When it comes to cozy games, there are few titles quite as revered as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. While the former has been around a lot longer than the latter, both games have proven themselves to be some of the best the cozy genre has to offer, setting the bar for social systems, gardening mechanics, and a whole host of other staple features. Naturally, Tales of the Shire follows in these titans’ footsteps.
Though Tales of the Shire uses its license to put its own spin on them, its core gameplay mechanics follow the same path trod by the likes of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Tales of the Shire clearly takes inspiration from both of these beloved series, but there’s one key mechanic in the Lord of the Rings life-sim that follows more in Stardew‘s footsteps than Animal Crossing‘s, and that’s undoubtedly for the best.
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Tales of the Shire Review
A Lord of the Rings life-sim, Tales of the Shire tries to live up to its inherently great premise, but the Hobbit game falls short in a few ways.
Tales of the Shire Was Right to Borrow Stardew Valley’s Day/Night Cycle and Not Animal Crossing’s
Tales of the Shire’s Day/Night Cycle Explained
An in-game day of Tales of the Shire lasts around 17 real-world minutes. These 17 minutes are split almost equally between the day’s five periods: dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Though it should be noted that players always wake up halfway through dawn.
Not going to sleep in the evening or night in Tales of the Shire will see players falling asleep on the spot, stopping any activity they were in the middle of. A loading screen then appears, showing the player’s Hobbit being carted home via wheelbarrow. Players who missed a night’s sleep will then wake up halfway through the morning.
In this respect, Tales of the Shire models itself more closely on Stardew Valley than Animal Crossing. Each of Stardew Valley‘s days lasts around 13 real-world minutes, and once one day is completed, players simply go into the next. Animal Crossing, on the other hand, uses a real-world timer to track its in-game days, meaning that the player’s timezone is mirrored exactly by the cozy life-sim. To advance to the next day in Animal Crossing, players need to wait in real life, that is, unless they want to manipulate their console’s internal clock.
Tales of the Shire’s Day/Night Cycle Strikes a Careful Balance
Though it might not sound like a long time, 17 minutes is actually a great length for Tales of the Shire‘s day/night cycle. These 17 minutes give players more than enough time to complete daily tasks like watering their crops, make some strong progress with Tales of the Shire‘s social clubs, and complete a quest or two. And if players don’t manage to fit all of their tasks into a single day, it takes just one loading screen before they’re allowed to get right back to it.
On the other side of the coin, Tales of the Shire‘s days don’t last too long either. Many of Tales of the Shire‘s quests ask the player to wait a whole day before they can progress, such as shared meals, which require the player to first invite villagers and wait for their RSVP.
If Tales of the Shire moved in real-time like Animal Crossing, these quests would totally block progress for not just a few minutes, but an entire day. And though Tales of the Shire has plenty of other activities to engage in, they’re not strong or varied enough to be the sole reason players should stick around.
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