The 20 Worst Games Of 2025

In 2023, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum set the floor for LOTR games, as the absolute worst any studio could do to the property. Thankfully, no developer since has gotten close to repeating that travesty, but that doesn’t mean everything has been perfect in Middle Earth either.

Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game was much-hyped for one main reason: it was developed by Wētā Workshop, the people who literally made the sets, costumes, weapons, creatures and miniatures for Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. And yet, to look at the game, you wouldn’t know it. It’s not dissimilar in feel and mechanics to the 2002 Fellowship of the Ring game (which itself broke from the films’ aesthetic), but with a much brighter palette and an visual flavour that is reminiscent at times of Zelda, and at other times Animal Crossing.

A life simulation game set in the Shire, Tales of the Shire lets you take control of your own Hobbit in Bywater and attend to Hobbit matters, like cooking, fishing, gardening and decorating your hole. But if you were hoping for much more than this, you need to look elsewhere. It’s boring, it’s underwhelming, and it doesn’t offer anything to fans of either Jackson’s films or Tolkien’s books.