Tales of the Shire’s Hobbit Hole Customization Must Avoid a Common Pitfall

As cozy games continue to be one of the more prominent forces in the gaming industry, the upcoming arrival of Weta Workshop’s Tales of the Shire is anticipated by many. Set in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, Tales of the Shire sees players stepping into the fantastical world of Bywater Hobbits for a cozy life sim similar to Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley​​​​​. Just like its spiritual ancestors, Tales of the Shire comes packed with features befitting of any other game in the genre, like character customization, home decoration, fishing, foraging, cooking, and exploration.

One of Tales of the Shire‘s most prominent features is its Hobbit hole decoration, which will allow players to customize the interior (and possibly exterior) of their home with various furniture and decorative items. While home decoration features typically reinforce the cozy nature of games like Tales of the Shire, they tend to fall short in one major area that Tales of the Shire should avoid. Specifically, even though having a vast array of customization options when it comes to furniture and display items can be a huge bonus, they should arguably serve a greater purpose than simply being eye candy.

Related

Tales of the Shire Shouldn’t Shy Away From Its ‘Shire Crossing’ Nickname

Tales of the Shire is being jokingly referred to as “Shire Crossing” due to its Animal Crossing similarities, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Tales of the Shire Needs Interactive Furniture

games-are-notorious-for-lacking-interactive-furniture”> Cozy games Are Notorious for Lacking Interactive Furniture

Despite their growing popularity, games/”>cozy games don’t get everything right. The intention is generally to provide players with a less demanding experience than other genres — hence the name “cozy” they are defined by. However, this sometimes results in one of their most painfully obvious shortcomings: display-only furniture. In the majority of the games that feature home customization, players can decorate their homes to their heart’s content, but it’s all too common that the furniture they use can only be looked at and never interacted with.

Palia is one example of a game that lacks functional furniture, but not every cozy game encounters this pitfall. Although the Animal Crossing series was once known for lacking interactive furniture, Animal Crossing: New Horizons introduced a wide range of furniture items for players to interact with, including kitchen items, TVs, toilets, and other decorative items. Tales of the Shire just needs to ensure it avoids useless furniture to make its Hobbit holes feel a bit more lived in, rather than little more than an art piece.

Tales of the Shire’s Furniture Should Serve a Variety of Purposes

Tales of the Shire‘s furniture should be useful as more than display items. It could accomplish this by allowing what should be usable furniture to actually be usable. For example, lights and candles could be turned on and off, cabinets and drawers could be used as containers, wardrobes could be used as storage for the player’s attire, ladders could be climbable, and more. Tales of the Shire has plenty of room to work with when it comes to functional furniture, even if its Hobbit holes are as small as the Hobbits who inhabit them.

Tales of the Shire may already be off to a good start when it comes to interactive furniture, as one of its main emphases is cooking. If players are going to spend a significant amount of time games/”>cooking in the game, it could mean most of their kitchen serves a purpose other than simply being decorative. Perhaps players will be allowed to interact with food storage containers, common kitchen utensils such as forks and knives, dishware like plates and bowls, or even ovens and coolers. The full extent of Tales of the Shire‘s interactivity remains to be seen, but it will be a unique experience at the very least.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality. 

Created by

J. R. R. Tolkien

Current Series

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Where to watch

HBO Max