Unlike Animal Crossing, house decoration in the Lord of the Rings life sim game doesn't operate on a grid because Hobbits also love "clutter-core"

Tales of the Shire, the forthcoming 'cozy' life sim game set in the Lord of the Rings world, is letting you be as messy as Hobbits are known to be.

In a new developer blog about the making of the game, UX designer Jordan Peat delves into how home decoration works this time around and how it differs to other neatly-organized games in the genre. What sets Tales of the Shire apart from things like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, in particular, is that home (hole) decoration doesn't operate on a grid.

"Home decoration is kind of one of our core ways of expressing yourself in the game," Peat explains. "Very early on, we actually decided on making it gridless. So you don't place anything on a square within a grid, and [it's] a really powerful tool for the player to be able to place [things] anywhere they want and also change whatever they want.

The Fellowship Behind Tales of the Shire | Inside Look - YouTube

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"If you want to, you can cover your walls with shelves and pictures and all of that," Peat adds. "And you can put individual items on every shelf. Big items, small items - there is no limit to the kind of stuff you can have in your house, which allows the player to kind of engage in a clutter-core experience."

Remember how many scrolls and pots and things were haphazardly laid out across every inch of Bilbo Baggins' house in the Lord of the Rings films? Well, that kind of loveable mess isn't really possible to recreate when the game limits you to a grid, and it's crucial that this game does make carefully considered clutter an option because Hobbits are naturally care-free. It wouldn't be much of a Hobbit game if we were all forced to be super organized, after all.

After another delay, Tales of the Shire is now coming out on July 29 for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S.

Cozy Lord of the Rings game Tales of the Shire aims to be something "Tolkien would be happy with," and "add to his world like a real mythology"