I first came across Winter Burrow whilst watching the Xbox Showcase in June, and when the code came in to review it I jumped at the chance. It looked super cute, cosy and just what I needed to snuggle up with on the sofa and play this Autumn. Did it live up to my expectations? Let’s find out in the XboxEra review of Winter Burrow.
Winter is Coming…
Winter Burrow is a survival and crafting game where you play as a cute fieldmouse who returns to the woodland after the sad demise of his parents who tried to build a life in the city. It did not go well for them, and the beginning story was touching and did get me right in the feels. My daughter who was watching me play at the time commented on the opening scenes in classic Gen-Z fashion with the timeless comment – ‘bit harsh’.
You arrive back at your burrow, which is in an obvious state of disrepair, and then the fun begins. The game has all the usual gauges you have to manage to stay alive like health, hunger, stamina and warmth. These can be maintained by crafting, cooking, eating, sleeping and scavenging. First up, you have to get the fire going, and then you can head over to your crafting station and find out what you need to make and what materials you need to gather and progress.
It’s all pretty standard fare – or so I’m told – for a game of this genre. Disclaimer here: It is actually my first time playing this type of title, and so there were a few points along the way where I just didn’t know what to do next, or how to manage my inventory properly. I do feel that Winter Burrow could have given a bit more instruction here – due to the art style I think that this title will appeal visually to a younger audience who may get frustrated when there aren’t clear instructions on what to do. However, players who are used to this style of game will find it fairly straightforward with nothing out of the ordinary.
Make A House a Home
Once you have built yourself a bed, got some grub and knitted yourself some warm clothes, you start to progress in the story properly. You will meet various characters who will give you instructions and gifts and so it goes on. There is nothing too scary here in the woods, but there are some creatures you will need to battle. Combat is as simple as strike, retreat, strike again, and…that’s it. The only time I struggled slightly was with a swarm of ants.
Cooking different recipes once you progress will assist you in resisting the cold and build up your health along the way, especially later in the game when you are further away from the burrow itself. The structure of the game is set up so that as you progress, you will craft items and gear from increasingly strong and resilient materials, which will help you gain further resources that you will need. I don’t want to reveal too much about the story in the game, but lets just say it is heart-warming and at times a little sad.
The main thing you will need to worry about when you are out of your burrow is the cold – it creeps up on you quickly, particularly before you have made yourself some thicker and warmer clothes to wear. The screen gets frosty around the edges to warn you, and you need to head back to the fire to warm yourself up quickly.
Lost in the Woods
One thing to note here is that there is no map – and because it is winter, the environment does tend to look a bit ‘samey’. I got totally lost on more than one occasion and couldn’t find my way back to the burrow in time. You do make footprints in the snow which can be followed, but these were a little inconsistent. Luckily, if this happens a screen appears saying ‘you passed out’ and you awaken the next morning back in your burrow, having lost whatever you had scavenged – you can go back to where you froze and get your items back, and if you don’t sometimes they even get posted back to you. It kind of reminded me of the morning after the night before in some ways!
The lack of a map is a definite oversight in my book, and my enjoyment of it would have greatly increased if there was one, especially if it then marked out where you had discovered different types of resources. Some of the wood types required for different items all looked very similar and there were a few occasions I had spent a long time gathering resources only to return to the burrow and discover that they were a different type to what was required – only differentiated by a slightly different shade of brown.
Arts, Crafts and Handheld Performance
The main thing that sets Winter Burrow apart from other titles in the survival/crafting genre is the art style. It is really beautiful. The characters you meet and the environment you play in reminded me of the Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame books I loved when I was a child, and it was utterly charming.
Your character is super-cute, and even the bugs and creepy-crawlies out in the wild aren’t horrible to look at. You can make your burrow look nice and homely by crafting furniture, and I really loved the way you can sit in the armchair by the fire to create items. The only downside I found to the art and design of the game was that when you opened up the menus and inventories, the font used was small and ornate – and that made reading what was written pretty tricky at times.
I found myself squinting at my TV and even had to get out of my own comfy armchair a couple of times to see what was on the screen. There was no way of adjusting the font size or really many settings at all here – so accessibility could be a problem for younger players or those that may need extra support. There was also a spelling error in the stats menu – it said ‘loosing’ instead of ‘losing’. Not a major error, but the pedant in me couldn’t ignore it.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Winter Burrow ran beautifully on my Xbox Series X. There were no issues whatsoever. I asked our Editor-in-Chief Jon to load it up and try it on his ROG Xbox Ally X and honestly, the game ran faultlessly and looked stunning.
To sum up, Winter Burrow is a gorgeous-looking game. The art style was really appealing and the storyline which wove it together was both endearing and heartwarming. However, as a newbie I did wish that there was more instruction, and I think that this may be an issue for others who are new to survival games.
For me, once the novelty of the cuteness wore off, I found the mechanics to be a bit boring, and in parts very frustrating (mostly due to the lack of a map when trying to find items I needed). For veteran players, the only stand-out feature here is the way the game looks and the ‘cosy’ style of play. Does this make Winter Burrow stand out in its genre? I’m not sure that it does, and honestly I’m not sure it has endeared me to this type of game at all.
Winter Burrow
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Beautiful art style
- Simple controls
- Heartwarming story
CONS
- Lack of in-game map makes exploration frustrating
- Genre regulars will find little new here
- No tutorials/tool tips for new or younger players
