls aren’t bad although if you’re like me, you may find yourself unintentionally showing off your strength from time to time with a sword in public. The soundtrack blends in nicely with the gameplay so you can put those headphones and your own music away.
Conclusion
While Graveyard Keeper might not be a game for people who aren’t into dark humor, it’s going to be an enjoyable experience for those who do not mind it. As you progress further in the story, it’s known to run out of things to do and you may even lose interest in some of the daily chores, but it’s going to be an enjoyable ride until then.
Graveyard Keeper gets a 7.5 out of 10.
