Look both ways when you cross the street; otherwise, Graveyard Keeper could provide an explanation for the age old question of, “What is beyond this life?” According to the developers from Lazy Bear Games, the afterlife is full of bouncing cognizant skulls, autopsies, burials, cannibalism, local politics, and apparently the expectation to either become a preacher or join a cult. Sounds pretty run of the mill, right? Sure, this game can easily be analogized to Stardew Valley and other similar games, but there are a myriad of other reasons as to why this is only a shallow description of Graveyard Keeper.
This game hits all of the greatest assets that Stardew Valley brings to the table: mildly depressing and psychological narratives, nurturing character relationships, fantastic pixel art, farming, cooking, mining, and of course fighting baddies with a glorified stick that can be upgraded through your adventure. But this alone would only make Graveyard Keeper a clone with corpses.
And it is so much more than that.
Graveyard Keeper has a wonderful collection of its own attributes that are rewarding to discover and flesh out (of corpse that pun was intended). Your character is provided many options to build and create, which can easily be expanded by progressing along a technology tree. As you progress in the game, this allows you to further understand your character’s grave situation and to complete goals much more easily.
Like Stardew Valley, Graveyard Keeper has a day/night time progression mechanic, though this one is more complex. You will frequently meet people that only show up on certain days of the week and you must complete their tasks in relation to their schedule. More than just a schedule to determine where your NPC’s will frequent, your character will also have duties in relation to this time progression as well. This day/night mechanic also allows different enemies, weather, and variables to change within the game, creating a variety in both your character’s narrative as well as that of the overarching plot.
This time progression also highlights the beauty of the art design of the title. The change of day is evidenced through light and shadows which progress over the game with realistic timing. The fog rolls in every morning to create a lighter atmosphere, which then dissipates during the day to reveal Graveyard Keeper‘s beautiful colors and textures. This slight change to your surroundings helps to elevate the mood of the time of day and to keep you interested in both the story and the art of the game.
Graveyard Keeper maintains this interest in both concept and play. A learning curve to the world of Graveyard Keeper is present. However, once that hurdle is overcome, the suspense and tension of what comes next definitely outweighs the annoyance of not exactly being able to follow what needs to be done from the beginning. This learning curve is curious as well, as it seems to be intentional: you and your character both need to learn how the world of Graveyard Keeper works. In this process, the time it takes to restore energy becomes excessive, especially at the beginning of the game prior to learning how to cook or buy food from the village. Each action takes a specific amount of energy and your character may only be able to perform a few actions before needing a catnap. It is also frustrating how long each action takes, as this game accurately depicts how much of said energy is being used for every single action.
Recommendation
This game appeals to all who find they have an inclination for existential and pessimistic morbidity, though they want to keep it lighthearted. In addition to being a fun play on death and what that entails, this game also begins to describe issues involving faith, trust, community, ethics, and politics. We highly suggest everyone to play this game and see if it sticks with you as much as it did for us.
*Graveyard Keeper was provided to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*
Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.
