Best Of
10 Best Games Like Tales of the Shire

Hobbit life is the best with hardly any pressing worries weighing you down. The only things pressing, at least in Tales of the Shire, are gardening, decorating, cooking, or fishing. Otherwise, it’s a cozy game that’s all about making new friends and enjoying the sunny countryside. Look closely enough, and you’ll realize there’s so much more than meets the eye. At its core, the game is a life simulator that takes away from the usual adulting stresses. Instead, you’re immersed in a fantasy world where imagination thrives.
Well, at least if the developers over at Weta Workshop squeeze out the charm of The Lord of the Rings the game is based on, alongside allowing players to imprint themselves – taste, liking, and sense of adventure – in the world. But hey, before the release date set on July 29, 2025 arrives, you can be keeping busy with the best games like Tales of the Shire below.
10. Travellers Rest
Travellers Rest features a tavern in a place called the realm. As the tavern keeper, you’ll craft new recipes, farm the best ingredients, build your tavern with new features, and cook for your guests. You can come up with unique meals and drinks to gain the best customer reviews.
However, you’re free to also roam the world, unearthing its secrets and interacting with its colorful cast of characters. While the entire game takes place from a top-down perspective, it still features quite a ton of content and features to feel like a fully-fledged game.
9. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is quite the immersive farming simulation. It not only thrives on gardening tools and features but goes beyond to deep character customization, forging close-knit friendships who become family, among more adventures.
As the peaceful lives of the townfolk at Forgotten Valley go by, you’ll set your mind on farm life, tilling the land and raising animals. You’ll also pursue romantic interests, interacting with your neighbors, and create beautiful memories raising a family.
8. Eador. Imperium
Next up on the list of the best games like Tales of the Shire is Eador. Imperium. Taking place from a top-down perspective, you’ll choose from a distinctly vast cast of heroes, assigning them to your army.
With an army made up of a balanced set of skills, you’ll forge into battle, conquering the grave dangers threatening your empire.
Just like the Eador series thrives on an engaging mix of grand strategy, turn-based tactics, and RPG gameplay, so does Imperium pick up the mantle, enabling you to write a legacy story that saves the world.
7. Garden Witch Life
Meanwhile, Garden Witch Life is a cozy life simulation featuring a witch. It’s incredibly cute, brimming with color and vibrant life. You’ll be starting a new life after losing your job, one full of limitless possibilities.
In a surprising twist, your new life takes a whimsical turn, tasking you with creating a magical food forest. Over time, you’ll welcome a lot of adorable creatures to your forest, ensuring their basic needs are met.
6. Echoes of the Plum Grove
Still, you can check out Echoes of the Plum Grove that takes you to a colorful town called Honeywood. It’s a farming life simulator, too, that thrives on providing you with a relaxing gaming experience. You’ll build a new life, spending your time farming.
When taking a break, feel free to get to know the townsfolk. You’ll make new friends who you party with. Alternatively, you can engage with the cooking simulator, and even craft better equipment. Or head out into the unknown to unearth the secrets of the island.
5. Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story
Another of the best games like Tales of the Shire is Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. This one’s more specifically a crafting RPG that takes place in a colorful whimsical world called Bandle City. It’s a game about rebuilding a collapsed world after a party goes wrong.
The creatures of the world are furry, fun-loving yordles. However, your character is uniquely skilled in knitting magic that gradually rebuilds the world back into place.
4. Fae Farm
If you haven’t already, do check out Fae Farm. It’s a farming simulator RPG game that lets up to four players build the magical life of their dreams. You can craft, garden, and decorate your homestead, as well as cast spells to explore and interact with the enchanted world of Azoria.
3. Eternity: The Last Unicorn
Taking after classic RPGs, Eternity: The Last Unicorn reginites your passion for playing hero. It features Norse mythology, depicting familiar characters and environments. You’ll explore a fantasy world brimming with mystery, even as you strive to fight for Elven immortality.
2. Disney Dreamlight Valley
Dialing it back to life simulators, feel free to check out Disney Dreamlight Valley, ranking at the top of the best games like Tales of the Shire. You’ll discover exciting stories featuring your favorite Disney characters and Pixar worlds.
Over time, you’ll help the characters build magical homes, embarking on quests and engaging your newfound friends with fun activities.
With the Forgetting fast encroaching on the world, you’ll write new stories that free the world, unlock new realms, and restore the magic back to Dreamlight Valley. With each new realm, lots of unique challenges, puzzles, quests, and friendships await.
1. Stardew Valley
Lastly, we have Stardew Valley, an obvious top-choice for the best games like Tales of the Shire. After inheriting your grandfather’s farm, it’s up to you to continue your family’s legacy. It’ll take patience and ambition, though, to nurture the land and build a thriving farm lifestyle.
Stardew Valley goes beyond, though, into the neighborhoods around you where you can make new friends and even pursue romantic interests. If you’d like more adventure, though, perhaps test your combat skills, you can head into the dungeons where dangerous monsters reside.
Either way, you’ll find lots of ways to keep yourself busy, fulfilling every desire and need.