DYLAN BAILEY
Winter Burrow Review
Cozy woodland survival game, Winter Burrow, sees the player take the role of a tiny mouse and brave the elements on a journey to collect vital resources used to bring warmth and life to their new home, while reflecting on the complex themes of loss and isolation.
Release Date: November 12, 2025
Publisher/Developer: Pine Creek Games, Noodlecake Studios
Platform: Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Steam (reviewed)
Price: $19.99
Denmark studio Pine Creek Games explains that they “… are inspired by nature, art and fairytales which [they] interpret into games with curiosity and love”.
Cozy woodland survival game, Winter Burrow, captures this philosophy by having the player brave the elements on a journey to collect vital resources used to bring warmth and life to their new home, while reflecting on the complex themes of loss and isolation.
Story
A mouse, so small and soft-footed, carries a brave and beating heart as it scurries through a world far larger than itself. This unnamed tiny rodent is controlled by you. As a child your family left their quiet home in the woods, chasing the glitter and ambition of the city. But quickly, you gain a heavy awareness to the harsh reality of constant struggle unfolding in plain sight. Ambition transforms to desperation as those around you, including your parents, fight sickness while overworking themselves in the most taxing and underpaid jobs. They can only carry on like this for so long. Then the most unfortunate and devastating event occurs, as both of your parents are tragically taken.
This is where the game opens. Already, an emotional bond is forged with the young mouse. So, it is even more heartbreaking when they return to their childhood burrow and see that it is broken-down and in shambles. And to make matters worse, your Aunt, who was supposed to be looking after your home, has gone missing. Now it is up to you to brave the elements of the frozen wilderness on both a daring rescue mission, and a journey of survival.
Characters
While exploring the frozen forest, you will randomly stumble upon the game’s other characters. And in truth, I feel the true story of Winter Burrow lies with them. Bufo the toad, Gnawtusk the squirrel, and the moles Willow and Moss all play a role in making sure the player character is equipped with gear and upgrades that make exploration less challenging. But these characters are more than just simple quest givers, as their individual stories make this anthropomorphic world feel more human while driving home the overall theme of isolation.
It’s important to note that each of these characters are found in their own unique sections of the game map. Meaning that, before the young mouse discovers them, each one is segregated in the eerie cold woods alone. And through dialog interactions, we learn that this isolation does not stop at just their physical location. Bufo feels that he ran his son off, and now his only family doesn’t visit him. Willow who due to age, struggles with vision and memory has lost many important items, with nobody to help her find them. Moss struggles with grief and some denial, while struggling to continue on with life after the passing of her significant other. And lastly is the senile Gnawtusk. This character seems to be afflicted with some sort of dementia, maybe even Alzheimer’s. Even his pack, has left the sickly squirrel to fend for himself.
Ultimately a beautiful relationship between player, characters, and environment is formed. The young mouse braves the storm and desperately tries to stay warm. Yet in the end, it is the tiniest of creatures bringing warmth back into the lives of those around him.
Survival
Gameplay at its core though a narrative adventure, is centered around the central concept of survival. Health, hunger, and stamina must all be balanced in order to survive. This juggling act combined with the tiny stature of your character, exaggerates even more so the harsh nature of the environment.
By completing quests and speaking to the previously mentioned characters, you unlock special recipes. These crafting recipes can be used in combination with the plethora of resources you pick up while adventuring, to upgrade your equipment. Tools like your axe, shovel, and pick become stronger and can be used on tougher materials. Your wardrobe can be upgraded so that you inccur less penalties when facing the cold.
But foraging and recipes don't stop there. At the end of each day, it is your cozy burrow that that provides solace from the environment. Not only is it a safe haven in which you rest your head, but it acts as the one area in the game you can make your own. Decorations, gardens, and furniture can all be used to adorn your home making it feel all the more personal.
Overall
Maybe it was the solitude of the winter weather. Maybe it was my own recent dealings with loss and grief. Nonetheless, playing through Winter Burrow evoked some form of somber therapeutic emotion. The only other time I have felt this emotion so strongly is while watching the Autumn classic Over the Garden Wall. Its hard to put into words, as there is not an English term or phrase to describe it. The closest thing would be the Welsh term Hiraeth - an unexplained nostalgic homesickness tinged with grief and sadness over the departed.
