When it come to survival of the fittest crafting game , challenging 3D sandbox game likeMinecraft , Rust , orValheimare often the first titles to come to mind . That say , I ’ve often found myself just as flirt with by the form of survival of the fittest and crafting games cheer byDon’t Starve . While Klei Entertainment ’s 2013 indie classic is pretty hardcore , a mess of games inspired by it have been more cozy in nature . I have an enjoyable time relaxing , explore cute reality , and crafting token in games likeBandle story : A League of Legends StoryorCozy Grove .
Now , Pine Creek Games’Winter Burrowwill fill the cozy survival - craft vacancy . At a recent ID@Xbox digital issue I attended , Pine Creek CEO and Creative Director Benjamin Salqvist was n’t shy about bring up endurance games likeDon’t Starve , but emphasized thatWinter Burrowwill be a less trying , more lay - back take on that formula .
More specifically , Salqvist describedWinter Burrowas “ in betweenDon’t StarveandAnimal Crossing . ”After see the game in activeness during that digital event and die hands - on with it at GDC 2025 , Winter Burrow has become one of my most anticipated game of the year .
While you could n’t distinguish it at first glance , first - person zombie survival of the fittest game7 Day to Dieserved as the reference of inspiration for the project that would finally becomeWinter Burrow . “ It ’s laughable because the first inspiration was playing7 Days to Dieand imagining how it would be play as a woodland creature , ” Salqvist explained . “ Soon , I realized I would n’t make a 3D biz that sizing , so I looked into a 2D game and then got prompt byDon’t Starve . ”
The result is a cute adventure about a computer mouse who rejoin to a burrow his parents created long ago , only to find it in disarray . From there , players have to slowly improve and advance their burrow with resources while braving the winter storm surrounding it . All of this is realized with artwork dash Salqvist directly creditsMouse Guardcreator David Petersen with inspiring . wintertime Burrow’sgorgeous art style has been improved even more since its first demonstration was released on Steam last twelvemonth .
It now gambol even more detail and some pretty cozy - feeling inflammation . Overall , this expression lets Winter Burrow deftly exchange between feeling parky and fond depending on where the player is . The core gameplay loop ofWinter Burrowisn’t a radical reinvention if you ’ve played a craft - focused game before . Resources like wood and stone are scattered across the forests surrounding the burrow , and players must pick up those resources to craft thing necessary for patterned advance .
At first , you ’re just picking up clobber on the undercoat , but before long , you ’re craft prick to gather resourcefulness faster and then using those crafted imagination to improve the burrow or make new clothing for your computer mouse . As histrion better their burrow , they ’ll leave each twenty-four hours with boosted stats to help them pretend further and brave the snowstorms they might encounter .
Players have health , thirstiness , and warmness meters to invariably monitor while out amass resources , with fondness specifically being the one that eat the immobile from my experience . The peril - advantage gameplay grommet ofWinter Burrowcomes from decide when the correct time to maneuver back to the burrow is . To help with this , histrion ’ footstep will stay on in the snow , a feature Pine Creek add together after noticing player have been trying to utilize them to navigate back home .
Layer in mechanics like ready on top of that , andWinter Burrowhits all the right note of hand as a snug natural selection . It ’s not a game I would ’ve pegged as ab initio inspire by7 Days to conk , but regardless , it is now one I ’ll be keep on my radar for the foreseeable future . If you savor Do n’t Starve , precious creature , or cozy games , Winter Burrowshould be on your radar as well .
Winter Burrowwill be free for PC and Xbox Series X / S in 2025 and be an Xbox Game Pass title from 24-hour interval one . A demo of the secret plan isavailable on Steam .
