Winter Burrow

 
Winter Burrow is a cozy survival game that trades the eldritch horror of the genre for knitting sweaters and drinking tea. Released on November 12, 2025, for Xbox (Game Pass), PC, and Nintendo Switch, it follows a city mouse who returns to their childhood home only to find it ruined and their aunt missing. Developed by Pine Creek Games and published by Noodlecake, it walks a fine line between a relaxing cottage-core simulator and a punishing survival game where freezing to death is a constant threat.
Sweaters, Snow, and Stamina: Core Gameplay

The Cozy Loop: The game structure is deceptively simple: venture out into the snow to gather twigs and berries, return to your burrow to warm up, and use those resources to repair furniture. Fixing an armchair allows you to knit better clothes; fixing the stove lets you cook buff-granting meals.
Survival Mechanics: Despite the cute aesthetic, the “survival” tag is real. You must manage Warmth et L'énergie. Venturing too far from a heat source causes you to freeze, slowly chipping away at your health. Sprinting drains energy. The early game is a frantic dash between campfires, creating a tense “push your luck” dynamic similar to Ne pas mourir de faim, but without the permadeath penalty (you just wake up back home).
Crafting & Progression: As you repair your burrow, you unlock new tools (axes, pickaxes) that allow you to harvest harder resources and explore new biomes. The crafting system is intuitive, with recipes pinned to your HUD as quests, so you always know exactly how many pinecones you need for that new hat.
Combat Lite: The woods aren’t empty. You will encounter aggressive beetles and ants. Combat is simple—swing your tool and dodge—but adds a layer of danger to your resource runs. Beating these critters provides meat, which is essential for higher-tier recipes.

Comment cela se passe-t-il ?
Winter Burrow acts as a gateway drug to the survival genre.



Jeu
Principale différence




Ne pas mourir de faim
Ne pas mourir de faim is brutal, unforgiving, and opaque. Winter Burrow uses similar mechanics (warmth/hunger) but is forgiving and narrative-driven. If you die in Winter Burrow, you lose some progress, not your save file.


Stardew Valley
Both games involve restoring a dilapidated family home. However, Stardew is a farming/social sim about routine. Winter Burrow is an exploration game about venturing out into a hostile environment, not cultivating a safe farm.


La longue nuit
Both focus heavily on temperature management in a frozen world. La longue nuit is a serious, realistic simulation. Winter Burrow is the “storybook” version of that same fantasy, where you freeze because you need to knit a cuter scarf, not because you have hypothermia.



Détails clés

Développeur : Pine Creek Games.
Éditeur : Noodlecake Studios.
Plateformes : Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Switch.
Date de sortie : November 12, 2025.
Genre : Survival / Adventure.
Vibe : The Secret of NIMH rencontre Subnautica : Below Zero.

Pour qui ?

Incontournable pour stress-averse survivalists. If you like the idea of gathering resources and upgrading gear but hate the stress of losing 50 hours of progress to a random spider, this balances the tension perfectly.
Parfait pour Game Pass nomads. It’s the ideal “weekend game”—short enough to finish in a few sittings (10-15 hours) but engaging enough to keep you playing “just one more day.”
Sauter si you hate inventory management. Your backpack is tiny. You will spend a significant portion of your playtime running back and forth to drop off sticks. If backtracking annoys you, the loop will feel repetitive very quickly.

Pourquoi ça marche
Il fonctionne grâce à la pacing. The game forces you to take breaks. You literally cannot stay outside forever; the cold forces you to return home, drink tea, and plan your next excursion. This creates a natural rhythm of “tension (exploration)” followed by “release (crafting)” that prevents the survival mechanics from becoming exhausting.