How Tales of the Shire’s Reviews Compare to Other Cozy Games Like Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty

After nearly two years of development, Fictions, Inc. and Wētā Workshop have finally released the latest game based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, 2025’s Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. A life simulation game, Tales of the Shire has players create their own Hobbit as they complete tasks such as farming, fishing, and decorating Hobbit-holes in the emerging Hobbiton village of Bywater. Life simulation games have become an increasingly popular genre within the gaming medium in recent years with games such as Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure, but for many reviewers, Tales of the Shire fails to meet expectations.

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Every Lord of the Rings Character Referenced in Tales of the Shire

Tales of the Shire is packed to the brim with references to the wider world of Middle-earth, including a handful of Lord of the Rings cameos.

Tales of the Shire Reviews

Game Rant’s own Cameron Swan gave Tales of the Shire a 7/10 for how it accurately embraces a Hobbit lifestyle, but notes that it’s held back by “prominent graphical shortcomings”. Swan specifically points out how Tales of the Shire’s simplistic gameplay loop of fishing, gardening, foraging, and cooking is “far from groundbreaking,” but is appropriate for the common, laid-back Hobbit lifestyle. While Tales of the Shire may not be action-packed or varied in gameplay as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, it does feature a few Lord of the Rings characters and references that will reward long-time Tolkien fans. Swan claimed that Tolkien fans would enjoy immersing themselves in the life of Bywater, but those who aren’t fans of Tolkien’s work may easily find better life simulation alternatives.

IGN’s Travis Northup expressed similar views on Tales of the Shire, praising the Hobbit-focused game’s comical writing and cooking mechanics but criticizing it for the lack of voice acting and sound effects, especially during crowded dialogue sequences. However, Northup also criticized Tales of the Shire’s small map and monotonous gameplay mechanics, claiming the game is filled with “tiresome grinding” and a lack of depth, particularly with restrictions on home personalization and functionality. Northup concluded his IGN review of Tales of the Shire by calling it the “Gríma Wormtongue of games” and granting it a Bad rating of 4/10.

Other gaming outlets have similarly given Tales of the Shire poor to mixed reviews. For instance, Nintendo Life’s Kate Gray gave Shire a Poor 4/10 rating for having fun cooking and gardening mechanics but featuring plenty of immersion-breaking bugs, uninteresting residents, and low-resolution graphics. PC Gamer’s Christopher Livingston gave Tales of the Shire a 67/100 rating for its great cooking and foraging systems, but claimed the game was held back by its lack of gameplay variety to keep players entertained. Gamespot’s Jessica Cogswell gave Tales of the Shire a Poor 4/10 rating for its charming cooking mechanic and “cheeky” dialogue, but claimed that Tales of the Shire’s story, characters, and the town of Bywater were overall forgettable. The game has an overall score of 59 on Metacritic.

Tales of the Shire Compared to Other Life-Sim Games

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ Metacritic score: 90
• Stardew Valley‘s Metacritic score: 89
• Hello Kitty: Island Adventure‘s Metacritic score: 80

When Tales of the Shire was first formally announced in 2023, many Tolkien fans were excited by the concept of a life simulation game centered around the life of Hobbits. However, Tales of the Shire failed to launch to the best of its potential for many reviewers, especially compared to many previous life simulation titles. For example, Game Rant’s Sarah Fields gave 2020’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons a 9/10 for its refinement of traditional Animal Crossing gameplay, expansion of town customization, and improved character customization options. Meanwhile, Game Rant’s Justin Skiles claimed that 2016’s Stardew Valley is still worth playing today for its high replay value and variety with its different types of farms, romance options, and frequent updates. Polygon’s Carli Velocci praised Stardew Valley for how the game “expertly explores the connection that someone can have with their environment, their work and the people around them.”

Compared to Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, most gaming outlets gave other life simulation games far more favorable reviews. For example, IGN’s Shailyn Cotten gave 2023’s Hello Kitty Island Adventure a 6/10 for its intuitive crafting mechanics and fun character design, with it held back primarily by its tedious gifting gameplay loop. Other reviews for the Sanrio title were even more favorable, as its reviews overall were significantly better than Tales of the Shire. Based on this significant disparity in scores, it seems most cozy game fans would have preferred if Tales of the Shire had more time and room to develop, potentially expanding its gameplay variety to better enthrall players. While there are certainly things to enjoy about the game, it does seem to be a cut below other popular titles from the same genre.