Graveyard Keeper

Just been going through random games in my collection trying to find a gem, and I did hit one with Graveyard Keeper. The game is at base a farming simulator like Harvest Moon, but mixed in with RPG elements and a main storyline, and of course some graveyard management.

So long story short, you die and you wake up in this alternate medieval world where you are assigned to take care of a graveyard. So cleaning it up, making nice tombs and all. The bodies are delivered and you can dissect the organs for materials. You have to chop wood, pick for minerals and build the necessary equipment to produce what you need. Eventually other elements get introduced like farming, making wine and beer and later in the game the possibility into turning those dead bodies into zombies that work for you. There is also a technology system somewhat like Civilization that will grant you new things to build and collect. The game works with an energy system, so that every task takes some energy and you can replenish it by either sleeping and eating specific foods. So everyday you have to plan on what you want to be working on, and it will get overwhelming because you have too many things to do at the same time and need to learn how to prioritize.

The game is full of quests. There are 6 major NPCs that appear on a different day of the week (apparently this world only has 6 days), and they'll have doing stuff to progress the game. A lot of the times the quest they give you is unattainable until you complete some other ones for the other NPCs, but they never really tell you in which order you should be doing stuff. That's one of the fun parts of the game is that you are just working on your progress and you'll know eventually you'll reach somewhere. The map is not huge (it opens up a bit later when you remove some blockages) but bare in mind that the hours of the day pass by as you walk around, so you don't want to waste too much time there. I think the best moments of the game is figuring out how you are going to plan your days and on what quests you want to focus on.

I completed the game in 46 hours, and while it drags a little in the last portion of the game (long fetching and grinding for the 3 last major quests), overall it was a really excellent experience that I've enjoyed very much. There was definitely something unique about the game, I think the way it progresses was just at the right pace. The graphics look like a SNES JRPG, but that's fine with me and didn't have a problem with the art style. So yeah really fun, and I think I might be ready to try something like Stardew Valley now (I thought I wasn't a fan of Farming Sims, but this changed my mind on that). Definitely recommended!