Grave Encounters
In life there is an inevitable and natural conclusion to all. In the story of Graveyard Keeper, and now Graveyard Keeper 2, however, the end of a life just might be the beginning of another. The dark and morbidly humorous tale of GK2 comes to us at the beginning of fall and just in time to welcome the fast approaching spooky season.
The story of Graveyard Keeper 2 begins with an unconscious but familiar looking individual chained up in a dark dungeon. A blue glowing fairy is fluttering about your head and is trying its best to wake you and set you free. Unfortunately, your tiny saviour is only able to get one of your hands free before running out of energy. They disappear, but not before imparting you with the cryptic task that you are there to save the world and set things rightly back on track. You aren't left basking in silence for long as a voice calls to you from a closed tomb in the next alcove.
And so, it seems you aren't the only one who needs rescuing. You break your remaining rusty chain and after some encouragement, you set them loose and rush above ground to find a safe place to sleep. With your new best friend leading the way (a chatty bouncing skull named Larry) and a soldier who falls through the roof of your hiding spot, you escape a derelict and heavily zombie infested town.
In the thick of it, you are mistaken for an Inquisitor thanks to some shiny bits you find on the way out of the prison. You have no real choice, as it's given you status, an Inquisitor’s base, and a possible way out of the nightmare you and the citizens around you are in. Did I fail to mention you also get a new job running a spooky graveyard and a morgue to take care of the bodies that a sassy donkey will deliver to your new doorstep? I mean, really.. What is the worst that could happen?
As this series is more of a management focused sim, there is no simple way to complete a single task. In order to build one thing, you need this other thing and in order to get that thing you need these 2 other things, and so on and so forth. One of the things that bothered me about the first GK was that it seemingly tossed you into a strange new world with no real instructions. Luckily, GK2 expands on this. Gameplay starts off with soft introductions of the types of mechanics you will be using throughout Graveyard Keeper 2 via entertaining tutorials. Most of which are suggested with some funny conversations with Larry, or by helping out some of the people residing in a small village close to your base.
A merchant in the village needs help accumulating fresh food to sell and asks you to help by fishing and farming and donating your first few crops and fish. A blacksmith you meet while escaping the overrun city requests some materials to repair a boat in return for the sword and armor he gave you earlier. Your main job, as a Graveyard Keeper, is introduced through a conversation with the captain of the soldiers. He speaks of the low moral and the inevitability of the end, so naturally you offer to spruce up the graveyard, Since “Mr. Sunshine” seems to think we're all going there soon anyway. This seems to cheer him up, and you set about your introduction into being a keeper. As you move through these tutorial missions, it will also show you pop up tutorials on how to navigate your research and ability trees. These, of course, will go in tandem with your tasks and mechanics and are how you will progress, get better tools, better harvests, and better decorated graveyards.
Have I lost you yet? While this does seem a bit complicated, don't worry. The sequel helps with a bit more information and the tutorials and information start you off with a bit more knowledge on how things work and function together. As long as you pay close attention and spend a bit of time trying everything out to familiarize yourself with the mechanics, it isn't too difficult. The only real challenge comes from how well you can automate and organize your tasks and gathering. Later on, however, you can recruit zombie helpers to take care of any gaps in labor around your base. They can even help with combat against other invading zombies and monsters.
Speaking of combat, compared to the veritable landslide of job hats you wear that almost need a spreadsheet to keep track of, combat is blessedly simple. Single button presses, single armour types to upgrade as you unlock better versions and access better materials, and only 3 different weapon types that are upgraded the same way. Friendly zombies will attack enemy ones and you can lead them along to help keep you alive.
Now that we've discussed the meatiest and most complex bits of Graveyard Keeper 2, let's take a minute to stop and appreciate the finer points of the game. The visuals are wonderfully smooth and colorful and boast a comfortably nostalgic art style. It is a top down game that runs pretty smoothly on nearly every system, besides the switch 1 version of course, which can run a little slow and choppy. All this being said, the hard working team at Tiny Build has vastly improved the graphics and general functionality in comparison to the first game.
My absolute favorite addition they've made in the sequel is the voice acting. The actors are extremely talented and the performances they deliver really help elevate the story. If this is not your thing, you even have the option to turn it off, or go back to the “mumble speak” dialogue from GK1. This is a nice touch that gives a great way to customize your own personal experience.
Before we close this review off, let's boil things down and talk about the good and bad. There isn't necessarily anything “bad” to mention in Graveyard Keeper 2. I found a lot of the experience is honestly from preferences on what types of cozy games the individual player likes to play. The humor is a bit darker and handles strong themes of death and the effects on people around it. The type of sim that Graveyard Keeper and Graveyard Keeper 2 are at their core, as I've mentioned before, are more of a management style. This means that the core of the game is more centered around managing the work you do and can involve a bit of grinding that some find a bit boring or mundane. Oftentimes this means the plot and motivations of the characters get a bit lost. Behind the scenes the game runs quite well and only really dips frame rate during action heavy and highly populated things happening on screen.
The amount of good that Tiny Build has accomplished with Graveyard Keeper vastly outweighs any of the negative points. They've added an easy to follow branching quest system that shows each character you need to talk to and what they are asking for/need help with. Another cool thing that they've done is give the characters voices with amazing voice actors which really puts extra magic into an already humorous and entertaining story. The graphics and animations have been upgraded and the game functions quite well on whatever system you decide to play the game on, only really dipping in functionality on the Switch 1 during heavily populated moments on screen.
Honestly, Graveyard Keeper 2 has been a great experience with dark themes and humorous interactions with all the characters. I like how there is a crazy variety of things to do and easy to follow charts to keep track of what you can create and what you have yet to research. It also fits perfectly with the fast approach of spooky season and is the great continuation of GK1, also a perfect addition to anyone's sim game library!
Developer - Lazy Bear Games
Publisher - tinyBuild. Released - September 22nd, 2026. Available On - PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/ Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, PC. Rated - (T) - Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch 2.
Review Access - A review code for Graveyard Keeper 2 was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Rebecca is a huge fan of JRPG’s, RPG’s, and Survival Horror. From Silent Hill to Resident evil. Xenogears and Final Fantasy. When she isn’t tinkering with skill trees or equipping the right rifle to take down numerous monsters, you can find her farming away on Stardew Valley.