Graveyard Keeper 2 came out on September 22, and it is one of the bigger indie launches of the month. More than 50,000 people played it on release day, and most of them like what they found: Steam rates it Very Positive. Lazy Bear Games made the first Graveyard Keeper, the medieval cemetery sim with very flexible ethics, and the sequel keeps the same dark jokes and the same long to-do lists, just on a much bigger map.
The short version, going by the people already playing it: if you liked the first game, this is the one you were hoping for. If the first game wore you out, the sequel is not going to change your mind.
What is new in Graveyard Keeper 2
You still run the graveyard, but now there is a whole town attached to it. The Town was only a rumour in the first game. Here you help restore it, set up production chains that run on their own, and lead an army of zombie workers into fights to clear the place out. The tech tree is bigger, the world is bigger, and every character is now fully voiced.
That last one surprised a lot of returning fans, and most of them like it. The ones who miss the old mumbling can switch it back on in the settings, which a few people mention with obvious relief.
“Dreadfully delightful. A pinch of Factorio and a dash of tower defense add to the dark humor and rich, unique world of the original Graveyard Keeper in a sequel sure to keep players coming back for years to come.”
Built for fans of the first game
The happiest Keepers are the ones who sank real hours into Graveyard Keeper 1. They talk about fixes to things that bugged them for years, a character who moves faster, and more of the humour they came for. A few newcomers chimed in too, and they say you can start here without the first game, although the story does pick up where it left off.
The grind did not go anywhere
This is the complaint you hear even from people who love the game. There is a new insanity meter that cuts into your energy when you do graveyard work, and you clear it with booze or by waiting it out. Some find it an interesting twist. Others compare it to the radiation bar in Fallout 4, and they do not mean it kindly.
Production is the other sore spot. Ovens and furnaces now work in batches and stop until you pick up each finished stack by hand, and crafting stations still cannot be moved without tearing them down and losing some of the materials.
“The first game was tedious to the point it was borderline enjoyable at times, but this one crosses into grueling territory.”
Cutscenes, a crematorium bug and the AI question
Those who gave up in the first hour mostly blame the opening. It is long, it holds your hand, and the cutscenes cannot be skipped. A fair number of people also say the still-image cutscene art looks AI-made. Nothing official confirms that, and one fan points out the developers have denied it, but it is getting talked about.
The bug worth knowing about is the crematorium. Several owners say it simply stops working and blocks progress, and the only fix anyone has reported so far is starting a new save. The day-one hotfix dealt with missing pre-order items, not this. There are also some reports of stutter while walking around, including on a fairly strong PC at 4K.
Should you buy it now?
At $24.99, with Steam Deck Verified status and a Very Positive score, it is an easy pick for anyone who finished the first game and wanted more. It is a harder sell if the grind is what made you quit last time, because the community agrees the sequel leans into it rather than away from it. And whichever camp you are in, waiting a patch or two for the crematorium fix would not hurt.
