Will You Enjoy Graveyard Keeper as a Stardew Valley Fan?

What kind of life sim is Graveyard Keeper?

Graveyard Keeper is a life sim focused on cemetery management and crafting quests. Yes, you’ll be able to farm crops, but you’re also in charge of an entire graveyard, church, and a town of NPCs that want a lot from you, juggling tons of quests simultaneously. The quests are not easy, ranging from retrieving specific items to gathering piles of crafting materials. You're going to spend more time tending your crafting stations than your plants.

One of my favorite features in Graveyard Keeper is that I can take it as slow as I like. Unlike other farm sims like Stardew Valley, there are no seasons dictating when I have to get things done. My quests are accessible in the menu, but no-one’s rushing me to complete them. I do have to wait until a certain day in the 6-day cycle to meet with particular characters, but I can line those up on my own schedule. Another feature making life easier is that there are no seasons affecting my crops, and I don’t even have to water them.

How complex is the crafting?

Graveyard Keeper features a complicated crafting system, particularly the Technologies tree, which is deeply interconnected with the crafting process. The complexity grows as your quests become harder. Players dart between stations from the anvil to the carpenter’s bench to the furnace, keeping track of what they’re crafting and what they need. Before most crafting can occur, players must unlock the blueprint for the station in their technology tree, which requires points from completing tasks, such as gathering flowers or cutting down trees.

Will you like Graveyard Keeper?

If you enjoy dark humor, you might appreciate Graveyard Keeper. It looks a lot like Stardew Valley but has a warped Halloween-esque vibe where ruined books and decomposing bodies are a hot commodity. This game embraces a darker theme, but it also offers plenty of humor, featuring characters like a talking donkey and a skull with attitude.