Tales of the Shire Talks Community Gameplay On Tolkien Reading Day

It's Tolkien Reading Day, and the team at Weta is talking about its upcoming cozy game, Tales of the Shire, detailing its community-focused gameplay heading towards its July 29th release date.

Tales of the Shire has seen a delay or two since being announced a few years back, but it seems the team is ramping up towards launch this July (it was originally supposed to release today until it hit another delay). The cozy game set in the world of JRR Tolkien, you'll take on the role of a Hobbit set within the coziest location in all Middle-earth: The Shire. 

The Hobbit life sim will see players tend to their very own Hobbit hole, decorating it, building a garden, and learning more about the Hobbits that make up the world around you. One crucial aspect of gameplay is cooking and sharing a meal with your fellow Shirefolk, which creative director Stephen Lambert spoke about in a recent PlayStation blog interview. 

After breaking down the four pillars of gameplay in Tales of the Shire, Lamber dives into why shared meals are so important in the world of Hobbiton. Since you'll be cooking for not just yourself but your neighbors, you'll need to make sure you tailor your meals to their particular tastes.

"You want to make sure your food is to your guests’ taste, because the closer you get to their peculiarities the more you’ll please them and build stronger relationships. And like in the real world, the act of actually having food together helps build community. So presenting the food and enjoying it with people is huge. One of our 3D artists who modeled a lot of the meals used to work as a chef so they’re all beautifully plated up"

The interview goes on to talk about decorating and how Tolkien's world has inspired the gameplay. It's definitely worth a read, especially on Tolkien Reading Day, if you're interested in the cozy life sim coming later this year. We got the chance to check it out last summer and the delay has hopefully done some good as the experience was charming, if a bit shallow in our early preview.