We’ve had some interesting and not-so-cozy vibes in the life and farm sim genre with great titles like Graveyard Keeper that blends the management with the macabre. At Summer Game Fest this year we got a first look at Grave Seasons which feels like a blend of Stardew Valley and Werewolf.
This shouldn’t be surprising because Grave Seasons is published by Blumhouse Games. You know, the same film studio responsible for some of the most horrifying film franchises in the last few decades like Paranormal Activity, Sinister, The Purge and more. The murder mystery farming sim is developed by Perfect Garbage.
Grave Seasons was officially revealed on Sunday.
In Grave Seasons, you’ll find yourself in the curious town of Ashenridge after a treacherous escape from jail. The idyllic-yet-unsettling town finds itself plagued by a supernatural serial killer.
During Summer Game Fest Play Days, I had the chance to play through the first day in the game where you meet a couple of the town’s residents and tried out some of the core mechanics of the game.
You’ve got your classic tool wheel that includes your hoe, watering can, axe, pick and other typical farm sim tools, along with a crowbar which you can use to break into locked spaces. The tutorial caption for the crowbar was aptly titled “Crime,” which gave me a chuckle and a bit of insight into how it will be used.
The farming mechanics are just as straight forward as most titles with a very wide range of farmed and foraged vegetables, fruits and plants that can be cooked or further processed using machines for milling, juicing and fermentation.
There is also ore mining and processing to create ingots, but also crafting for things like thread (silver), and flasks just based on the recipes that were available to craft on Day 1. The vibe is definitely crafting ways to defeat those supernatural baddies like vampires with their known weaknesses.
As you get to know the people who live in Ashenridge, you need to beware that one of them is secretly the serial killer. There was a dialogue option for the two NPCs that I met on Day 1 and it appears to be a mechanism to confront them about killer accusations though I didn’t actually attempt to use it myself.
Once you witness a particularly bloody and vicious murder, you will search the surrounding area (in the woods, in my case) to collect clues about the killer.
The visuals are classic pixel style in the overworld and main gameplay, with the NPCs characterized in conversation in striking artistic detail. You’ll also be able to romance the NPCs in classic farm sim fashion.
I’m not going to lie, I was upset the demo ended after just one day because I was ready to delve into my new sketchy life in Ashenridge. But I’ll settle for waiting for the full release of the game and will definitely be grabbing day one.
Grave Seasons will launch on PC in 2026, but you can wishlist the game on Steam now.
