Grave Seasons Preview - A Farming Sim With Killer Vibes

No matter the season, a farming sim is sure to provide some good fun. Though, if I were to play Grave Seasons, October might just be the time to do it. Innocuous at first glance, Grave Seasons has something sinister lurking just below the surface.

At Summer Game Fest 2025, we had the chance to check out Grave Seasons, an upcoming farming sim game from developer Perfect Garbage and publisher Blumhouse Games. If you know what kind of genre Blumhouse is known for, you might see where this one is going.

Farming in Unfamiliar Territory

My demo with Grave Seasons starts out simple enough. You've just become the owner of a farm; really, this is the start of your new life in a strange town, filled with individuals you don't yet know. As soon as you leave the farmhouse, you're met with a burly man named Hari who introduces himself.

He's a little strange and has some large scars on his body, but I don't judge. Supposedly, he's a farmer as well. The previous owner of the farm is someone he knew, but no one seems to know what happened to them. Either way, Hari lets us be and we get a lay of the land.

Our new farm is quite large and already has a bunch of crops growing. There are various sheds and other farming-related equipment in various states of disrepair, so one can assume that, as time goes on, you'll be able to renovate and utilize these. The main purpose of the farm, at least on a surface level, is to make money.

And so, my first day was spent getting familiar with the surrounding lands and doing a bit of cleanup. If you're familiar with games such as Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, it's a game that should click with you pretty quickly.

You have a handy radial menu to utilize various tools like a watering can, axe, and others, so switching equipment is super simple. I went around and harvested whatever crops were already growing, and even found a few seeds to plant. It ain't much, but it's honest work. And I'm going to just ignore the fact that I dug up a severed hand. 

A Dark Turn

A bit later on in the day, another neighbor introduces themselves. This is Pilar, and she has an interesting sense of fashion, but seems friendly enough. She invites me to scrounge around in the forest later that evening, so I make a mental note and continue on until it's time.

After mulling around for a bit, doing more cleanup and cutting down some trees, I arrive at the forest at around 10 p.m., only for our reunion to be cut short by a sight of absolute horror. From the dark shadows of the forest come a beast with vivid white fangs and eyes.

It absolutely tears Pilar apart, spreading a trail of carnage in its wake. Blood and guts are everywhere. The once charming pixel art turns into something shockingly gory. The beast, though it's gone, left plenty of evidence in its wake. We need to investigate what happened, because Pilar just got eviscerated before our very eyes.

Clearly, the town in Grave Seasons holds dark secrets. There's a killer about, and some supernatural seems to be at play. That's the big twist in Grave Seasons: There's a killer that you need to catch. On top of farming, you're investigating the killer in an effort to save the town.

Presumably save the town, anyways, as there's a large emphasis on narrative choice. Pilar, who died? She was predetermined to die in our demo, but in a normal playthrough, I'm told you can prevent her murder. Who lives and who dies is determined by the player's actions, meaning there's a great degree of narrative variance. Heck, you can also romance the murderer.

The killer also changes from playthrough to playthrough, so you can never be too sure who to trust. Grave Seasons seems to be a game that encourages multiple runs, then, as I'm certainly keen on seeing why certain killers are motivated to do what they do.

Grave Seasons Preview | Final Thoughts

I'm also told that breaking and entering into villager's homes plays a big part in Grave Seasons. Unlike, say, Stardew Valley where you can mosey on into a home, Grave Seasons' villagers have secrets to hide.

Gaining clues from their homes will help you pin down the killer and, apparently, the interiors of houses can change season by season. Your curiosity might be a little dangerous, but who can resist?

Grave Seasons seems like a breath of fresh air for the farming sim genre. Turning a normally "chill" type of game into something a bit more complex has me intrigued, and I'm dying to see the true breadth of Grave Seasons' narrative. We'll find out when it launches at some point in the future!

Grave Seasons was previewed Summer Game Fest.