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Typically, the most popular games on Steam are either brand-new releases or longstanding juggernauts. But sometimes, an older game makes an unexpected jump in concurrent player counts on the PC gaming platform. This is often the result of a fresh update with new content. But it can also come from the slightly brilliant move of announcing a sequel, then making the original game free-to-own for a limited time. That\u2019s what Lazy Bear Games and tinyBuild recently did with Graveyard Keeper, <\/em>and it looks to be paying off. <\/p>\n Graveyard Keeper <\/em>is a pixel-art life sim and RPG where you build and manage a medieval graveyard. Hailed by its creators as \u201cthe most inaccurate medieval cemetery sim of the year\u201d when it launched in 2018, Graveyard Keeper <\/em>has become a cult classic. While its critical reviews led to a mixed rating of 69 on Metacritic, the game found its audience, landing a Very Positive rating on Steam. This week, the developers announced a sequel, Graveyard Keeper 2<\/em>. And they also made the first game free on multiple platforms, leading many people to take a chance on the RPG. And you might want to join them. <\/p>\n Image courtesy of Lazy Bear Games and tinyBuild<\/p>\n Graveyard Keeper <\/em>was an early adopter for the growing trend of \u201cStardew Valley<\/em> pixel art life sim with a dark twist.\u201d The game features plenty of life-sim elements as players manage and build their cemetery while also gathering resources and crafting new tools. But it also brings in the tough choices and ethical quandaries you might expect when running a virtual cemetery. It\u2019s got chill life sim vibes while also delivering on dark humor, and that has earned it cult classic status. But now, its finding new fans ahead of the sequel thanks to being completely free on multiple platforms.<\/p>\n Since the announcement of Graveyard Keeper 2, <\/em>the first game has been available for free for a limited time on multiple platforms. Specifically, gamers can grab Graveyard Keeper <\/em>for $0 on Steam, in the PlayStation Store, and via the Xbox Store. Sorry, Nintendo fans \u2013 the game is currently still priced at $19.99 in the eShop. Although making a game free is a risky move, it\u2019s pretty brilliant marketing for the sequel. As concurrent player counts on Steam show, more gamers are willing to take a chance on a lesser-known game like this when it\u2019s available for free. And that could build a bigger fanbase that\u2019s ready and willing to snag Graveyard Keeper 2 <\/em>when it arrives.<\/p>\n \t\t\tPlay video<\/span><\/p>\n When the game first launched in 2018, it hit a player peak of just under 17,000 players on Steam. Since the announcement of its sequel and subsequent limited-time free download offer, Graveyard Keeper <\/em>has been hitting new heights. At the time I\u2019m writing this, the game hit a new all-time peak of 31,216 players just 15 minutes ago. And that\u2019s just on Steam alone. Given that the game is also free on PS5 and Xbox, it\u2019s likely that a lot more people are giving it a try. And as the recent Very Positive review average shows, a lot of them are enjoying it. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re a fan of pixel art RPGs that lean heavily into crafting, it\u2019s well worth grabbing a copy of Graveyard Keeper <\/em>while it\u2019s free. So long as you take advantage of the offer before it expires, the game is fully free to own. In other words, even if you don\u2019t have time to play it before the free offer expires on April 13th, it\u2019ll be waiting in your library for when you do. <\/p>\n Did you play Graveyard Keeper, <\/em>or are you planning to check it out while it\u2019s free? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Typically, the most popular games on Steam are either brand-new releases or longstanding juggernauts. But sometimes, an older game makes an unexpected jump in concurrent player counts on the PC gaming platform. This is often the result of a fresh update with new content. But it can also come from the slightly brilliant move of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[6669,5237,78,4486,5926,4257,361,343],"class_list":{"0":"post-6728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-releases","8":"tag-8yearold","9":"tag-alltime","10":"tag-free","11":"tag-hits","12":"tag-peak","13":"tag-player","14":"tag-rpg","15":"tag-steam"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Graveyard Keeper<\/em> Digs Up New Fanbase By Offering Free Copies for a Limited Time<\/h2>\n