GamesLife SimTales of the ShireTales of the Shire is Stardew Valley but with happy little hobbitsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesLife SimTales of the ShireTales of the Shire is Stardew Valley but with happy little hobbitsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

New Zealand special effects company Wētā Workshop—which was responsible for sets, costumes and beasties in the Lord of the Rings trilogy—teased the game last year, but the trailer above is our first proper look at its hobbit-themed life sim.

Image1of6(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Image1of6(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Image1of6

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

(Image credit: Wētā Workshop)

Tales of the Shire

It’ll be interesting to see how Wētā fleshes out the life of Middle-earth’s diminutive inhabitants. Middle-earth Enterprises has given the developer the “broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books”, so it has some flexibility in regards to how it presents them.

While we get to spend a bit of time in the Shire in the books, films and games, it exists mainly for contrast—an idyllic prologue to set the stakes before we go off on an orc-filled adventure. But I’ve always wanted to linger. Maybe have a smoke under a big tree. Steal a pie from a window sill. Thus, I find myself pretty eager to put down my enchanted sword and have a cosy little holiday instead.

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