Should you buy Graveyard Keeper 2?

Two written reviews are now present in the supplied September 17 packet, alongside two creator demo videos. Their observations are useful; their numeric score status is not: the provided extracts contain no /10, percentage, star score or aggregate. This page names each source, keeps that gap visible, and gives a buying call from the evidence that is actually supplied.

Facts checked October 30, 2026Reading time 7 min readEvidence cited per claim

Systems

The honest starting position

Three things are true at once, and the recommendation falls out of them.

Early written reviews exist

The supplied packet includes written reviews from Netto's Game Room and Shacknews. Neither extract includes a numeric score, so this page reports their observations and labels the score as unconfirmed rather than inventing an average. The game still releases September 22, 2026.

A demo exists, and it is substantial

A free Steam demo released September 14, 2026, covering roughly three to four hours and carrying its save into the full game. That is materially more information than a review embargo usually offers.

The demo already has a player signal

Steam aggregates demo feedback as "Mostly Positive" at the time of checking. That is a small, self-selected sample — demo players are people who already wanted the game — so it is a weak signal rather than a verdict, but it is the only actual player data that exists.

Value for money

At $19.99 pre-order, the game is priced as a mid-tier indie release, and Nintendo publishes a download size under a gigabyte on both Switch systems — a small footprint for a management sim with a 3D world and an automation layer. The demo runs three to four hours, which is an unusually high proportion of a game’s opening to give away, and its save carries into the full game. On a price-per-hour basis the confirmed evidence points to a reasonable buy for anyone who enjoyed the demo, and the demo is free, so the cost of finding out is zero.

Early review coverage

What the supplied reviews actually say

The 9/17 material contains two written reviews and two creator demo videos. Written reviews are attributed by outlet below; the score status is stated instead of inferred.

No numeric score appears in the supplied extracts from Netto's Game Room or Shacknews. Their URLs and headlines identify reviews, but the packet provides no /10, percentage, star rating or aggregate. The score remains to be confirmed, so this page does not calculate one.

Written review

Netto's Game Room — score: not stated in supplied extract — to be confirmed

The review describes a post-first-game story about a second Keeper, a dungeon escape and a part-time Inquisitor role. It praises the top-down 2D presentation for dynamic lighting, shifting shadows and moving plants, then details crafting, farming, fishing, white/red skull balance and graveyard scoring. The supplied extract is descriptive rather than numerically rated.

Written review

Shacknews — score: not stated in supplied extract — to be confirmed

Shacknews follows the opening from chained dungeon to talking skull, zombies, combat, farming and pottery. Its central criticism is the deliberately multi-tier workload: even basic outputs can require several prerequisite tasks and stations. It calls the game a fit for players who enjoy spreadsheets and min-maxing, while finding the grind and onboarding hard to justify.

Video preview

CohhCarnage — demo preview, not a score

The sponsored 36:29 playthrough demonstrates Soul and Larry, the pickaxe escape, mushrooms as an energy tutorial, tool equipment, an inventory hotbar and a voice-over toggle. It then follows the route through the deserted town. This is observed footage, not a scored review.

Video preview

Britto — demo first look, not a score

The 42:40 first look reports that developers told the creator Steam demo saves carry into the full game, and it calls out the early energy and insanity meters. That is a creator report and gameplay observation, not a numeric review score or a platform-wide save policy.

Buy now if…

These are the cases where the confirmed information is already sufficient.

You played the demo and wanted more

This is the strongest case. You have first-hand evidence about the build, the save carries forward, and the only open question is whether the later systems hold up — which the demo cannot answer for anyone.

You want the 20% discount

The pre-order discount takes $24.99 to $19.99 on Steam, Xbox and both Nintendo listings, and the window closes at launch: Nintendo states 9/22/26 at 04:59 p.m. UTC. Buying at launch rather than before it costs the difference.

You want the pre-order bonus

A personal sauna and an exclusive outfit. Both are cosmetic-plus in the sense that the sauna is a building rather than a gameplay system, but the bonus is only available before release.

You liked the first game’s loop and wanted the grind reduced

The developer says directly that there will be less grinding this time, and the systems support the claim: zombie automation of production, a Talent layer that passively boosts gathering and crafting, and Milestones replacing teleportstone clutter. If the 2018 grind is what lost you, that is addressed rather than ignored.

Wait a week if…

These are the cases where a week of reviews buys you real information.

You want to know whether the later systems hold

The demo stops at the introduction of The Town, which is exactly where automation and restoration begin. The demo cannot tell you whether the factory layer is satisfying over twenty hours, and that is the question a review exists to answer.

You are on the fence about the sequel’s direction

This is a game that adds combat, an army and a town-building layer to a management sim. If you want more of the first game and less of something new, the reviews are the place to find out how much of the budget went to the new pillars.

You care about the AI-asset question

There is a reported controversy and a developer denial, and this site documents both without adjudicating. If that matters to your purchase, the answer is not in this page — it is in the record, which is collected on the AI page.

