Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Gamecomes with a robust interior decorating system. As a cozy game, customization will likely lie at the heart of much ofTales of the Shire, with much needed to build the player’s home from an empty home into a hobbit hole filled with furniture and decorations. While customizing homes, particularly interior decorating, is an integral part of cozy games, homemaking mechanics have extended to other video game genres, particularly RPGs and ARPGs.
Features such as settlement building and the customization of said settlements have seen a lot of change in different genres, with robust customization options evolving as technology develops.The Lord of the Ringsgames, even beyond cozy games, would be particularly suitable for this level of player customization because ofThe Lord of the Rings' rich lore and variety of cultures, all with their own visual styles and aesthetics. Not giving players the option to take advantage of Middle-earth’s beautiful cultures through building would be a waste.
Tales of the Shire’s Interior Design Accommodates Bywater’s Hobbits
The furniture anddecor revealed so far forTales of the Shireis appropriately aligned with hobbit designs that blend in seamlessly within a hobbit hole. Decor choices that have been revealed can be described as cottagecore, with an emphasis on simplicity and rustic designs. There is the option of cooking meals and adding them to the decor of the hobbit’s home, giving the feeling of abundance.
WhileTales of the Shirehas such a robust interior decorating system because of its nature as a cozy game, the same mechanic could potentially be applied to otherThe Lord of the Ringsgames, even ones in other genres. Creating or customizing home bases, settlements, and outposts has become a popular mechanic in video games over the past decade, and can be seen in games such asFallout 4,Starfield, and in the upcomingAssassin’s Creed Shadows. These base and settlement customization options go beyond upgrading a home base by paying a steward, entering a loading screen, and seeing the results. Rather, the player has a crucial role in customization and the design of their home or settlement.
Going Beyond Tales of the Shire and Towards the Rest of Middle-earth
Implementing a system like this in futureLord of the Ringsgames would go a long way in worldbuilding and establishing lore in an organic way.The Lord of the Ringstakes place in a universe with incredible depth, and has numerous unique cultures. Video game developers and designers can take advantage of this by implementing the unique and rich architecture and designs of eachculture inThe Lord of the Rings.
This system could be tweaked to accommodate any kind of settlement or home base, with unlocks for interior decor such as inDragon Age: Inquisition, or the ability to create entire settlements based on the architecture of a specific culture inThe Lord of the Rings. These designs aredescribed inThe Lord of the Ringsoriginal text and appendices, as well as material such asThe Silmarillion. With multiple distinct visual styles based on different cultures, there is a lot of potential for creativity and roleplaying within this framework, with there even being distinct differences between different groups of Men, elves, and dwarves, such as Rohan and Gondor embodying very different visual styles.