Pros:
Deep themes
Super Cozy art style and setting
Side quests that further push the story
Balanced inventory and crafting system
Cons:
Map hard to navigate
Lack of personalization options
No long-term reason to continue the survival loop
Small variety in enemies and they don’t scale
No way to view recopies while in the wild
Ball x Pit Review
Armed with magical projectiles in the form of bouncing balls, face off against armies of barbaric creatures within a meteoric pit on your way to rebuilding the once great city of Ball-bylon. Fixed Shooter x Survival Rougelite x City Builder, this is the most fun you’ll ever have playing with balls.
Release Date: October 15,2025
Publisher/Developer: Kenny Sun, Devolver Digital
Platform: Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5 (reviewed)
Price: $14.99
Vampire Survivors meets arcade classic Breakout, this survival rougelite / city builder is the most fun you’ll ever have playing with balls.
Armed with magical projectiles in the form of bouncing balls, face off against armies of barbaric creatures within a meteoric pit on your way to rebuilding the once great city of Ball-bylon.
The Pit
One giant space ball is all it took. After an unexpected cataclysmic meteor shower annihilated the once great city of Ballblyon, the only thing that remains is a giant ominous pit. Within the depths of this pit lies Ballblyon’s lost and scattered riches. Now it is up to you the player, and whichever hero you choose to command, to plummet into darkness in order to find the resources to rebuild the fallen city.
The pit acts as a level hub, as you hop aboard a mechanical platform and descend down to multiple floors. Each of these floors offers a special region to explore with its own unique set of hazards. The biggest hazard being hordes of enemies, cleverly designed as bricks, that continuously come at you in waves. As you venture deeper into the pit, these enemies (and bosses) become increasingly more challenging.
The Balls
Fixed Shooters or “Shoot ‘em Ups” have existed since the time of Galaga and Space Invaders. But none before have combined the classic gameplay style with brick-breaker elements. Swapping traditional projectiles with chaotic bouncing and ricocheting balls adds a layer of strategy that, on its own, feels genre redefining. But Kenny Sun and Devolver Digital did not stop there.
Now take that Fixed Shooter Brick-Breaking structure and throw in everyone’s favorite video game additive, Rougelike Elements (more Rougelite in this case, but more on that later). Each run in “The Pit” sees you stumble upon an assortment of 60 randomized balls, each with their own ability, that can be equipped to better take on enemies. And after leveling balls up they can be fused together to unlock unexpected synergies and overpowered combinations, making each run feel refreshing by encouraging experimentation. The above photo shows a Vertical Laser Ball and Horizontal Laser Ball being fused to create a powerful evolution, Holy Laser, that on a hit deals massive damage to all of the enemies in the same row and column.
New Ballbylon
Similar to previous Devolver title Cult of the Lamb, Ball x Pit adds a City-Builder section that acts as your base of operations. This is also where those aforementioned Rouglite Elements begin to further present themselves further. Throughout each dungeon run you will gather resources such as gold, stone, wheat, and wood. These resources can be used to expand and grow the community of New Ballbylon with over 70 unique buildings.
Each building unlocks new power-ups, passive bonuses to stats, and even new characters to play as. It is through the growth of this tiny city, that progression is most felt. As tiles are filled and buildings are upgraded, Ballbylon rises from the ashes. And in that moment, an unspoken partnership is realized. Through the viewing of the city’s physical growth, your Heroes own innate abilities flourish and prosper, giving a swelling sense of broadening power.
overall
The polyamorous marriage between a Discordian cacophony of gaming genres is a match made in chaos, birthing an overflowing cornucopia of righteously intoxicating… balls.
Cons:
Tutorials could break information down better
Some menus felt slow and glitchy
You won’t accomplish anything other than play this game
Pros:
Fantastic Sound Design
Marriage of game mechanics that work well together
Addictive gameplay loop that doesn’t stale
Good design in regard to Accessibility
Experimental evolution leading to replayability
