What sort of Skyrim player are you? Are you there for the story and the Achievements, taking advantage of the game's loose logic to play multiple characters in one playthrough, heading up the Mage's College even as you take charge of the Thieves Guild, and saving the world while playing as an evil assassin? Or do you use Tamriel's vast canvas as a backdrop for your own adventure, setting your own limits and rules and immersing yourself in its rich milieu?If it's the first then you've probably got no interest in Hearthfire, the new DLC that lets you build houses. There are no quests here, with no story and no definable ending.

Hearthfire is the second DLC for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and brings home ownership to a new level. With this addon, you can seak to own land in three different areas of Skyrim (Hjaalmarch, Falkreath, and the Pale) and on this land you can custom build your own house.

You may have already posted a witty comment about Skyrim Sims. Hearthfire is not for you.If, on the other hand, you've already started planning which of your weapons you want to display where, whether to store gems in the same chest as jewellery, and are actually looking forward to spending hours trying to wrangle floating items into display cases so they're positioned just right, then Hearthfire is most definitely for you.

It's just not that good.OK, that's unfair. There are benefits to Hearthfire and serious role players will no doubt appreciate the improvement your hand-crafted homes offer over the default houses already available for purchase in the towns and cities. It's just executed in a slightly fudged way that only ever makes it a partial success. There are three plots to choose from, but some players have reported problems getting access to them all.Things kick off when a courier delivers a letter inviting you to purchase one of three plots of land in Hjaalmarch, Falkreath or The Pale. Visit the town in question, hand over 5000 gold to the Jarl's steward and you're ready to make like a dragon-shouting Sarah Beeny. A basic and humble small house is the first thing you can build, making plans at a drafting table conveniently located on the site, then constructing it with lumber and nails (crafted from iron ingots) at the new carpentry table.You create each chunk of your home at the table and they appear instantly and fully formed behind you. Even though you have to build foundations, then walls then roof struts and so on, there's no real sense that it's taking form piece by piece.

You can just load up on the required materials, speed through the menus and turn round and find a mansion has appeared.Start upgrading and your initial small house can become the entrance to a main hall. This hall can then have three wings added to it, with each wing able to accommodate one of three room types. You can add domestic options like bedrooms and a kitchen, or rooms that favour the adventurer, such as an armoury or storage room. If you dabble in the arcane, you can add alchemy or enchanting rooms, or a library.' Don't expect much in the way of options though. While Hearthfire lets you customise your new home to a certain extent, you're forced to work within very strict parameters.' Don't expect much in the way of options though.

While Hearthfire lets you customise your new home to a certain extent, you're forced to work within very strict parameters. The greenhouse can only ever be built on the west side of your house.

Kitchens must occupy the east wing. It's easy to see why this has been done - it's clearly a bad idea for Bethesda to start loading too many radical changes on top of a game engine that already falls apart if a mouse farts near your save file - but it does mean that you can't, for example, build three armouries if weapons are your thing.Despite the various architectural styles in the game, you have no control over the look of your dream house either, nor can you give it a name of your own. You can't opt to build something in the Orcish or Dwarven styles and if you were hoping to settle down in Dunshouting, tough. It's called Lakeview Manor, even before there's a manor there.Once the structure is built, you do start to get more options. You can add a garden, a pen for livestock, even an apiary for bee-keeping outside. Inside, you can deck out the cellar with a smelting furnace and an all-in-one shrine (provided you've got the right amulets) so you can pick and choose your blessings over breakfast.And, of course, you can decorate and show off your loot.

This is what most players will be wanting to do, and I don't mind admitting that I've already spent more time than is healthy sorting through my groaning inventory chests, picking out the best stuff to display on mannequins and weapon racks. You can even turn your animal pelts into trophies, much like Battlehorn Castle in Oblivion allowed you to do. Who wouldn't want a stuffed hagraven as an ornament? Even here, though, you're painfully limited. Each wing you build comes with its own workshop table where you can churn out furniture, storage and other items, but you get no preview of what they'll look like or any control over where they'll go. If you choose to build a shelf, it only appears in the designated spot for that shelf.

It's all very functional, but means there's absolutely no way of personalising this house that you've supposedly built from scratch.Build everything on offer and your armoury will be no different to everyone elses. Making this constrictive system all the more annoying, there doesn't seem to be any way to get rid of an item if you don't like it or find its default position annoying. You're assembling a pre-configured kit, basically, and there's no turning back.There's not even much challenge in maxing out your new pad, as Bethesda's helping hands creep in. Each plot of land comes with infinite resources for mining clay, rock and iron ore within a few feet of your crafting area, while things like straw, glass and lumber can be purchased in bulk from every general store.

Despite the obvious comparisons, this certainly isn't Minecraft, where the building is the gameplay. Hearthfire wants you to get the building stuff out of the way as quickly as possible, to the extent that you can designate your follower as your house steward and simply get them to buy in resources and even decorate the whole place.What else does Hearthfire offer? Several smaller conveniences. 500 gold gets you a carriage that waits outside your door and will take you wherever you want to go.

