Graveyard Keeper

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 86%Very Positive · 86%2018

The verdict

A dark, funny Stardew-like crafting and management sim with deep tech trees and great atmosphere, but heavily grindy, time-gated and poorly explained. Skip it if you hate wikis and busywork.

Great for

Patient crafting and automation fans who like dark humor, tech trees and Stardew-style loops

Main risk

Endless grind, weekly NPC time-gates and almost no in-game guidance make it feel like a chore

What changed in the last 30 days

163 recent reviews

Recent negatives focus on grind, weekly time-gates and no guidance, plus reports of softlocks (donkey stops delivering, freezes above 60 fps). Some also mention frustration coming via the sequel's release. Fairly confident.

163 recent reviews

What players love

Dark humor and memorable characters

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“the humor hits a clever, dry dark note without relying on cheap shock value or trying to be overly "spicy."”
Steam review · 36.1 h played ↗

“A wonderful undertaker simulator whose hero wants to get back to his beloved but is forced to run errands for a communist donkey.”
Steam review · translated · 25.7 h played ↗

“The social commentary and eccentric characters, such as the communist donkey and the cynical Bishop, add a layer of wit that makes the world feel alive.”
Steam review · 65.8 h played ↗

Engaging story and lore, DLCs add more

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“epic journey through an amazing story”
Steam review · 93.3 h played ↗

“Great game, and the added DLC really adds much more to the story”
Steam review · 145.1 h played ↗

“The lore is deep, which I something I adore on any game.”
Steam review · 24.6 h played ↗

Relaxing, cozy dark Stardew Valley feel

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“Fun, easy and relaxing. Just pick a goal and work towards it. No running for your bed because a timer is counting down.”
Steam review · 51 h played ↗

“Stardew Valley, but based on a dark and cynical sense of humor.”
Steam review · 418.9 h played ↗

“Lovely but grindy game, feel good to put your mind to zero and just do stuff.”
Steam review · 53.5 h played ↗

Addictive, engaging gameplay loop

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“I don't know why but this game became like heroin to me and I couldn't stop playing.”
Steam review · 71.8 h played ↗

“one of the most chaotic and weirdly addictive games I’ve played in years”
Steam review · 121.4 h played ↗

“If you want a life dont play this game, Its Hella Addictive :D”
Steam review · 28.1 h played ↗

Beautiful pixel art and music

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“The pixel art is incredibly well done. The dynamic lighting and weather effects are amazing!”
Steam review · 80.8 h played ↗

“Plus the music is awesome, relaxing and enjoyable”
Steam review · 366 h played ↗

Deep crafting, tech trees and automation

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“The crafting system is huge, there’s always something to do, and the progression keeps you hooked for hours.”
Steam review · 56.5 h played ↗

“The addition of zombie workers took the tedium out of most of the chores.”
Steam review · 134.2 h played ↗

“There’s a wide range of interconnected systems (farming, cooking, crafting, building, and of course corpse management), which keeps the gameplay loop engaging for the long term.”
Steam review · 75.1 h played ↗

What players complain about

Relentless grind and busywork

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 negative reviews

“I enjoy game grinding but this game takes it to another level. The reward is so little for the grind that it makes it not worth it.”
Steam review · 14 h played ↗

“Incredibly repetitive and grindy gameplay.”
Steam review · translated · 91.5 h played ↗

“at some point(25h+) the gameplay turns into an exhausting grind”
Steam review · 44.8 h played ↗

Almost no tutorial; wiki is mandatory

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“It teaches you nothing about how to play the game and you will have to go check a wiki or look up how to do or get to the next steps.”
Steam review · 3.5 h played ↗

“This isn't a graveyard keeper simulator, it's an alt+tab simulator. The game explains nothing, you constantly have to google what it wants.”
Steam review · translated · 68.4 h played ↗

“Almost nothing about the various convoluted mechanics are explained in game.”
Steam review · 11.2 h played ↗

Slow walking, small stamina and cramped inventory

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“The energy pool should easily be twice its current size”
Steam review · 107.1 h played ↗

“I wanted to become a graveyard keeper. But instead became a third member of The Proclaimers as I did, in fact, walk 500 mile and 500 more.”
Steam review · 11.7 h played ↗

“Sure, make the distance between NPCs even bigger and movement speed EVEN SLOWER”
Steam review · translated · 3.4 h played ↗

Nested crafting and quest chains

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“To make freaking ink you need to: 1. Get coal (unlocked under precious metals?! tech) 2. Get a Furnace 2 3. Smelt coal into graphite”
Steam review · 11.7 h played ↗

“Every time you unlock something you need to progress, you need to find or unlock 3 other things to make said thing.”
Steam review · 9.9 h played ↗

“Almost nothing is a simple task. You don't just make an item — you need a tool to make it, which requires another machine”
Steam review · 16.2 h played ↗

Weekly NPC schedule forces waiting

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“Having specific NPCs that only appear once every six days doesn't add depth; it just artificially inflates the playtime in an annoying way.”
Steam review · 4.7 h played ↗

“If you miss the sermon day, no faith, no progression, just completely dead week.”
Steam review · 11.4 h played ↗

“I could only get those points one day a week.”
Steam review · 4.3 h played ↗

Game-breaking bugs and lost saves

Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews

“Game breaking bug with donkey not delivering corpses.”
Steam review · 12.2 h played ↗

“At FPS above 60 some cutscenes bug out, causing a softlock and Alt+F4”
Steam review · translated · 62.8 h played ↗

“the game froze everytime during his introduction”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Playable

Minimum

OSWindows 7 (SP1+)

ProcessorIntel core i5, 1.5 GHz and up

Memory4 GB RAM

Graphics1 Gb dedicated video card, shader model 3.0+

Storage1 GB available space

OSWindows 7 (SP1+)

ProcessorIntel core i5, 1.5 GHz and up

Memory4 GB RAM

Graphics1 Gb dedicated video card, shader model 3.0+

Storage1 GB available space

More games to check

Other games we’ve read the reviews for

See all →

Football Manager 2023

Very Positive · 90%

+ Addictive time sink with huge replay value

− Barely any new features versus FM22

analyzed 1 d ago

Football Manager 2021

Very Positive · 93%

+ Extremely addictive time sink

− Scripted, unfair-feeling match results

analyzed 1 d ago

EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23

Mixed · 57%

+ Realistic animations and graphics

− Launch failures from EA anti-cheat

analyzed 2 d ago

PC Building Simulator

Very Positive · 94%

+ Teaches how to build a PC

− Sequel is Epic-exclusive, devs abandoned this

analyzed 5 h ago

Weekly digest

Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox

The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.

One email a week · unsubscribe in one click