SHORT ORDER CHEF

Make friends with food in TALES OF THE SHIRE: A THE LORD OF THE RINGS GAME

- Christopher Livingston

Bilbo Baggins' trip to Lonely Mountain (and back again) in The Hobbit was roughly 2,000 miles. In Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, I feel like I've run at least half that distance without ever leaving the tiny town of Bywater. I cook, I fish, I farm - but most of my time is spent using my big ol' hairy feet to skip back and forth between the dozen hobbits who regularly need my help.

That's not unusual for a life sim - I sprint like crazy through Stardew Valley, too - but despite all the bustling around I do in Bywater, there's not quite enough to do to fill my days. Some of the activities are good ones: the cooking system is one of my favourite in games ever, and foraging for ingredients through the beautifully detailed Bywater is pleasantly chill, but fishing is too basic to be interesting and farming is a letdown.

ROAST MUTTON