You don't actually get to take a carriage ride through the world though, as you simply appear at the chosen location. Utterly redundant in a game with fast travel as standard, but a nice enough touch if you fancy lording it up as a member of the landed gentry.You can also adopt a child, but it's never entirely clear why. Unlike Fable, where producing offspring is an organic and random thing and the characters can express a range of reactions and emotions, here you're simply picking one of a handful of pre-rendered moppets who will go through a series of pre-rendered routines. Price and Availability. Platform: Xbox 360.

Price: 400 Microsoft Points (£3.40). PC and PlayStation 3 releases TBA.There are three plots to choose from, but some players have reported problems getting access to them all.Bizarrely, right now the game doesn't seem to let your new family live in the new house you've built - even though children's furniture can be added. Instead you have to convert a room in one of the pre-existing homes to a child's bedroom, and only then are you allowed to adopt.

Your spouse and child automatically move into this house and, from what I could find, end up stuck there permanently. The option to relocate to your hand-made home vanishes from the dialogue options, leaving the two aspects of Hearthfire strangely divorced from each other.What can you do with your child?

You can play crude games of tag or hide and seek. You can tell them to play outside, or ask them to do their chores. Not chores that help out in any gameplay sense, it's just another animation loop that your child-shaped automaton will go through at your request.At 400 Microsoft Points, Hearthfire costs about as much as it's worth, and it's definitely a more interesting way of incorporating useful features into the world than simply having you unlock a pre-built house. Seven guardians runes guide.

The difference, ultimately, is fairly negligible and even the most devoted player will be able to see dozens of ways in which the process could have been made more creative and less restrictive. While building has been simplified, too many of the secondary features are awkwardly implemented and poorly explained, leaving you to wonder if you've missed some important cue or if the game has just burped up another bug.Whether you do it yourself or take the short cuts, once the job is done you'll have a house that is far superior to any of the others in the game, and everything you could possibly need will be in one handy location. For the deep role-player, it's an undeniable boon in terms of pure function. You just won't feel any ownership of the places you build, or be able to stamp your identity on your new virtual home, leaving it feeling like a shallow and perfunctory process. Despite the rugged, rough-hewn aesthetic of Skyrim, Hearthfire ultimately offers all the character and personality of an Ikea cupboard.5/10.

In case you didn't already know, there is a DLC (downloadable content) available for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim called Hearthfire. This allows you to do many things such as adding a children's bedroom to your house so that you can adopt, it includes extra characters such as bards and housecarls. Most importantly, it allows you to buy a plot of land, build your own house on it and renovate it to include extra rooms.

With is add on, it makes it possible to own a house in all of the nine holds except for Winterhold. This guide will explain how and where to buy the land, how to build the house and also what furnishings you can purchase after that. Name: Heljarchen Hall- Location: Dawnstar Hold- Nearest Locations: Blizzard Rest, Loreius Farm and Tower of Mzark.- Cost: 5000 GoldThis plot of land is located in the Pale. It can be purchased from the Jarl of Dawnstar who is found in the White Hall.

You will need to have completed the two quests 'Waking Nightmare' and 'Kill the Giant' (the 'Kill the Giant' quest is a favour quest). As well as this you will need 5000 gold. If you end up becoming than of this hold, you will be given a housecarl named Gregor. Name: Windstad Manor- Location: Morthal Hold- Nearest Locations: Solitude, Abandoned Shack and Ustengrav.- Cost: 5000 GoldFinally, the final plot of land is located in Hjaalmarch, in Morthal. It, as usual, costs 5000 gold.

The plot can be purchased from the Steward of Morthal who can be found in Highmoon Hall. Just like with all of the other plots, it costs 5000 gold.

There is only one quest that needs to be completed and it is called 'Laid to Rest'. After that you will need to help two citizens (the miscellaneous objective will appear as 1/3 as you helped the Jarl with 'Laid to Rest'). The housecarl that is appointed to you is called Vladimar and becomes available as soon as you become thane of the hold. Now that you have completed the main hall you have the option of adding none, one two or three wings to the house. Below are the options for each wing.

If you want to have all of them you will have to build two other houses on the two other plots of land available in Skyrim.North Wing: you can choose from a storage room, a trophy room or an alchemy laboratory.West Wing: you can choose from a greenhouse, a spare bedroom or an enchanter’s tower.East Wing: you can choose from a kitchen, a library or an armory. If you have already purchased one of the original five houses in Skyrim you may have bought some of the furnishings. These furnishings are also available in the houses that you build.

Firstly, you could craft all of the items that would be needed in a certain furnishing. When each item is crafted it will appear instantly. The second option is that you ask your steward for the furnishing/s. In the section 'Furnishings' there are the costs of the furnishings that are available (the ones in the wings and the ones that enlarge the house's size). Lastly, a carriage driver can take you to several locations. If you wish to have one they will cost 500 gold. Also, like before, you will need to ask your steward for one.

The first list below contains the names of the carrige drivers and which plots of land they are available at. Below is a list of locations where your carrige driver can take you (they do it for free).Engar – Windstad ManorGunjar – Lakeview ManorMarkus – Heljarchen HallLocations:Darkwater CrossingDawnstarDragon BridgeFalkreathIvarsteadKarthwastenKynesgroveMarkarthMorthalOld HroldanRiftenRiverwoodRoriksteadShor's StoneSolitudeStonehillsWhiterunWindhelmWinterhold.