"Graveyard Keeper" Review

Released in 2018 and gathering dust in my library ever since, Graveyard Keeper was one of those games that was always installed and waiting to be played. And here I am, leaving my humble opinion on this, to say the least, “different” farm game…

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Graveyard Keeper is perhaps one of the most ethically “wrong” “farm” games I’ve ever seen. Cheat, cheat, get money through controversial means, to say the least… do whatever you need to do to get back home!

Well, here you don’t have a farm (even if you later free one up), but the focus is your cemetery! You are the humble, or not so humble, gravedigger of the city, but you are also in charge of taking care of a church, which will soon grant you the position of vicar.

Even though the story is quite simple, it keeps you focused on what needs to be done. You apparently died, and now you are in a medieval isekai and must return to your reality and also to your beloved.

From now on, do everything to prosper! As a gravedigger, the more dead people the better, they will be your main “resources”, so know how to use them well… leather for crafts, meat for special recipes and even organs for experiments… everything comes to your door! As a vicar, grow and improve your church, deliver moving sermons, and gain faith… and also a handful of donations from the tithes given by your beloved faithful!

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But why do I still call it a “little farm?” Well, the gameplay consists of doing several routine and repetitive tasks while improving your cemetery, your base, your farm and also your church. So you will be dividing your attention between several separate developments during the gameplay. Many resources and skills will be necessary to evolve and release the full potential of your character. The game has a very interesting and long skill tree, which will require a bit of patience and time to unlock all the improvements. But that's where the problems begin…

Graveyard Keeper has a “day” system, there are 6 days a week where only on specific days can certain things be done, or NPCs appear in the city. Your daily routine and having to worry about several demands end up conflicting with this system, causing you to miss an encounter with an NPC or even having to leave tasks behind to obtain something necessary for another NPC.

The day system also doesn't help things unfold... since it's extremely common for you to talk to NPC X on day 3, and he asks you to talk to NPC Y, but he only shows up on day 2... and then you have to wait 5 days for this NPC to ask you to talk to the NPC from day 1... there you go waiting another 5 days... it seems like things were made to trick you.

The gameplay is monotonous, unlike other games like Stardew Valley, here you don't get as much pleasure from endlessly repeating something. There comes a time when instead of "working" on the bodies and burying them properly, you just want to incinerate them or even throw them in the river, just so you don't have to cut wood for the fire. And even with the support of zombies (yes, you become a necromancer) who help you collect resources, things are still monotonous. And even if you want to venture into the dungeon, it's pretty shitty! Another sad thing is the fishing system...

A positive point is the crafting system, after you unlock the skills and build all the workbenches, you can make a wide and diverse amount of different items, from aesthetic elements for your cemetery or church, recipes, weapons, alchemy elements, potions, etc.

Overall Graveyard Keeper is a very interesting game, but it can quickly become monotonous. I recommend playing and finishing it as quickly as possible. Don't even try to do everything, because you'll do a lot of useless things that just waste time. But the story is at least cool and the amount of items to craft encourages you to continue. Besides, because it's so controversial, the game ends up having more positive points than negative ones.

I recommend it for those who like the infinite farm style!

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