Winter Burrow is the kind of game that understands exactly what it wants to be. It’s not a survival game in the traditional, punishing sense, and it is not an action-adventure where danger lurks around every corner. Instead, it offers a cozy crafting adventure that uses light survival mechanics to create gentle tension without ever truly threatening players. Much like Tales of the Shire, Winter Burrow trades epic stakes for warmth, comfort and a steady, satisfying gameplay loop built around routine, exploration and homemaking. It’s available for the PC on Steam, and also for the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch consoles.
You play as a mouse returning to their family burrow after years away. Your parents left for the so-called big city in search of opportunity, only to die working in the mines there. With nowhere else to go, you return to your old home in the wilderness only to find it neglected and slowly being reclaimed by winter. Your aunt lives nearby and while she hasn’t done much to maintain the burrow, she does offer guidance, food and crafting recipes as you begin rebuilding your life.
The tone is melancholic but never bleak. Winter Burrow handles loss gently, framing it as something to be worked through by rebuilding, reconnecting with the land and finding comfort in small routines. It’s a surprisingly fitting backdrop for a title that is otherwise warm and inviting.
At its core, Winter Burrow revolves around managing four simple stats: hunger, warmth, health and stamina. Stamina regenerates naturally when you rest. Hunger is managed by eating food. Warmth is the most persistent challenge as the entire game takes place during winter. If either hunger or warmth drops to zero, you begin to lose health. There is no sudden death spiral here, though. Instead, Winter Burrow encourages you to plan short outings, retreat often and slowly build tools and comforts that make survival easier.
Warmth is the stat you will wrestle with most early on, but Winter Burrow provides solutions as you progress through the story and unlock more crafting options. Returning to your burrow, sitting near a fire, crafting warmer clothing or drinking special teas all help stave off the cold. Once you learn how to manage these systems, winter becomes less of a threat and more of a constant background presence. It never fully disappears, but it also never feels unfair.
The gameplay loop is simple and intentionally repetitive. You craft basic tools, venture out into the snow to gather resources and return home to refine them. Sticks, wood, stones, seeds and mushrooms are found throughout the world. Some can be picked up freely, while others require specific tools like an axe, shovel or pickaxe. Those raw materials are then refined at crafting stations into furniture, tools, clothing, rope or cooked meals.
Food plays an especially important role. Raw ingredients can be combined into meals that are not only more filling but also grant bonuses such as increased stamina regeneration or better resistance to cold. Progression feels natural, as each new recipe slightly extends how long players can stay out in the snow before needing to retreat.
Winter Burrow is best played with a controller and doing so enhances the relaxed, almost storybook feel of the experience. Controller-based games are kind of a special treat for those playing on Steam, as we normally get to work with the mouse and keyboard. The last title that I played that fully used a controller was The Precinct. It was a lot of fun and let me zoom around the world while sitting back in my gamer chair. Winter Burrow does the same, and it’s a good thing.
Dressing up your mouse in different outfits, curling them up in bed near a crackling fire and watching snow swirl outside the burrow are some of the game’s most charming moments. Visually, it’s consistently delightful, leaning into soft colors and cozy animations that reinforce its tone.
Winter Burrow provides structure through main objectives and NPC quests, though most tasks boil down to gathering materials or crafting specific items. There is also plenty of optional crafting, particularly for decorating your burrow. Players who enjoy personalization will find a lot to do here, while those who are less interested can safely ignore most cosmetic projects without penalty.
That said, Winter Burrow is not without its rough edges. Some systems feel underdeveloped or oddly balanced. Once you unlock the basement, you can plant mushroom seeds to grow food indoors, but the growth time is so long that it rarely feels worthwhile. Mushrooms are plentiful outside, making indoor farming largely redundant. Another frustration is the inability to deconstruct items. Early furniture pieces that quickly become obsolete cannot be dismantled for materials or even properly discarded. If you no longer want an item, it must either remain in place or be stored indefinitely in your chest.
And while home storage is unlimited, your personal carry capacity fills up quickly. As a result, a large portion of your time is spent making short, repetitive trips back to your burrow just to unload materials. That time would be better spent exploring or crafting, and the restriction feels unnecessarily punishing in an otherwise relaxed game.
Despite these issues, Winter Burrow succeeds where it matters most. It’s calm, charming and consistently pleasant to play. Even when things feel momentarily tense, the players are never truly in danger. The game wants you to feel cautious, not stressed. It encourages preparation, routine and comfort rather than mastery or efficiency.
Winter Burrow is a strong recommendation for players who enjoy cozy crafting titles, light survival mechanics and gentle storytelling. It is also an excellent entry point for players who normally shy away from survival games altogether. Like Tales of the Shire, it proves that games do not need high stakes or constant danger to be engaging.
Sometimes, all you need is a warm burrow, a fire that keeps the cold at bay and a quiet winter world waiting just outside your door.
Developers: Pine Creek Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X