You may think it impossible, the notion of a cosy survival game; survival games are, after all, notoriously punishing. I must admit though, Pine Creek Games’ Winter Burrow has managed to pull the feat off. It’s a title that you may not gel with immediately, but once you come to understand the plight of this tiny little mouse, it’s a game that you’ll find yourself coming back to every time you need an opportunity to unwind and switch off.
Winter Burrow begins with a gut punch of a story set up. It centres around a mouse who has returned, alone, to its childhood home in the forest. You see, the mouse and its parents previously moved to the city but the demanding nature of his parents’ new labour-intensive roles lead to their premature deaths. Our protagonist seeks a quieter life, fuelled by nature-filled childhood memories.
As you can imagine, upon arriving at your old home, you’ll find it in total disarray, and it’s here that the game’s survival mechanics start to come into play. Players will be tasked with managing hunger, health, and warmth. Essentially, you’ll need to venture outside of your home in order to find crafting supplies and progress the game’s story but that poses certain risks. As soon as you enter the cold, your warmth will deplete. If it depletes completely, it’ll also start chipping away at your health. Run out of both and our hero will faint, dropping all crafting supplies and waking up back at their humble abode.
That’s not a fate you want when gathering supplies is somewhat laborious, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. That’s the struggle that the gameplay centres around. To restore your warmth, you’ll want to return to your home, visit one of the forest’s various characters, or rest up at a campfire which are dotted around the game’s world. The only catch there is campfires are far and few between, nor are you told where they are, plus you’ll need to have crafted some kindling.
Hunger will deplete over time too regardless of where you are and what you’re doing and crucially, sleeping doesn’t restore hunger like it does health or warmth. To fill your tummy, you’ll need to cook and forage. Simply eating the fruits and nuts you can stumble across likely won’t do much more than fill your stomach, but if you gather supplies and return to your stove to bake a pie or biscuit or even brew some tea, you’ll gain temporary buffs such as a higher resistance to cold weather, for example.
Health is less of a concern in the early stages of Winter Burrow, as long as you don’t let your warmth drop. This does change, however, the more you explore as you’ll encounter some pretty feisty bugs. There are plenty of critters roaming the forest, many of whom are peaceful and going about their business. Others though will launch an attack upon seeing you. It’s up to you whether you want to skirt around them by hiding in tall grass, simply run past, or take them on using your axe or pickaxe. You’ll get some useful bug meat if you do.
Of course, the ante is upped as you progress. My exploration led me to one rather large spider I immediately knew I was totally ill-equipped to take on so I said a resounding ‘nope’ and walked away. The combat is incredibly basic. As I said, you’ll mainly take aim with your tools, trying to stay on the move so as to avoid their blows, but given that so much of Winter Burrows’ formula revolves around crafting and gathering, I think the combat adds a welcomed sense of threat.
Outside of maintaining your survival, the items you craft will largely go towards restoring your home. The player is able to craft furniture which you can freely place using a grid-based system. Eventually, acquiring the right items will allow you to unlock new areas of your house too, providing you access to its second floor and basement. Crafting is done via your parents’ crafting table which thankfully remained unharmed all of these years. So too can you craft outfits and expand your inventory. To craft outfits, many of which will help protect you from the cold, you’ll sit down in an armchair to toast by the fire. Impeccably cosy.
It is a gameplay formula that I feel grows on you with time, or at least that was my experience. Winter Burrow is, like many survival games, repetitive and I’d argue it’s fairly punishing too. You’re dropped into this cold forest with no map or sense of direction. It’s difficult to know whether to keep exploring when your warmth is rapidly depleting. Will I stumble across a campfire or somewhere that offers respite if I keep going? Or do I risk losing everything I’ve gathered? In some instances, you may find you’re too far from home to make it back in time making the immediate need for warmth all the more intense.
Outside of sheer survival, there is a secondary plight which fuels our little mouse. Early on in the game, you’ll find your aunt’s abode nearby but after offering you some tips and help, she’s whisked away by a large eagle. Exploring then becomes just as much about finding your aunt as it does merely getting by. You’ll find other new friends in the forest who may help you if you carry out tasks for them. Oh, and I’ll add that you can easily pick a task to track, helpfully displaying onscreen how many items you have left to gather.
Winter Burrow is a game all about perseverance, and I do feel that won’t appeal to all. But if you are someone looking for a game that is undoubtedly cosy with an added layer of challenge, you’ll perhaps find something quite enjoyable here. Winter Burrow’s formula may be a little repetitive and that doesn’t hugely change, but it’s so easy to be swept up by the game’s charming 2D animation and mysterious story. With a roughly 10-hour runtime, Winter Burrow doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a charming little experience I warmed to returning to, night after cold night.
Pros: Beautiful 2D animation, charming concept, gameplay formula is easy to grasp
Cons: Repetitive, challenge of navigation may not appeal to all
For fans of: Valheim, Grounded, No Man’s Sky, Minecraft
8/10: Excellent
Winter Burrow is out today on Nintendo Switch (version tested on Nintendo Switch 2), PC, and Xbox Series X/S. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
