I Put 151 Hours Into Graveyard Keeper 2… Here's My Review!

Graveyard Keeper 2 Review: 151 Hours of Zombies, Crafting, and Chaos!

This game has taken over my life, with a total of 151 hours since it came out. (I might have left it open on the menu for a day, so it might have a few extra non-play hours. 😂)

Graveyard Keeper 2 was released on September 22, 2026. It was developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild.

This game picks up where you left off in the last game… kind of.

You wake up in a dungeon 10 years after being transported into this world. A skull named Larry helps you break out of the dungeon and escape, only for you to find the town overrun with zombies.

While visiting the village next door, everyone mistakes you for the graveyard keeper, and you just kind of go along with it because, hey, it's free land and a place to stay!

Much like the last game, you collect materials, build workbenches, and try to figure out why you're there while making friends along the way. As you do tasks like crafting items, farming, and harvesting, you use stamina. You'll find out pretty quickly that it goes down fast! You'll be able to replenish it by sleeping or consuming food, so you'll want to keep an eye on that stamina bar while working on your next big project.

Gameplay, Crafting, and Progression

You'll start off by making basic tools from copper mined from a local vein, eventually working your way up to burying bodies in the graveyard and holding sermons in the church. Each decoration maximizes your faith capacity. You'll need that faith to fill up an inspiration bar and earn perk points, which you can then use to unlock perks.

Some perks give you increased mastery in different categories. I'm not sure if the categories actually have names, so I'll make them up now: necromancy, writing, farming, building, and crafting. Those seem about right! 😂

As you complete tasks, you'll also earn colored points. There are green, red, and blue ones. You get more green points from cooking and farming, blue points from writing, and red points from building and making things. Some tasks can give you more than one color, too.

You'll use these points to unlock buildables, including decorations for your church, workbenches in different parts of your base, different items to craft, and decorations for the graveyard. There's a lot to work toward, and you'll constantly find yourself needing more materials to unlock the next thing.

Zombie Armies and Defending Your Territory

To progress through the story, you'll also have to battle zombies by building barricades and pretty much playing capture the point. You can make teams of four, equipping your zombies with armor and a weapon.

Nope, you can't give them swords; they get the choice of a bow or spear. Speaking of bows, I hate how you can only shoot in one direction! You can't really aim at the zombies, which makes combat more frustrating than it needs to be.

The zombie mechanics are a big part of the game, both when you're defending your territory and when you're trying to automate your work. Getting your little undead workforce running smoothly can save you a lot of time, but, as I've discovered, it doesn't always go as smoothly as you'd hope.

The Little Things That Drive Me Crazy

Now, there are a lot of little things that have driven me crazy despite me loving the game.

The biggest one was that I had my inventory full, and now I have 16 town guarditude out of reach. (Yes, that was incredibly annoying.)

Sometimes the zombies that are digging, mining, or chopping in the forest get stuck and stop doing those tasks. It's fixed by grabbing them and placing them back down, but you really don't notice it until you're suddenly out of something you need. Nothing like thinking your production is running smoothly, only to discover your zombies have apparently decided to take an unscheduled break!

The porter zombies have been driving me nuts, too. They've just been moving the clay but not the sand. Why?! If you're going to automate moving materials, I need you to actually move the materials I need!

I have also gotten stuck at the port by the stairs leading down to the water without being able to get back up. That sucked soooo bad.

Then there are the zombies stuck at one station making things. I wish a zombie would move to the next station if all the tasks at the station they were working on were finished. Of course, it would have to be based on the tools they have, but it would be nice not to have to keep checking on everything.

I also wish the compost, berries, and apple trees could be handled by the farmer zombies. It's just little tasks like these that I wish were more automated to save me time. If I'm going to have an entire workforce of zombies, I want them to do more of the busywork without me having to babysit them!

These aren't necessarily huge problems on their own, but when you're trying to keep everything running, gather resources, craft items, and progress through the story, all those little annoyances start adding up.

Is Graveyard Keeper 2 Worth Playing?

Despite all my complaints, I have put 151 hours into this game, so obviously, it has kept me entertained! There's always something else to craft, something else to unlock, another task to complete, or another part of the story to explore.

I love the combination of crafting, resource management, graveyard upkeep, farming, and zombie automation. There's a lot to do, and I can easily lose track of time while trying to get everything running the way I want it to.

That doesn't mean the game is perfect, though. The zombie pathing and automation could use some work, and the combat controls definitely have room for improvement. I would love to see some of those smaller quality-of-life issues addressed because they would make the overall experience so much better.

I don't want to give away too much of the story, as I have beaten the game and only have one achievement left to get. I guess I just haven't done enough sermons yet… Only seven more to go! 😂

Overall, if you enjoyed the first Graveyard Keeper and love games that combine crafting, farming, resource management, and a little bit of undead chaos, I think there's plenty here to keep you busy. Just be prepared to spend a ridiculous amount of time playing!

Want to get Graveyard Keeper 1 and/or 2 and help support what we do at the same time?

There is also DLC for the first game available. By using that link, you're supporting what we do!

We Survived the Graveyard! – Graveyard Keeper 2 Full Gameplay + Commentary

We've finally reached the end of our adventure in Graveyard Keeper 2! ⚰️🧟 From managing the graveyard to dealing with zombies, faith, and all the chaos along the way, it's been one heck of a journey!

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