Day 1: meet all the cute villagers, they're all helpful and nice Day 2: wake up, get taken to a funeral because someone dropped dead. watch as the cute animal is cremated

A subversive "cozy" game with life-or-death stakes in the community is a great premise, but even on easy mode, the game is more frustrating than fun. By the time you get to the end of the first season (not year), it just doesn't seem like you can stay caught up if you haven't optimized your focus and skill points, and this isn't helped by the tutorials being too sparse to be much help with that and quests coming thick and fast. I do like a lot of what's in here - the music is ear-wormy in the best way and infinitely hummable, the art and characters expressiveness are perfect for the tone of the game, and the villagers are very likable. And again, I do love the premise and details like there being tangible rewards for doing the standard cozy game meet-and-greet with townsfolk. But I'd recommend waiting for a rebalance further into EA or reading up on guides in the discussion forum before giving it a spin.

Farming but with consequences... uh-oh >.> I was not sure if I would enjoy this "genre" of farming but I am pleasantly surprised so far. Right off the hop, the artwork and music drew me in. So charming!! Even against the more sombre tone, the adorable character art coupled with a genuinely well written, endearing script makes facing the upcoming challenges bearable as a cozy gamer. Talking to the villagers doesn't feel like a boring chore. They actually have interesting dialogue that changes based off of events and I am having fun discovering all the different personalities. This isn't just wandering idly, foraging and collecting at leisure. You are assigned the only harvestable crop of land and are tasked with helping to keep the cold storage filled with an adequate stockpile of preserved foods to keep the village fed. The village is filled with omnivores, carnivores and herbivores. Some planning is needed because you need to cater to the different villager needs and food does spoil. Food can be prepared using various methods to prolong the shelf life (smoking, drying etc). Def something to keep in mind when the chilly season hits and food is scarce. This game requires a certain level of day to day planning and attention to detail. In addition to monitoring the food stores regularly, you have stamina to manage. There are additional town quests with deadlines. You not only farm and forage, but there is mining, logging, fishing and crafting that is also required to maintain balance. For an EA game, this game seems thoroughly fleshed out. The controls are easy to navigate on the deck, the map is large and well occupied and the interface seems polished. So far there is a lot to juggle and you always have something to do. The tutorial is well done and while you are kind of thrown into it, it does ease you into the big boots you have to fill. You need to keep the root cellar full or there are serious consequences. This game doesn't shy away from death. The game starts off on a dark note and that darkness looms. If you don't plan accordingly, the village will starve. That being said, I appreciate how the creators allow you to choose a difficulty setting and that setting can be changed at any time. I thought I would be completely turned off by this fact but there is almost a feel of comradery in the town. I find it really gives the game direction and purpose. There is a certain level of stress but they did such a great job with creating a community feel where everyone works together and has a role to play, that I actually want to work hard to help out! I don't have many complaints so far. I would like to see an easier access to the map. You have to open a tab and scroll to get to it. That being said, the map is super informative. You do not have to hunt down villagers, the map has buildings labelled and shows you where the villager is in active time. The character creation is well done but more animal choices and clothing options would be appreciated. I have encountered no bugs on the steam deck. A very well done EA release!! I’d honestly say it’s as put together as the Field of Mistria EA launch. While this game screams cozy, it is cozy WITH A MISSION. So plan accordingly, little cottontails. Winter is coming >.< (Also, maybe I’m just paranoid, but I keep on finding the mayor in the root cellar by himself, possibly munching… like can we even trust this guy???)

