Grave Seasons Is The Monster-Filled Stardew Valley You Didn’t Know You Needed

Grave Seasons plays a lot like a spruced-up take on games like Stardew Valley, with players able to explore a serene rural community, make their ideal farm, and form relationships with the local townsfolk. The trick is that from the onset, Grave Seasons establishes a low-key unsettling vibe that can turn grisly in a heartbeat. This gives way to the real appeal of the game, a small-town mystery that feels just as inspired by Twin Peaks as any farming sim.

Grave Seasons plays with the procedural game concept with real ambition, setting up a narrative that can only be fully understood on multiple playthroughs. Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on August 14, courtesy of developer Perfect Garbage and Blumhouse Games, the game takes a lot of different compelling ingredients and mixes them together for a grim yet charming experience. In the process, Grave Seasons may have found the perfect way to solve a replayability problem that’s always haunted the mystery genre.

Grave Seasons Gives A Horror Murder Mystery The Roguelike Treatment

On top of being a well-designed, horrific take on the farming life sim, the true ambition baked into Grave Seasons makes it one of the most intriguing games of the year. As a new member of the community of Ashenridge, the player character is an escaped convict just looking for a place to lie low while the heat dies down. However, a high-profile murder in the town sets the player character on a mission to uncover the truth (and stay off the radar) — only to discover that the murder in question is something more supernatural than they are used to. This approach gives the game an inherently darker take on the genre, with players able to break into people’s houses to snoop around at risk of being suspected of foul play.

Each run of Grave Seasons sees the player take their character through a year in the life of their character, dealing with the different dangers lurking beneath the surface of the town. Players may not actually solve the mystery by the end of the first playthrough — but the knowledge they gleamed during that run will make the second playthrough easier. Or, it would, if the style of monster and the identity of the killer remained the same each playthrough. Those clues can still come into play as players race to figure out how to best protect their favorite townsfolk, and potentially even themselves as the monstrous threat moves around the town in a string of brutal murders.

The nature of the mystery changes every playthrough, with players tasked with playing through the game repeatedly if they want to find a way to beat back all the monsters and save the town every time. This helps add lots of replayability to the game, making it almost a requirement to fully understand the world and counter the threats within it. There are apparently ways to get through the game with only the inciting death befalling the towns, just as easily as there are ways for the playthrough to end in a bloodbath across Ashenridge. It’s a mystery game that actually thinks ahead towards replayability and actually makes it a big part of the central appeal of the game.

Horror Is In The Pixel Of The Beholder

The pixel art of Grave Seasons helps sell the initial presentation as a cozy life-sim game, making the eventual turn all the more horrific. Beyond that, though, the art design for the game proves to be top-notch. More detailed character designs appear in conversations, adding to the layers of natural immersion and charm baked into the writing — especially when the potential for romance begins to blossom. The pixel artists also use the style to their advantage, giving the supernatural forces a greater and more effective fantastical edge. The monsters are brought to life with the same slick pixel art that elevates the rest of the game, with the developers delivering grim visuals and creatively effective ways.

The shadows of an apparent vampiric attack in the demo played by ComicBook at the LVLUP Expo in Las Vegas were crisp and distinctive, with the sudden slashes of blood and gore standing out against the otherwise charming backdrops. It’s a grisly new edge to the farming life sim archetype that games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, with the same comfy vibes at first glance, give way to a perfectly calibrated genre flip. The visuals are terrific, the characters are intriguing, and the challenge is elevated with some clever touches that underscore the true horrors of the game.

Grave Seasons is a bold fusion on paper that only becomes more impressive as you dive into the mechanics and explore the full depth of the worldbuilding. The demo alone was enticing, with clever art design, intriguing characters, and a genuinely unsettling atmosphere playing well into the charming execution. The horror is just the icing on top, giving way to an inventive way to present a mystery game in a new, scary, and effective way. If Grave Seasons can deliver on its promising premise and rock-solid demo, Blumhouse Games might have a real winner on its hands.