Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game It is everything its name suggests, but focused on the region and the quiet life of hobbits. We were able to try the game and after several hours of farming, helping and growing, the hair on our feet started to grow. The life of a hobbit can be more fun than walking endless kilometers to throw a ring into a hot volcano.

Weta Workshop invites you to be a hobbit in Tales of the Shire in the world of The Lord of the Rings

Tales of the County It’s a game that brings a fresh air to games that focus on farming, interaction, tasking, fishing and exploration. It’s a hobbit life simulator and that’s enough of an incentive to try it. Returning to Middle Earth is always good news and we managed to do it through this game SteamThe game will be released for several platforms, such as PC, Xbox or PS5so we will have to be careful and attentive to the novelties that emerge in the different versions.

The story takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.making it a time of peace and where dragons continue to be part of the reality of Middle-earth. As a good halfling, our hobbit will have a peaceful life and a surprise visit from, who else, Gandalf the Grey. The hobbit we will play with, completely customizable. With a powerful editor we will be able to create a hobbit changing his entire appearance and way of dressing. In the beta the options were limited, but it seems that it will be much deeper than what we were able to test.

Once we have our hobbit ready, we will be able to interact with the characters of the wingthe area where our placid life takes place. Because the game is above all this, placid. The interactions at the beginning serve to put us in the situation and to introduce us to the characters with whom we will have to exchange not only dialogues and missions, but also daily life. Because like good hobbits, our greatest goal is to prepare a good banquet. Because that’s what it’s all about Tales of the Countyto interact, grow, fish and harvest, to create great parties.

You are the new Hobbit in the village, it’s time to get to work and create your home

We start with a house to restore, and from here it is time to put on work gloves to tidy up the house, decorate it and make our first plantations. For this reason, the first steps with the other inhabitants of the place are very important, since without their invaluable help we would not be able to start. Like good hobbits, no one will oppose helping you, giving you seeds or even cooking recipes. But you must go step by step and complete the tutorial, since the game is much deeper than it seems at first glance.

Let’s start by getting to know the inhabitants of the wingone of the many villages that compose it The Region (yes, there is Hobbiton). Talking with them, sharing meals and experiences will be our daily life and the way to generate resources for the goal of everything and every hobbit: the banquet. Fishing, growing, gathering and above all cooking, these will be our tasks. We immediately got to work, trying to find ingredients, recipes and resources to improve our way of cooking and the banquets we can offer to the inhabitants of the entire region.

There will be very important points on the map, in the first steps it is The Green Dragona meeting point where we will meet several inhabitants, all very recognizable by LOTR fans, friendly and generous hobbits, but also gossipy, grumpy and envious. There will be no shortage of excited dialogues, but always in the spirit of The Region intact. We will learn from them cooking techniques and recipes, the best places to fish, the times to plant, secrets and many other things that make Tales of the Shire an infinite world.

Cook, fish, decorate and grow. But most of all cook and make double breakfast.

The game is really accessible, as the tutorial teaches you everything you need to do to advance. In addition, it works on PC with the mouse and hotkeys, so the interactions are very fluid, as are the actions, which develop very dynamically. The nice thing about all this is that you can do it calmly, and this is the big difference with other games of the genre. It is not about moving as quickly as possible to get rewards, but rather about knowing the Region and learning to create your own life in it.

Decorating our home will make it more welcoming and will make us the perfect hostess for the banquets that we will organize. Because eventually you get the urge and start learning recipes and dishes to offer guests the best delicacies of the Comarca. And like any culinary moment, it is therapeutic. Hobbits are good eaters, so it is time to prove that one breakfast is not enough and you have to prepare a second one, and you can do it in Tales of the County.

Tales of the Shire is a quiet and accessible game, suitable for all audiences.

His relaxed approach and careful attention to interactions with other villagers make the game not stressful. Also, having your own land and seeing how to expand your crops invites you to explore La Comarca. Walking around La Comarca we will find hidden places and secret ingredients, as well as stories that tell the history of the inhabitants of the entire map. All this from a non-competitive perspective, so we can take our time to develop relationships, as well as create the perfect garden and a house to spend our days until Gandalf comes to ruin things.

As a good life simulator, you will have to take care of your character, give him rest, feed him and give him friends. The game is developed with climate changes and changes that affect your hobbit, so rest and health will be one of the few worries you will have in a very calm and relaxing game. You are a hobbit, Sam and Frodo will take care of the One Ring, you will do your things, farming, fishing and partying with your neighbors.

With a careful visual section and accessible to various devices, Tales of the Shire will be available for PC, PS5, Xbox Series and Switch starting March 25, 2025. We were able to test it on PC and these were the recommended technical requirements:

• Operating System: Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i5-7600 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• RAM: 8GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700XT

We’ll have to try it on platforms like PS5, where the Sony console will surely take advantage of the game’s beautiful visuals.