It's been six weeks since I arrived at Grimshire. Seems like every time I blink there's another crisis. It wasn't hard to farm or fish up enough food to feed the village. At first. It was a bit taxing when demand increased, but once I figured out what needed done it was just a busy day. Nothing too much. But now? Only halfway through the summer and everything seems to be going wrong. I'm running ragged just to keep up. And if the desperate whispers winding their way through town are anything to go by, there's yet something else on the horizon. I can't pay it any heed, though. There's no time for rumors. There's only time to work. Only time to prepare. Although... Now I fear I've already ruined us. As a carnivore I don't pay much heed to what grows on trees and foliage and the like. But a thought occurred to me. How DO the herbivores survive the winter? And I realized it was the nuts. The nuts that never spoil. The nuts from the very trees I'd torn down to build my coop, my barn. The nuts I'd tossed in the burn pile as useless, for if I needed more wood I would simply speak to Rowan. The nuts I needed to feed my friends. The nuts that no longer existed. I have a small few left over, intended to be a treat for Percy. But will they grow in time? Will they seed in time? Will the rest of us even last long enough to find out?

A great game! Combining stardew valley with my concerning love of death and hatred of the british monarchy!!!

It's maybe early access, but you don't really feel that. The bugs I had, so far, are not as game breaking as bugs I had in AAA games. The story itself is pretty much explained in the trailer. You are a survivor, of two, the local tradesman, Fin, pulled on board from the capital when it was burning. Without memory, you wake up in the care of the Grimshire medicine hedgehog Hazel. The other one is still unconscious. To give you some space to recover and to do something, they give you an old farm - somebody had no idea how to run. It's a mess at first, so be prepared to put in a lot of work into it. This is when you first find out, that nearly every action takes away stamina points. These are filled up when eating or sleeping. After you planted your first seeds, cleaned up the weeds, chopped some wood and meet everybody in the village, to get some equipment for the start - the other survivor dies. This sets the mood how the game could continue. Your job as the farmer is pretty easy, you think. Grow produce, catch a few fish, maybe tame, breed (and butcher) critters. Then, you get introduced to the cellar, in which the community puts the food they produce. You know that you are really in a tight spot. Filling this up or let community members die is pretty much what this means. (How do they even know, you are a farmer in the first place? When I wash ashore with no memory, and somebody gives me a farm, he must have a death wish.) After a few days, Fin returns with grim news about the capital and other villages, about animals, that went feral. Nobody let him port nor trade with him anymore. You are pretty much the only one who really could save the village. So far, a pretty easy job, when you continue your work like you did. 26 people are not hard to feed from a good running farm, right? But when the army and a spokesman from the capital, a mouse with a rat's behavior with BUNNIES as soldiers, arrives, with news about a war against maniac feral people and rations the soldiers want every X days, you really are in a tight spot all of a sudden. So far, the first 21 Spring days felt hard already, in easy mode. But I never played this type of games too, so be prepared to learn, how to optimize your farm, build as much stuff as fast yourself, go into the mine(s) as often as possible. When you know some things from RL already, I mean i.e. how to preserve and store food, you will ask for these things in the game. First, you get drying racks, a good start, dried fish and veggies hold for longer. The food you have is going bad after a few days (a bit short imho), and to make matters worse, your drying racks do not work in rain (and it often rains in spring), this makes your job hard as hell. Also, nobody tells you, you have to water your field every day (except when it rained again) or the produce is not growing. This is something, that should be changed, because plants (IRL I mean) need dry periods to grow. Overwatering is bad for them. But when you finish quests from the townspeople, you get a little help - a pump and pipes to just pump once and water your field - at least where pipes were laid. Some things are not explained properly so far, like fish traps are only placeable in the farm, or that your pump should be put outside, of the field, because the pipes are that is doing the watering, but the devs are working hard on such things, and like I said in the beginning, it's not game breaking for the most part and what the devs here call early access, Ubisoft or EA would call "nearly finished after 10 patches". So with all that said, I was bound to the Computer until the birds started to annoy me - and told me I should go to sleep. Good thing I'm on vacation. Now, back to it, my people need me!

i cant stop, too addicting tell my family i love them

This is such a cozy little village where absolutely nothing wrong is happening

I'm not one who's played many farm sims, but Grimshire is cute and relaxing while also having the harsh realities of the world drive you to constantly grow your farm and help the village survive. Also the game has some adorable critters in chikrees alpheep chikrees bluggies chikrees and did I mention chikrees? I may have a favorite.