Highlights
- Tales of the Shire brings cozy sim fun to the iconic village of Bywater, offering relaxing activities like fishing and gardening.
- Bywater’s rich history, including the Battle of Bywater, adds depth to the game’s setting inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien’s books.
- Players may witness Bywater’s growth from its early days in Tales of the Shire, offering a unique perspective on this iconic location.
Tales of the Shire is an upcoming cozy life sim by Weta Workshop, inspired by other popular cozy sims such as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. In the Lord of the Rings village of Bywater, players will experience life as a Hobbit firsthand with plenty of relaxing activities to complete, like home decoration, fishing, gardening, and more. While there will presumably be more than enough things to do in Tales of the Shire, one of the game’s biggest features is Bywater itself, which will likely be based on and modeled after the Bywater from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series of novels.
The Hobbit village of Bywater has a much more extensive history than fans of the Lord of the Rings films might know. In fact, the Lord of the Rings films fail to depict one of the biggest battles that takes place in Bywater, and while Bywater is shown elsewhere in the films, viewers who haven’t read the novels might not even know that it’s Bywater they are looking at. This is all a part of what makes Bywater such a unique choice for Tales of the Shire‘s location, as most casual Lord of the Rings fans probably know more about Bag End, the home of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, than Bywater.
Tales of the Shire Already Has the Ideal Candidate for its Version of One Stardew Valley Character
Tales of the Shire draws clear inspiration from farming sims like Stardew Valley, which may hint at the inclusion of one Lord of the Rings character.
Tales of the Shire’s Bywater Explained
Bywater Derives Its Name From Its Geographical Location
As most probably know, the Shire is a sprawling green land with lush vegetation, freshwater streams, and unassuming Hobbits living out their daily lives in peace. Although other major locations such as Longbottom and Hardbottle can be found within the Shire, its most well-known location is Hobbiton. Whereas Bag End lies north of Hobbiton, Bywater is east of Hobbiton and southeast of Bag End, on the other side of The Water. This is precisely where Bywater derives its name, as its nearness to one of the largest of The Water’s pools grants it a fertile farmland with plenty of resources.
Bywater’s geography is the most logical explanation for why it was chosen as the location for
Tales of the Shire
, as it is the ideal spot for a variety of cozy activities.
Bywater Plays a Much More Prominent Role in The Lord of the Rings Than Some Might Think
Despite hardly being mentioned in the Lord of the Rings films, Bywater plays a rather prominent role in the books. Specifically, a famous battle known as the “Battle of Bywater” took place there, but the films most likely chose to exclude it simply due to its anticlimactic nature. Despite the film’s showing the final battle to be the Battle of the Morannon, which takes place before Mordor’s Black Gate, according to the books, the Battle of Bywater was technically the final battle in the War of the Ring.
After Saruman was defeated at the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the Battle of Isengard, he fled to the Shire and seized control of it. After the Battle of the Morannon, Frodo and his companions returned to the Shire, only to find it oppressed by Saruman and his forces. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin then rallied the rest of the Hobbits of the Shire together in a rebellion against the Shire’s oppressors, defeating them using a strategic ambush. While the Battle of Bywater wasn’t featured in the film per se, Galadriel shows it to Frodo as a possible future for the Shire, should he fail his mission.
It’s currently unknown where Tales of the Shire will take place in the Lord of the Rings timeline, but it will more than likely be before the events of the War of the Ring. Even so, it means that players may get the opportunity to help build up Bywater from its earliest days until it becomes the thriving location that it has always been known to be.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.Â
- Created by
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Current Series
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Where to watch
- HBO Max
