Tales of the Shire is a The Lord of the Rings-themed take on Stardew Valley

By Tomas Franzese April 22, 2024

A Hobbit gardens in Tales of the Shire. — Private Division

Private Division revealed a new game set in the Middle-earth universe called Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. The title, developed by Wētā Workshop Game Studio, is a cozy life simulator set within the world of the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 2022, No Rest for the Wicked publisher Private Division first teased that it was working on a game based on The Lord of the Rings with Wētā Workshop, the visual effects studio whose initial claim to fame was working on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Wētā Workshop has technically had a game studio since 2014, but Tales of the Shire will be its most significant release yet.

Recommended Videos

Tales of the Shire is meant to be a relaxing life sim where players go about their day in a town of Hobbits called Bywater. It looks like it will draw inspiration from games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Fae Farm, and Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. It’s a cozy game where players can customize their home, explore, farm, fish, and cook every day in between conversations with the Hobbits that inhabit Bywater. The ultimate goal is to throw an amazing Bywater Festival for the Shire where characters like Gandalf can potentially show up.

It definitely seems like it will be a breath of fresh air for The Lord of the Rings games following Monlith’s gory Middle-Earth action titles and 2023’s disastrous The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game will be released for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch sometime during “the second half of 2024.”

Topics

Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

The best Stardew Valley mods

Emily talking to the player in Stardew Valley.

After so many years of support, it might feel like there's nothing left that needs to be added or changed in Stardew Valley. This farming sim lets you live your best life in the quiet countryside with your own farm, NPCs to meet and date, Easter eggs to find, and quests to complete.

Multiple updates have only expanded the number of things to do in a game you could already spend hundreds of hours in. But the developer behind this game is just one person, and even an entire team couldn't match the output of the entire modding community. Given the meteoric success this game has had and sustained for so many years, there have been hundreds of mods created by passionate fans. These mods can make your humble little farm life feel completely fresh, as well as smooth out a couple of lingering rough edges in the game. We've farmed up the absolute best Stardew Valley mods you should try for yourself.
Stardew Valley Expanded
Each major update to Stardew Valley adds a host of new features, but one fan just couldn't wait and decided to make their own unofficial expansion called Stardew Valley Expanded. Just looking at the feature list of this mod, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a true expansion, or maybe even a sequel. It adds 27 new NPCs, 50 more locations, 27 fish, two new farms, and even updates a couple of existing things. That's not even mentioning the new music, quests, objects, festivals, and more. The entire thing was made to feel as seamless with the base game as possible, and is intended to give that same feeling of wonder and joy players had when playing the game for the first time.
NPC Map Locations

Gaming

Where to find the bookseller in Stardew Valley

The bookseller in Stardew Valley

Books are not completely new to Stardew Valley. Prior to the 1.6 update, you could find lost books that gave some background details about Pelican Town but didn't give you any in-game benefit. Now, there is a new collection of books that grant your character some nice buffs or abilities. You can find a few of these new books hidden in the world, like the new Powdermelon seeds, but there are some exclusive ones you need to buy from a new bookseller NPC. Despite not making any business sense, they are only open for brief windows of time in a specific place. Here's when and where to find the bookseller.
Where to find the bookseller

The bookseller sets up shop north of Joja Mart and the museum just up some stairs. If you go on any day you like, odds are you will find the place deserted.

Gaming

Stardew Valley cheats: all glitches, codes, and secrets

best Mac games

You might not think a cozy game like Stardew Valley would even need cheats. After all, the entire point of the game is to relax, build up your farm, and make friends with the other townsfolk, right? Sure, but there are also a lot of challenging and time-consuming objectives that have been added over the many years of support. Plus, sometimes people just want to play a game on their own terms. In either case, cheats can help you farm up some fun times, so let's harvest every one there is to enjoy.
All Stardew Valley cheats
We're going to use the term cheat a bit loosely here since Stardew Valley doesn't have cheats in the traditional sense, but more exploits and glitches you can use to cause some cheat-like things to happen.
Infinite energy glitch

Every action you take in Stardew Valley costs some energy, so wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about running out? There's a simple way to do it by exploiting that small step forward your character takes whenever they swing a weapon or tool. If you go into the Spa and swing your weapon against the wall until you clip through it, you can then go out of bounds over to the pool. Once there, put any post down in the water and touch it. After that, you can return back to the bounds of the game. However, the game will be tricked into thinking your character is swimming, and thus, you won't spend energy using weapons!
The Galaxy Sword glitch
If you did it the long way, you could get the Galaxy Sword by taking a Prismatic Shard and holding it between three pillars in the Calico Desert, but who has time for that? Instead, if you purchase the catalog from Pierre's General Store and buy the green wallpaper. Take this into the desert, and if you stand in just the right spot, it will inexplicably function like a Prismatic Shard and spawn the Galaxy Sword for you.
The Junimo Plush
This is purely a secret item, but one most players will never find without help. Secret Note #13 holds the clue to it, but all you really need to do is go to the bush on the northwest corner of Pelican Town on the 28th day of any season. If you right-click on it precisely at noon, you will get the rare plush.
Infinite fishing time glitch