Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Winter Burrow
Winter Burrow by Pine Creek Games is a cozy woodland survival game and it’s a game that I have been looking forward to ever since I played a demo at PAX West 2024.
In Winter Burrow you play as an adorable mouse returning to his childhood burrow after living in the big city with his parents. Upon his return he is immediately faced with a dilapidated shell of his former burrow. The burrow of his childhood was big, vibrant and warm and today it is cold, empty and in ruins. The little mouse sets off on an adventure to not only restore his home but to find his aunt, who was supposed to maintain the burrow in his family’s absence.
Our mouse protagonist will explore, gather resources, fight aggressive wildlife, knit warm sweaters and meet the locals as we move through this beautiful narrative experience. A survival mechanic that kept me on my toes was the ever encroaching freezing elements that could lead to freezing to death.
It’s imperative when exploring to keep an eye on all your status bars: health, hunger, warmth and stamina. As you move through the story you will learn new blueprints for clothing that can help resist the freezing temperatures and impact other stats.
Introduction to the survival mechanics have a low barrier to entry making it welcoming to newcomers to the genre. Foraging for materials to make what you need can present a challenge at times but it is rarely unclear what you need and where you get what you need.
Winter Burrow is driven by its narrative with the survival mechanics adding the challenge, so for those searching for a hardcore survival game this may not be the title for you; however, if you’re looking for a more cozy narrative experience with survival mechanics and some challenge, Winter Burrow leans more in that direction.
The art in Winter Burrow is stunning but where the game truly shines is the sound direction. The atmospheric sounds of the wilderness to the warmth of the crackling fireplace will immerse players into the environment adding to the depth of the narrative experience. The adorable mouse protagonist’s squeaks and pitter patters on the snow add a level of cuteness that will touch your heart.
The gameplay should take about ten hours, a little more if you are achievement hunting. There are times where the game play does feel linear, but linearity feels like a tool that directs the story rather than an attempt to limit exploration. There are times to focus on the story [where linearity is used] and there is plenty of time to go and explore the wilderness. I found the balance intentional rather than limiting. As a person who grew up on Final Fantasy games, the majority of which are known for their linearity, the balance used in Winter Burrow did not bother me personally.
In the menu, players have the option to turn off the spiders. I personally did this because spiders freak me out a bit so I am happy to see that that was included for us folks who prefer not to have panic attacks when playing a cute game.
I do think it was an interesting choice to not have the option to turn down the music, sound effects or ambient sounds. The choices are on or off, there isn’t like a volume scale just to turn things down a bit when needed. I do not personally think it is a bad thing, just odd.
Overall, I believe Winter Burrow is an adorable survival game with fun exploration and just enough challenge that will keep you engaged as you move through the rich story telling.
Winter Burrow is available now on Steam, Xbox, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Nintendo Switch for $19.99 USD.
Score: 8/10
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