You want a performance answer on your platform

No frame rate or resolution target is published for any platform, and Steam Deck has no compatibility tier at all. If you plan to play on Switch, a Deck, or an older PC, launch-week reporting is the only source that will exist.

What the sequel is actually changing

The buying decision turns on these. Each is developer-stated rather than inferred from the first game.

Zombies become infrastructure

They staff semi-automatic machines in underground factories rather than only operating workbenches, and corruption — the stat you minimised in 2018 — is what makes one good at the job. That is a genuine inversion of the original’s core maths.

The Town is playable

The locked, legendary location from the first game is now a system you rebuild district by district, and it feeds back into the graveyard: a bigger Town means more corpses, a wealthier and more sinful one means better corpses.

Combat becomes a pillar

Towers, fortifications, crafted equipment and undead troops. This is the largest departure and the largest risk, because the original game was not built around it.

The grind is reduced on purpose

A Talent layer, automated production and Milestone fast travel all point the same direction. It is worth noting that this is a deliberate design change rather than an incremental improvement, which means the sequel will feel different rather than merely bigger.

Where these facts come from

Every entry below is labelled by what it is: a developer or publisher source, a platform store listing, a press report, a video, or a fan-maintained page. Fan pages are used for terminology, and where one is the only record of a number, that number is written as community wiki data, unconfirmed, with the date it was last checked.

Store listing Graveyard Keeper 2 on Steam (app 4358690) — The most detailed platform listing: 11 interface languages, single-player only, full controller support with DualShock and DualSense entries, Steam Cloud, Achievements, Family Sharing, and the Windows minimum and recommended specifications.
Store listing Steam — Graveyard Keeper 2 Demo (app 5075680) — The demo is registered as its own Steam application and is linked from the main app through the `demos` and `dlc` blocks. Steam publishes no demo description, so the demo’s scope stays unspecified there.
Store listing Steam appdetails API — app 4358690 (US region) — Machine-readable copy of the store listing, read 2026-09-16. Source of the $24.99 list / $19.99 pre-order price, the exact category list, the 64-bit requirement wording, and the registered demo app id 5075680.
Press report PC Gamer — Graveyard Keeper devs respond as players make AI accusations — By Justin Wagner, published 2026-04-11. Carries the player allegation, the co-founder’s denial verbatim, and the X posts the allegation pointed to. It also flags that the Reddit account posting the denial is not identified as Cherkasov in the thread itself, but matches a username Lazy Bear has used for him in its own posts.
Press report Netto's Game Room — Graveyard Keeper 2 Review — Written review supplied on 2026-09-17. It covers the post-first-game story, top-down 2D presentation with dynamic lighting and shadows, crafting/gathering, skull balance, graveyard scoring, farming and fishing. The supplied extract contains no numeric score.
Press report Shacknews — Graveyard Keeper 2 review: Cozy, if you like spreadsheets — Written review supplied on 2026-09-17. It discusses the dungeon opening, zombies, combat, farming, pottery and the deliberately multi-tier prerequisite structure, with a strongly critical view of the grind. The supplied extract contains no numeric score.
Video CohhCarnage — Graveyard Keeper 2 sponsored demo preview — Creator preview supplied on 2026-09-17, not a scored review. The transcript is used only for the opening demonstration and interface observations.
Video Britto — Graveyard Keeper 2 demo first look — Creator first look supplied on 2026-09-17, not a scored review. It reports the developer-told demo save-transfer claim and demonstrates the early energy/insanity HUD.

Questions

Buying questions

Are there any Graveyard Keeper 2 reviews yet?

Yes, early written coverage is supplied from Netto's Game Room and Shacknews. However, the supplied extracts contain no numeric score, so the score is unconfirmed and no aggregate is calculated. The Steam demo's "Mostly Positive" label is separate, small and self-selected.

Is Graveyard Keeper 2 worth buying before launch?

If you played the demo and wanted more, yes — the save carries forward and the pre-order price is 20% below list. If you are unsure whether the later systems hold up, waiting for launch-week reviews costs you the discount but buys real information, since the demo stops exactly where automation and Town restoration begin.

How does the demo help me decide?

It is three to four hours of the actual build with save transfer, which is more than a preview usually offers. It can tell you whether the burial loop, the tone and the pacing work for you. It cannot tell you about zombie automation, town restoration or the combat layer, because it ends at the point those begin.

Do I need to have played the first Graveyard Keeper?

Not announced either way. The sequel puts you in a new role as the Grand Inquisitor with a talking skull companion who is explicitly not the first game’s Gerry, which reads as a fresh entry point. The systems are rebuilt rather than carried over, so first-game knowledge does not transfer as mechanics.

What is the biggest risk in buying now?

That the new pillars — combat, the army, town restoration — take budget away from the management sim you actually wanted. That is unknowable before reviews, and it is the specific uncertainty the demo cannot resolve because it ends before those systems appear.

Is there anything to be concerned about on the AI question?

There is a reported controversy and a specific developer denial. This site documents the allegations, the developer’s statement and the absence of a storefront AI disclosure without concluding whether AI was used. It is collected on the AI page with sources so you can form your own view.