Grimshire

This game was an impulse buy for me, fyi. I just completed Year 1… Oh my god? This is EARLY ACCESS?? I consider myself a farm sim veteran, but I’m not a “cozy” gamer by any stretch. I LIKE challenging time & resource management. I LIKE working against difficult odds with tangible consequences. So knowing that the (extremely cute) townsfolk of Grimshire can PERMANENTLY DIE if you don’t make the most of every single minute of every single in-game day… those are some high stakes. I just had to give this a try. 50+ hours later, I barely scraped by some of the seasonal deadlines full-body sweating and gripping my steam deck an inch from my nose. Finally making it through the first year with everyone still alive was some Dark Souls levels of euphoria. Grimshire is quite literally a dream game for me, both thematically and gameplay-wise. And it FEELS polished and fully-featured as-is, despite only having just released into Early Access. TL;DR I’m telling everyone I know to...

TL;DR- Strongly recommended for fans of Farming Sims (i.e., games like Harvest Moon) looking for a challenge and a story with stakes. Gameplay is very enjoyable, avoiding any extraneous features which would clog up the experience whilst still needing more thought than most games of the genre. Characters are very likeable and have strong potential to be expanded on, with solid use of gameplay to tell the game's story. Having played quite a few games in the same vein as Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, I've found myself wanting a farming sim focused more on the story and characters. The social aspect of this genre is obviously a huge part of it, and so I tend to evaluate these games largely through the lens of the characters who inhabit their settings. This is probably a strange way to start a positive review for a farming sim whose character interactions are largely yet to be implemented. Friendship/Romance events are some that will come later on in the game's development, and vi...

I thought for a while about posting this, as I don't often post reviews, but I love this game, so here are my spoiler free ramblings that no one asked for. TLDR - It's an amazing game and I love it, but know what you’re getting into. I love cozy games and farming sims. Stardew, Staxel, Sunhaven, My time at Portia/sandrock, immortal life, graveyard keeper (I count it, so sue me). I’ve played and loved them all. However as you start to build up experience in this genre of game, you either dig into the chill vibes, or you start min-maxing. Unfortunately for me, I'm a min-maxer. If the NPC villagers could talk, they’d mention the weirdo new farmer who almost never leaves the farm, and occasionally, wordlessly, hands them random items. At about the 60-70% mark of these games, I’d start to get bored because of the same issue. I’d get too proficient at growing crops or making money, and I wouldn't really see the point anymore, as I had nothing to do with any of it. Woo, I grew 10...

[h2]Early Access v.0.22.16 in-progress review[/h2] Grimshire is a game that turns the farming sim genre on its head, yet it does very well the things you come to expect from all farming games nowadays. There will be familiarity there, with a 'museum' to donate new items to, crops to water, fish to catch, mines to mine. But it does each of these classic things really well while giving something new to the genre, a darker and more challenging twist. Grimshire is made by two people, Sarah who is the main programmer & CEO of Acute Owl Studios, and Tim who does additional programming in addition to the lovely art seen in the game. (And one HR manager, their dog Gimli.) They have a couple of freelance artists that contributed to the game as well, such as a musician (ColeHarmon) and character portrait artist (Toyoll), and Crymsonfire who did the cover art. That's something I have to praise is the beautiful hand-drawn portraits that show up for each character and the stoic color palette that...

Welcome to Furry Consequence Stardew Valley, Motherf*****. Much of this review is going to assume you're at least familiar with Stardew Valley, which Grimshire distinctly apes. While Stardew Valley is a fine game, its gameplay has this time-management tension to it distinctly at odds with its pastoral setting and status as the popularizer of the Cozy Game. I'm always nervous about the clock, and what I can get done in a given day. I'm frantically rushing around in circles, rarely slowing down or relaxing; acting with the very efficiency-focused productivity-inclined mindset the game's premise suggests that the player left the big corporate city to discard. So along comes Grimshire, which pokes you in the chest and asks: "That premise not work for you? Okay. How about 'You're in this tiny podunk village because you're fleeing a plague that wrecked your hometown?' How about 'If you don't farm enough food, these cute animal people are going to f***ing die?' That enough stakes for you, y...

Grimshire is a game about surviving a calamity that is overtaking the known world through a means at least 8000 years old- farming. That would be it, but unfortunately for the residents of Grimshire, they are plagued by something else as old as farming if not older- extortion. You have a wonder plot of land to grow your food and others take notice, but they lack the foresight to see take from you can actually hinder further yields, making up for their lack of planning with threats of violence. Now, you need to keep your people fed while fulfilling an ever-growing ration for those who are indifferent to your survival. I will attempt to remain spoiler free, but anything further will potentially reveal details about the game to you. The game has a wonderful atmosphere with a great soundtrack that fits the ambiance as you go along your new life planting seeds, harvesting crops and catching fish. The characters as well were always a joy to interact with for me, as they gave off a small to...

Early Access review. In all honesty, this might be one of my favourite games of the year. Grimshire isn’t your typical cutesy farming/life sim. This game gives you purpose—hard work and planning ahead are absolutely necessary. Necessary, because if you don’t, people in town die. And you can’t go back home either, since everyone you once knew is gone too. Now that you know a bit of the backstory, let’s talk about what the game actually expects from you. You're required to farm, fish, mine, gather, ranch and complete quests- ideally all in a single in-game day. That also includes butchering your precious livestock- yes, the ones you’ve named, cared for, and inevitably grown attached to. You have to progress, and progress quickly, and you will be faced with more then the initial challenge that starts you off with, a plague that is coming to the shores of Grimshire, soon. All of this happens while you're enjoying an incredible soundtrack and a beautiful, deceptively cozy a...

Stardew Valley with the threat of starvation looming over your small little town of animal friends - that's how I would descripe Grimshire. It has all the makings of your cozy farming game, but you do need to provide for the community of herbivores and carnivores, which becomes increasingly difficult (at leats in Normal mode). There's an underlying, dark undertone to the cuteness, which is very intriguing and (positively) dreadful. Hope to see this game reach version 1.0 at some point and become feature complete. Definitely had my fun so far, but it does feel unfinsihed here and there. Still big recommend

A piece of advice: Accept that your first playthrough people will die. I started hustling and even then people died bc there will be time limits you dont know of. Its a balancing act of prioritization and progress and really calls on the bonds of community to survive increasingly ludicrous thresholds (20 days provisions per week?!?!?!?) but it all conspires to be an engaging time with music and visuals that are pleasing to experience. Secondly, if you're going to play: don't let the seemingly innocuous quests pass you by unfulfilled. They sometimes have the best rewards. All in all, a very fun game. Havent yet broached Winter in either of my playthroughs right now, but holy hell do I feel like I'm on the Bear lmao

Love this type of game! A mix between relaxing & survival mode! And yes, you can pick the level of survival mode!! I picked the lowest and I feel no shame! The only hard part for me is picking if I want to play as a deer or bear!! My two favorite animals that I don't see playable much, or at all, in other anthro games!!