Core Keeper PC Preview

It's easy to see that many elements found in Core Keeper were inspired by Mojang's Minecraft. From building, mining, and crafting but developers Pugstorm have infused their own take on the survival genre, providing that inspiring feeling of discovery as you venture deeper into the hollow and end up saying "Just 1 more hour".

Core Keeper has the protagonist being transported deep into a cave after discovering a random object in the middle of the forest. Now you must survive by any means by locating resources throughout the endless cave and building a shelter while attempting to repower the core that brought you to the location. You have a good selection of classes to choose from that adds bonus stats to specific categories however even with this you can still upgrade in any category going forward.

Upgrades work by just playing, which is terrific. By mining you increase mining, moving increases running, fighting improves combat skills, and so on. Each of the 9 talent trees has 8 skills a piece that can be reset but at cost. But you're constantly earning experience for everything you do.

Many of the concepts from Mojang's Minecraft is here but with a different twist. The biggest similarity is how the game starts, you're told nothing and just expected to find out how the game works. Thankfully a lot of knowledge from Mojang's masterpiece does carry over here but if you've never played Minecraft playing around with the interface and items will give you an idea of what to do. This is a sandbox so there's no right or wrong way to play and learn, just try everything and see what works.

You can mine resources will your bare fist but better tools will improve your efficiency. Over time you'll craft tools, then a shelter, a furnace, a cooking pot, and so on. Eventually, you'll need to gather food and fight hostile native creatures. Core Keeper successfully creates that loop of harvesting resources and building more items to expand your shelter, with your base getting more customizable because of personal taste after the minimal requirements are met.

Where Core Keeper gives players a helping hand is in the navigation. A helpful map provides a fantastic way to ensure you know where you are and where significant resources like water are located. Over time you'll discover hostile enemies but most are docile, with the exception of the bosses that will make mincemeat of you if underprepared. You can locate specialized equipment that adds defense to your character to better prepare but at the beginning, you're limited to scavenging unless you want to die. There are 2 difficulty options, normal that allow you to respawn with all your stuff if killed, and hardcore where death is permanent.

Similar to Pugstorm's previous work Radical Rabbit Stew Core Keeper has some outstanding visuals and animation. Everything from mining, movement, character actions and just the idle sprite animations all have this AAA quality to it. If that wasn't enough the entire cave feels alive thanks to small details like fireflies, bugs crawling around that get squished if you step on them, the glittering of valuable ore, and the shine of water. The developers really know how to make gorgeous sprite work and it shows how much passion is going into this project.

This is still a work in progress and the game definitely needs some more time. The biggest issue is that the frame rate will occasionally stutter and got me killed on occasion. Other improvements that should be considered are auto sorting for materials, quick selection for removing and placing items in storage, and the ability to place markers on the map.

Core Keeper definitely has a lot of promise, especially as a cooperative game. The addicting resource gathering and building system have a lot of options that can keep players hooked for months, especially if the developers constantly update the title with new items to create. This coupled with specialized boss fights and the thrill of discovery and Core Keeper is looking to join the list of addicting titles where time flies by.

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed