Graveyard Keeper 2 Best Layout & Graveyard Rating
Rating is a number you can farm deliberately: every grave and decoration contributes, and placement matters as much as quality. This page covers the layout principles and clears up the “26 skulls” figure players confuse with graveyard rating.

How Graveyard Rating Works
- Each burial scores the skull value of the corpse you placed — which is why body prep is a layout topic, not just a zombie topic
- Grave decorations (headstone, fence, desk) add per-grave points on top of the corpse
- Free-standing decorations score in a radius rather than per grave — placement decides whether one decoration buffs five graves or one
Layout Principles
- Grid your graves first — rows that leave decoration slots at both ends, not a spread-out scatter
- Cluster decoration so its radius covers as many graves as possible; overlapping buffs beat spreading them thin
- Keep the church approach clear — it is the highest-traffic path and the easiest place to double-dip decor value
- Reserve a strip between graveyard and production zones so future expansion does not force you to dig up graves
Church Layout & Splendor
- Splendor benches come in six slots and each takes 2 planks + 6 bronze nails — plan the benches before you plan the pews
- Temple quality is one half of the faith payout formula, so church layout is a direct income decision
- The Writing Desk is an underground build and counts toward the same progression
The “26 Skulls” Number, Explained
Twenty-six is the maximum white skulls on a corpse, worth 65% zombie efficiency — it is a worker-quality benchmark, not a graveyard score. If that is what you came for, jump to zombies and body prep. Twenty-six white skulls is the ceiling you build toward with organ swaps and full embalming.
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