Graveyard Keeper

 PC
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Eurogamer
    Aug 22, 2018
    Arcane busywork leaves little room for genuine pleasure in this fascinating and frustrating genre oddity.
  2. Vice
    Sep 14, 2018
    The darkly humorous farming simulator is dead serious about questioning our relationship with labor and goals.

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 169 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 108 out of 169
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 169
  3. Negative: 28 out of 169
  1. KnightRighter
    Aug 25, 2018
    1
    An otherwise great game is marred by a staggeringly stupid mechanic: Energy.

    Energy is expended every time you take an action. Swing an    An otherwise great game is marred by a staggeringly stupid mechanic: Energy.

    Energy is expended every time you take an action. Swing an axe, pick, sword... Repair a tool... Craft an item. The biggest flaw: it only recharges if you sleep, or eat food—which in the early game is a pain in the ass to make.

    Battling baddies in the forest? Once you're out of energy in the early game, you'll have to walk all the way back to your house to sleep. It's surprising that nobody during testing said "Hey. Isn't it kind of dumb that you can't swing a sword anymore, but you're perfectly able to walk a quarter mile back to the house to sleep?" Or even better "Why on earth did anyone think making someone sleep would make for a fun game?"

    I fully understand the purpose of the energy mechanic. But the execution is miserable.

    I'm hoping the developer either makes it auto-regenerate—and not at a slow pace, either. Or renames the game "Chores: The Game."

    Hopefully it's the former. They'll make a lot more money.    … Full Review »
  2. ireviewbadgames
    Aug 22, 2018
    1
    They say "Graveyard Keeper" is the "No Man's Sky" version of "Stardew Valley" and unfortunately that seems to be an accurate statement. WhatThey say "Graveyard Keeper" is the "No Man's Sky" version of "Stardew Valley" and unfortunately that seems to be an accurate statement. What we have is an unfinished, buggy grind of a game that is so monotonous and boring you may as well become a real gravedigger. At least you'll be making money instead of tossing your hard-earned cash into a fire to pick up this underwhelming title.

    I'll first start with positives. . . well, "Graveyard Keeper" does indeed have a unique premise that commands great potential had the developers put effort and thought into it. The art is actually relatively well done, both pleasant to look at and easy on the eyes.

    Now, let's talk about this game's bread and butter: being a repetitive, tedious grind. The developers are the same as the one's who made Punch Club, so you already know their specialty in the gaming industry is helping the player waste as much time as possible while accomplishing almost nothing. Well folks, these industry titans have done it again! You'll spend hours of your hobbling from errand to errand, just to maintain your little estate. They've even included waiting for things to finish- That's right, you can sit back, put those weary hands behind your head and watch as your character stands there mindlessly like a zombie. Quite fitting.

    We have missing content, two unfinished locations that have been unavailable from the game's alpha. The grisly writing on the wall says these dirty devs plan on churning out paid DLC for you to have the honor of entering these areas that you know exist, but can't enter in the base game. This especially adds insult to injury when you consider the lack of content issue that already exists.

    The story is linear, poorly devised and relies on waiting in places and hoping for quest NPCs to show up. If you have high hopes for an exciting plot filled with moral quandaries, then look elsewhere. Had the ending of the game been worthwhile, perhaps "Graveyard Keeper" could be saved, but. . . I think you and I both know that's not what happened.

    Don't let the good reviews sway you, just take a look at them- even they admit the same flaws I've listed. . . they just surpassed the 2 hour refund mark and have to live with buyer's remorse. At the end of the day, if you like Stardew Valley. . . don't buy this game. Just go back to Stardew Valley. If you like grinding games, look elsewhere. There's better titles.

    This game has one foot in the grave and if the developers don't listen to feedback and make drastic changes and add a substantial amount of free content (no paid DLC for an unfinished game please) then we can close the casket and bury this dead horse.    … Full Review »
  3. Damian94
    Aug 26, 2018
    1
    Its tedious because there are no quality of life additions.
    You move very slowly on a big map. You can purchase early in the game    Its tedious because there are no quality of life additions.
    You move very slowly on a big map. You can purchase early in the game teleportation stones, so ok there are lots of fast travel points that you can teleport to anytime you want right? Nope, only 2, pretty close to each other, and this **** stone has a cooldown so slow, you are better off just slowly walking where you want. And theres no run button, you can only walk. Also there are 2 stones you can purchase, but dont worry, they share the cooldown, so even though you only used 1 of them, theyr both inactive for 3 minutes.
    You will need to talk to certain characters through the game, but they often spawn on a certain 1 day of 6 days week. there will be situations where they will tell you to bring them something, that you happen to have in a chest in your home, but theres no chance you will be able to make it in time, teleporting to your home and then coming back to them will be too late, so see you in 6 days biatch.
    You cant skip days, you can slowly sleep too regenerate energy, but with full energy your character refuses to fall asleep.
    You have very limited inventory space, you will want to have base items like sword, ax, pickax, shovel, teleportation stone, energy recoveries, and some others, at every time with you, so your little backpack gets even smaller. And there are many items taking items slots a few at graveyard, a few at your farm, a few close to your home, a few you might want to have going to new places. So in order to do anything you have to do everything in order 1 of the time. If you had inventory space you would have to do that anyway because of this stupid stamina system, but later in a game you can make items that restore your stamina better than sleeping.
    Everything in this game is designed to waste your time in a not fun way, the game is either unfinished or intentionally made to be the most tedious and boring game you can buy    … Full Review »
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