Winter Burrow review

I’m not a big fan of crafting or survival games unless there are zombies involved. I rarely play them and hardly ever finish them, because they tend to feel tedious, never-ending and overly complex. That’s why Winter Burrow surprised me so much. I couldn’t put it down, and for the first time in a long time, after a little over 9 hours, I finished a survival crafting game.

A city mouse comes home

You play a mouse who’s lived in the city and returns to the forest after the tragic death of his parents, looking for his aunt. He finds his childhood home in ruins. After a few tutorial fetch-and-craft quests that teach the basics, his aunt is suddenly snatched by an owl.

That kicks off a long journey: improving your tools, crafting warmer clothes against the freezing weather, fixing up your home, and exploring a connected series of areas, many of them blocked until you craft a better axe or pickaxe. Along the way you meet friendly critters who, like the rest of the world, are beautifully hand-drawn, as if they’d stepped out of a children’s storybook.

I wanted to find my aunt, I wanted to help these forest friends, and I wanted to see how far the story went. It was just the right length to feel like I’d accomplished something when I reached the ending. You can keep playing afterward, but with no real quests left, I didn’t have much reason to.

Surviving the cold

Every time you step outside, you’re stepping into a freezing winter. It’s colder in the morning and evening and dangerously cold at night. Four meters keep you in check:

• Cold: drops the longer you’re outside, unless you’re near something warm like a fire or eating warm food.
• Health: goes down when enemies like angry ants or giant spiders attack you, and drains quickly once your cold meter hits zero.
• Hunger: refilled with food you find in the wild or cook in your oven at home.
• Stamina: used for sprinting and for breaking down trees, stones, plants and enemies into crafting materials.

The loop that hooked me

Those meters, plus very short days that will kill you if you stay out too long, kept me focused on one or two tasks at a time. Rest until daylight, run out, get what you need, run home, craft.

You naturally start planning every trip. Should I risk staying out later or going a little farther? Should I try to do two or three things, or stick to one? Do I bring a campfire to stay out longer, or stay home and build a new bed or table, or plant mushrooms in the basement?

Only a few times was I unsure what to do next. Talking to the other characters, or trying out a newly upgraded axe or pickaxe, usually opened up a new area and a new quest.

No bloat

This is what Winter Burrow absolutely nails. Task and system bloat is what has largely killed open-world and survival games for me: too many quests, too many menus, too much of everything. By limiting you to a few quests at a time and keeping the day short, the game made sure I always knew exactly what to do next, and that pushed me all the way to the end.

The forest friends

Winter Burrow would feel as cold and empty as winter without its cast. There’s your wise aunt who gets you started, a blacksmith frog searching for their strange child, a squirrel who seems a little addicted to hot drinks, and a few more. They’re all charming and unique and feel like part of the world. Helping them, as they help you, is what keeps you going deeper.

Verdict: a cozy game that actually won me over

For someone who can’t remember the last survival crafting game he enjoyed, and isn’t sure he’s ever finished one, Winter Burrow was a joy and a surprise. If you’re looking for something simple, rewarding, cozy and oddly addictive, it’s worth your time.