Tales of the Shire Looks Like Everything I Ever Wanted

Have you ever thought to yourself: “Man, hobbits have it made. I wish I could live a cozy life in the Shire”? Of course you have, don’t lie to me. Unfortunately, nobody can have a charmed, pastoral lifestyle today, and that’s where Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game comes in. Clunky and unnecessarily long title aside, this is a brilliant idea. Looking back, I can’t believe it took somebody so long to make a cozy farming sim based around hobbits. Give it to me now.

So, what is Tales of the Shire all about? Living your best hobbit life, of course. First step is to create your own hobbit, of course, and the developers promise extensive customization options. After that, you presumably kinda get to do whatever you want. Grow crops, visit shops, experience the different weather and seasons, fish, everything you get to do in a farming sim. Think Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, but hobbits; you get the idea. You will apparently also be working towards making your town, Bywater, the talk of the Shire by throwing the best festival hobbit-kind has ever seen.

And, of course, that’s not all. You’ll also get to explore the surroundings of Bywater and see what there is to see. I’m sure the devs are going to scatter some cool things to find. Maybe Elves snooping around or something, I don’t know. Also, we have no idea which era this game takes place in; if it’s close to the second chapter of Fellowship of the Ring (Shadows of the Past), we might even run into Ringwraiths if we’re really unlucky. Or maybe it’s after the scouring of the Shire, and maybe we have to repair some damage done by Saruman and Wormtounge. I can’t wait to find out.

Tales of the Shire has no exact release date, but we know that it’s coming out some time in 2024. You’ll be able to play it on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and, of course, PC. You can already wishlist it on Steam if you so choose. And check out the trailer below to see the current build in action. I admit, it looks a little rough around the edges, but there’s time to smooth things out.