A no-nonsense guide to the original Graveyard Keeper: what to do in your first week, how graveyard quality and corpses work, how the red/green/blue tech point economy fits together, and how the four DLCs change the game.
Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.405 (the last listed patch, April 2022) with all DLCs. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.
Graveyard Keeper 2 was announced by Lazy Bear Games in April 2026 for "later this year" (Wikipedia lists a 22 September 2026 release). This guide covers the original game, which remains available on Steam.
You wake up in a medieval world as the new graveyard keeper after an accident, with the goal of getting back home. To do that you have to earn the trust (and favors) of a cast of townsfolk, which means upgrading your graveyard, restoring the church, running production chains, and doing favors of dubious morality.
The main systems:
| System | What it gives you | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Graveyard | Graveyard quality rating, church income | Prepared bodies, graves, headstones, fences |
| Morgue | Better bodies, byproducts (flesh, fat, blood, organs) | Tools, embalming supplies |
| Church | Faith and money from sermons | Graveyard quality, church upgrades |
| Tech tree | New stations, recipes, tools | Red, green and blue points |
| Farming & cooking | Food (energy), trade goods | Seeds, water, fields |
| Crafting | Tools, building materials, decorations | Wood, stone, iron, etc. |
| Alchemy | Potions and special substances | Ingredients from gardens, dungeon, corpses |
| Dungeon | Rare materials, story progress | Weapons, healing, food |
| Trade | Money | Goods to sell to town NPCs |
| Color | Typical sources |
|---|---|
| Red | Physical and crafting work: mining, chopping, digging, building, metalwork |
| Green | Nature work: gardening, harvesting, cooking, some crafting |
| Blue | Mental work: studying, writing, research, sermons and church activities |
Tips:
Each body comes with a skull rating:
In the morgue you can remove parts that carry red skulls and add embalming substances that improve the body. The better the body, the better the grave.
Byproducts include meat, fat, blood, and other parts. The game is famously willing to let you turn these into trade goods. "First slice" and "Sashimi master" are the achievements for your first slice of meat and for making 30 slices.
Options for disposal
Morgue workflow that saves time
Don't let bodies pile up; a backlog in the morgue blocks new deliveries from being processed efficiently and eats days.
Graveyard quality is the sum of your graves. Each grave's score depends on:
Upgrade headstones and fences through the tech tree (stone, then marble later — "Marble" is the achievement for getting the marble quarry ready). A higher quality graveyard leads to better church income and progresses several quests.
Tip: Build a small number of high-quality graves rather than many low-quality ones. When you get better materials, replace old headstones.
Chain your production so one trip produces multiple items. Put chests with the relevant raw materials next to each station.
Alchemy recipes are discovered by experimentation. Achievements track discovering 5, 10 and 20 recipes ("Apprentice", "Alchemist", "Master alchemist"). Alchemy supplies potions (including health potions — "Health care" is 50 of them), embalming substances for bodies, and items needed for quests.
The dungeon is a series of floors with enemies and resources. Achievements mark clearing levels 5, 10 and 15.
The achievements confirm these characters (quests and trades come from them):
| NPC | Notes |
|---|---|
| Gerry | The talking skull who guides you early on |
| Bishop | Church progression |
| Merchant | Trade; you can start a company with him ("Graveyard Veggies") |
| Astrologer | Knowledge-heavy quests; likes a skull as a gift |
| Snake | Shady character with occult quests (the Necronomicon) |
| Ms Charm | The bard; wants perfume, later concerts with the tavern |
| Lord Inquisitor | Witch burnings and the Inquisition storyline |
| Horadric | The village innkeeper; not thrilled when you build a rival tavern (Stranger Sins) |
| Vagner | Gives the "Ideal Song" |
| DLC | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Breaking Dead | Zombie reanimation for resource gathering and automating tasks (free on PC per Wikipedia) |
| Stranger Sins (Oct 2019) | Tavern management: events like alco-parties, comedy shows, rat races and concerts |
| Game of Crone (Oct 2020) | A refugee camp to develop, a vampire mystery, and a donkey "revolution" side quest |
| Better Save Soul (Oct 2021) | Investigating the sins of corpses (with new characters Euric and Smiler), plus remote control of crafting stations |
Zombies are the key to automation. Once you've unlocked them, assign them to repetitive tasks such as gathering or production. Workers make the midgame grind much lighter; prioritize getting a few working.
You build your own tavern (the "Talking Skull" achievement) and run events. Yorick, a wooden bartender, can take over the bar. Tavern quality goes up with investment; achievements mark quality 20, 40 and 80. Events include alco-parties, comedy shows, rat races and concerts with Ms Charm.
You develop a camp for refugees, improving and fortifying it over time. There is also a vampire storyline with multiple choices.
Is Graveyard Keeper still updated? The last numbered patch on Steam news is 1.405 (April 2022), which fixed dungeon floor transitions and restored achievement unlocking. The studio has moved on to Graveyard Keeper 2.
Do I need the DLCs? No, but they add a lot. Breaking Dead (zombies) is the most impactful for quality of life.
How long is it? Many dozens of hours, depending on DLCs and completion.
Is it the same as Graveyard Keeper 2? No. The sequel is a separate game with a heavier focus on automation and undead armies. This guide covers the original.
Why can't I find an NPC? They appear on specific days of the week. Check the day symbol and wait.
Is there a free version? Graveyard Keeper was free to claim on Steam and consoles for a limited time in April 2026 (until April 13). That promotion has ended.