‘Lord Of The Rings’ fans are upset new cosy game is “mediocre”

Lord Of The Rings fans have been disappointed by the long-awaited release of cosy game Tales Of The Shire, which finally launched yesterday (July 29).

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Tales Of The Shire was first announced back in 2022 and promised players a cosy experience as a Hobbit living in Middle-earth. “As fans ourselves, we’re excited for gamers to explore Middle-earth in a way they never have before, and introduce new fans to the magic of The Lord of the Rings,” said developers Wētā Workshop in a statement. 

“The team at Wētā Workshop is creating a brilliant representation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved works that gives players the agency to create their own Hobbit experience in Middle-earth,” added publishers Private Division when they shared the first trailer last year. “Players have been clamouring for a warm and inviting The Lord of the Rings game for years now, and it’s exactly what we’re delivering with Tales of the Shire.”

Originally Tales Of The Shire had been due to launch in autumn 2024 but was delayed until February 2025 to ensure developers could “deliver” their vision for “a peaceful corner of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world.” It was delayed once again shortly before it was due to launch “to ensure that every Hobbit, on every platform, can enjoy the same cosy experience.”

Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game was finally released yesterday (July 29) and players aren’t impressed with what they’ve seen so far. 

“The blueprint for an incredible farming/life sim is out there, yet mediocrity continues to roll in from within that subgenre. A hundred games; only a small handful of legitimately good ones. This is part of why, almost a decade later, people are out there starting their 30th new farm in Stardew Valley or on their 6th year in Animal Crossing,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

It appears, unfortunately, that Tales of the Shire did not quite live up to the cozy hobbit game we were all hoping it would be. Not necessarily bad… just boring and bland.

And I tried it, so you don't have to pic.twitter.com/UfXNRitO8k

— Kevduit (@Kevduit) July 29, 2025

 “Bare-bones is probably the nicest thing I could say,” added another.  “I think I and many others would actually be very interested in a Shire-themed cosy game; it seems like the perfect setting. They just needed to make it actually good,” wrote a third. 

The game currently has an “average” review score of 59 out of 100 on aggregate site Metacritic. A negative review from IGN highlighted several bugs with Tales Of The Shire that caused them to repeat the same day five times in a row. “A promising idea that turned out dreadfully boring and extremely buggy,” they wrote. Meanwhile the Switch version of Tales Of The Shire has been called “unplayable” and “horrendous” due to numerous bugs and issues with the graphics. 

Developers have yet to respond to the negative feedback around Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game.

In other news, Elden Ring developers FromSoftware have delayed a highly-anticipated update for Nightreign due to a number of tsunami warnings in effect across America and Japan.

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