Cosy Lord of the Rings game Tales of the Shire revealed for PC in 2024
Frodon't judge a book by its cover
The scourge of Cosy/Cozy Gaming has finally come for Middle-earth, and more specifically the Shire, which I guess was pretty cosy/cozy to begin with. Wētā Workshop and Private Division have announced Tales of the Shire, a "heart-warming" experience that will release on PC in 2024. I've got a live action trailer for you, in which a young person doodles pictures of Hobbits, while seated at a desk intriguingly strewn with modern appliances such as laptops and assorted Lord of the Rings paraphernalia. The book she's doodling in contains sketches of celebrated locations such as the Green Dragon pub in Bywater, and there are drawings of dolls, Hobbit-holes and onions. Take a peek!
Not heard of Wētā Workshop? They're a New Zealand-based special effects company and the creator of props and setpieces for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films - including their Shire sets - together with the more recent Avatar: The Way of the Water. Their gaming division dates back to 2014, and has worked primarily on virtual reality and augmented reality fare, but according to marketing materials, Tales of the Shire will be a more traditional game. I'm guessing from the title it'll be narrative-led, though Hobbiton would be an obvious choice for some kind of slice-of-lifey farming simulation. Stardew Shire, maybe.
There's little else to tell at this point, but it all seems a world and a half away from the October 2023-bound delving and looting sim The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Though I do detect traces of the Cosy/Cozy curse in the latter's underground townbuilding. Send in the Balrogs!