Graveyard Keeper DLC and Characters: All Four Expansions
Breaking Dead, Stranger Sins, Game of Crone and Better Save Soul. What each adds, the main characters, and which systems carried into Graveyard Keeper 2.
The original has four DLC: Breaking Dead, Stranger Sins, Game of Crone and Better Save Soul, in that order.
The one that matters most for the sequel is Stranger Sins. The developers named it directly on 2 September 2026, saying players who finished it “may already have the right idea” about where the sequel goes.
What each DLC adds
| DLC | Release | What it adds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
Breaking Dead | October 2018 (free for base-game owners on PC, paid on consoles) | A resurrection table in the morgue; zombies that quarry, farm, craft, write books, garden and haul goods to market | With enough high-quality zombies it automates the whole supply chain. This is the direct ancestor of the sequel’s zombie system |
Stranger Sins | 28 October 2019 (paid) | A runnable tavern, a full new quest chain that gives previously silent villagers personalities, and a new ending for the main story | The heaviest story payload, and the one the developers tie to the sequel |
Game of Crone | 27 October 2020 (paid) | A refugee camp from the Inquisition, a vampire mystery, and a side quest about the donkey planning a communist revolution | Mostly worldbuilding and prehistory; contains three mutually exclusive endings |
Better Save Soul | Late October 2021 (paid) | Work with Euric and the amnesiac half-ghost Smiler to remove sins from corpses; new ways to improve corpse quality; remote control for some crafting stations | The most systems-focused expansion, and the most directly useful for production flow |
A note on the Better Save Soul date: Wikipedia says 28 October 2021, while the official Graveyard Keeper Wiki and contemporary video coverage say 27 October. Both versions exist, so this page uses “late October”.
Physical edition
The original got a physical release called Graveyard Keeper - Undead Edition, published by Atari for Nintendo Switch on 21 February 2025, containing the base game plus several expansions.
Wikipedia describes it as “base game and all three DLC packs”, while there are in fact four paid-adjacent DLC (Breaking Dead is free on PC). Check the physical box copy for exactly which ones are included.
The sequel has no physical edition announcement.
Main characters
The recognisable cast in the original is roughly this:
- The Keeper: you, hit by a car and dropped into another world to run a graveyard.
- Gerry: the original’s talking skull and your graveyard companion.
- The Donkey: delivers corpses and gets his own quest line in
Game of Crone. - The Inquisitor: a key NPC tied to the Inquisition.
- The Astrologer: connected to divination and story clues.
- Euric: the character who introduces the sin system in
Better Save Soul. - Smiler: the amnesiac half-ghost from
Better Save Soul.
One correction that keeps coming up
The talking skull in the sequel is not Gerry.
The official post on 2 September 2026 states: “your talking skull companion is not Gerry. It’s simply another charming talking skull with a dark sense of humor.”
The sequel’s character is called Larry. He tells you in the opening that the two of you have been roommates for nearly a decade.
Confusing the two is one of the most widely repeated mistakes about this game.
Which DLC systems carried into the sequel
Three tiers.
Confirmed by the developers
- Zombies: the devlog states zombies debuted in the first DLC, and the sequel has them operating semi-automatic machines in underground factories. Details on the automation page.
- Story thread: the developers name
Stranger Sinsas where the background you need for the sequel lives.
Confirmed by reviewers
The review wording: “Basically, every addition to the game from the DLCs is present, to my knowledge. Things like holding sermons and zombie assistants are much more front and center in this game.”
So tavern management, sermons and zombie assistants are all present, and pushed further forward than in the original.
Still unconfirmed
The developers have never published a system-by-system mapping. So do not assume every minor feature of a given DLC made the jump.
What order to play the DLC in
The four expansions are largely self-contained, and the community consensus is that any order works. The usual advice is to run them alongside the main story, because expansions tend to hand out rewards and shortcuts.
If you want an order anyway:
Breaking Dead- earliest, no story burden, and it lights up automation early.Stranger Sins- the story-critical one, and it shapes how you read the sequel.Game of Crone- fills in prehistory, and contains three mutually exclusive endings.Better Save Soul- systems-focused, best once you know the flow.
Before you buy DLC
- Platform differences: the community repeatedly notes that
Better Save Soulnever came to Switch. That is a player claim, not an official statement, so treat it as a lead rather than a fact. - Back up your save first: expansions change the save structure. Follow the steps on the save location page before installing.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Graveyard Keeper (four DLC, dates, physical edition, infobox): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_Keeper
- Official post “Old World — New Story” (2 September 2026, sequel link and skull clarification): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4358690/view/1842846814440540
- Official devlog “Where Zombies Feel at Home” (20 May 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4358690/view/1833334318566521
- DualShockers review (14 September 2026, DLC systems carried over): https://www.dualshockers.com/graveyard-keeper-2-review/
- Official Graveyard Keeper Wiki, Game of Crone entry: https://graveyardkeeper.fandom.com/wiki/Game_of_Crone
- Original DLC store listing: https://store.steampowered.com/dlc/599140/Graveyard_Keeper/