The Lord of the Rings has a long gaming history, but one area that the franchise hasn't yet thoroughly covered is the life simulation genre. Represented by games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and The Sims, life simulation games tend to forego epic quests and intense gameplay in favor of embracing aspects of the mundane. The world of Middle-earth is certainly home to vast adventure and earth-shaking battles, but there's a separate side to things that a new game, Tales of the Shire, could finally focus on to deliver an experience unlike anything before.
