Summary

  • Tales of the Shire hints at featuring iconic Green Dragon Inn, a hub for activities from Middle-earth.
  • As a cozy sim similar to Animal Crossing, quest-based rumors at the Green Dragon Inn could focus on crafting and cooking.
  • The game should leverage the popularity of the Green Dragon Inn for key quests and character introductions within the Shire.

Tales of the Shire is Private Division and Weta Workshop's upcoming cozy life sim set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe, making it a unique addition to the genre. Tales of the Shire has been playing its cards fairly close to its chest about the full extent of the game's features, including its layout of the Shire and what locations players might be able to visit within. However, one location was teased in one of Tales of the Shire's trailers that could play a prominent role in the game.

In the official teaser trailer released for Tales of the Shire, a person is seen drawing some Lord of the Rings art in a book before stepping away and leaving the book open on a table. A nearby window then opens, letting wind in and causing the book's pages to turn. At one point, the book lands on a page depicting a sign for the Green Dragon Inn, one of the Shire's most celebrated locations among Hobbits. If this is an indication that the Green Dragon Inn will be featured in Tales of the Shire, the game should consider the inn's role from both a lore and cozy sim standpoint, and ensure it is one of Tales of the Shire's most useful and most visited sites.

The Green Dragon Inn Should Serve as Tales of the Shire's Central Hub

The Green Dragon Inn Should Be a Way for Players to Meet Other Characters in Tales of the Shire

Since players will have their own Hobbit hole in Tales of the Shire, there's no reason for them to stay overnight at the Green Dragon Inn. However, the inn could very well serve as a political hub of sorts where visitors from other regions of the Shire or Middle-earth stay as they're passing through Bywater. If Tales of the Shire is anything like Animal Crossing, players could meet new characters at the Green Dragon Inn and invite them to take up residence in Bywater. Furthermore, the inn would be the ideal place for players to meet the "iconic characters" that have already been confirmed for the game.

The Green Dragon Inn Should Be a Quest Hub in Tales of the Shire

Based on what the Lord of the Rings novels have to say about the Green Dragon Inn, Frodo Baggins and his friends would regularly visit the Green Dragon Inn in The Lord of the Rings for conversation and quality time. Here, rumors would be discussed of strange creatures seen roaming throughout the Shire, including mysterious walking trees. In light of this bit of lore, Tales of the Shire's Green Dragon Inn could serve as a quest hub for the game where players go to hear rumors of what's going on in the Shire.

Of course, considering Tales of the Shire is a cozy game much like Animal Crossing, it's unlikely there will be much combat, if any at all. As such, any rumor-based quests players accept at the Green Dragon Inn could potentially be more about special ingredients they can use in their cooking or crafting recipes. Additionally, the Green Dragon Inn could serve as a hub for Tales of the Shire's elusive club missions, which haven't been defined yet.

While there are many inns to speak of in the Shire, the Green Dragon Inn is one of the most famous, and it happens to reside in Tales of the Shire's Bywater. It would be a shame for the upcoming Lord of the Rings cozy sim to neglect using such a popular site to introduce other characters and key quests, so it would do well to lean into it as heavily as possible.

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The Lord of the Rings
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Created by
J. R. R. Tolkien
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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. 

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