11/07/2025
Check out this really lovely review on our latest game, Grave Keeper!
A Review of "Grave Keeper"
by Percival B. Longhorn, Esq.
Roll-and-Write Connoisseur, Cow-about-Town
Ah, dear readers, pull on your black velvet gloves and fetch your mourning parasol - it’s time for a deliciously grim and ever-so-tasteful stroll through Victorian graveyards, guided by the delightfully macabre charm of Grave Keeper, a print-and-play roll-and-write romp through death, decorum, and the occasional grave robber.
The Premise:
A terrible sickness sweeps the land (how familiar), and the rich and poor alike are dropping like flies - or, more relevantly, like aristocrats in a Dickensian novel. You, the plucky Grave Keeper, are tasked with tending to the dearly (and not-so-dearly) departed from four noble families. This includes burying bodies, fending off unsavoury characters in the night, and leading the most glamorous of funeral processions. If this sounds grim, allow me to assure you: it absolutely is - and I adore it.
Gameplay:
Each round, one rolls four coloured dice - red, green, blue, and yellow - which are then paired and used in a clever system of actions and quadrants. One die determines what you’ll do (bury, decorate, etc.), while the other determines where you'll do it. The flexibility of the dice system offers strategic delight; roll a six and you may act across all quadrants! A one, meanwhile, is like receiving a social invitation - it opens doors. You’ll bury co**ses with the red die, lead funeral parades with the green, decorate monuments with the yellow (because even death deserves flair), and light lanterns with the blue, to scare off grave robbers and add a dash of gothic ambiance.
There’s rot, there’s reputation, and - oh yes - there’s decay. Fail to bury your bodies in time and they’ll spoil like an unattended wheel of Camembert at a summer garden party. Quite disagreeable!
Theme & Presentation:
This game has just the right touch of spooky, draped in a veil of tasteful morbidity. The illustrations are simple yet charming, and the mechanics serve the theme like a good butler serves brandy: unobtrusively, but with style. It’s all delightfully Victorian - if Queen Victoria herself enjoyed roll-and-writes, I dare say this would be on her nightstand. The rule structure is robust yet accessible, though I must warn: newcomers may require a read or two before they’re comfortable juggling actions, decay, and crypt décor.
Final Thoughts:
Grave Keeper is a ghoulishly good time. It’s equal parts puzzle, strategy, and graveyard glamour. With its solo flexibility and group scalability, it’s a fine addition to any game night - particularly those in October, when the moon hangs low and your candle flickers ominously. It’s not for the faint of heart or the overly squeamish, but for those of us with a taste for the theatrical and the macabre (and a well-sharpened pencil), this game is a must-play.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a monument to polish and a co**se to inter.
Yours respectfully embalmed,
Percival B. Longhorn, Esq.
"Death may be final, but reputation is eternal."
