A masterclass in action design, Core Keeper delivers an unforgettable experience from start to finish.
90
Verdict
93%
Steam
86
IGDB
Verdict score based on confidence-adjusted Steam reviews?
Very Positive on Steam (93% positive from 63K reviews)
Healthy player count of 4,934 concurrent
Critically acclaimed (86/100 critic average)
Rich open world to explore
Still in Early Access — content may be incomplete
Core Keeper is a survival game and sandbox game developed by Pugstorm and published by Fireshine Games. Set in a procedurally generated underground world, the game combines mining, crafting, farming, automation, and combat while supporting single-player and cooperative multiplayer for up to eight players. Critics have compared its mechanics and tone to Minecraft, Terraria, and Stardew Valley for blending exploration, base-building and survival systems within a darker, atmospheric cave setting.
Runs well on modern hardware.
Last updated 19d ago
I can see many reasons why this game isn't for everyone. It fells addicting playing for the first time; the game has great atmosphere, musics and visuals. The new biomes that you discover and items that you find gets you hooked into the game. However, after playing for a while the game tends to be a bit repetitive and tedious which causes a burn-out from the game, if you are not a big of fan of these types of games. You generally tend to find yourself unable to mine the new biome stones and ores basically, which forces you to grind for the better tools. There is always new biomes so you do this for most of the game. As a result of this the new biomes that you find tend to be less interesting as the game progresses. Progression-vise I find it to be a bit unoptimized as you mostly get jumpscared and one shotted by bosses while exploring (Don't get me wrong its fun :=), also the rewards you get from bosses arent that great generally, The random stuff you get from mobs are far better for some reason. The bosses are also very straightforward generally and they dont last very long. If you really like grinding for good items, and mining new ores always this is the perfect game. Anyhow, I believe there's a lot that this game lacks in the long term, but I'll guarantee most of you that you're going to find it very enjoyable for your first couple of hours that's why I strongly recommend giving it a shot.
Great start, but becomes a frustrating chore in the late game At the beginning, I had a blast. The early game is linear, fun, and easy to pick up. Even when the game introduces automation and resource management, it feels balanced—you don’t need to be a hardcore nerd to get what you need to progress. The breaking point is the Desert and Ice biomes. The difficulty curve hits an absurd wall, turning the game into pure grind and frustration. Common enemies have 900+ HP and take 4 to 5 hits to kill, yet they can delete you in just two hits, even if you have a solid build with 700+ HP. I tried everything before quitting: dodge builds, armor, melee, ranged, magic, and stacking high-tier food buffs. Nothing worked. The game is completely unforgiving; a single mistake costs you half your health, forcing you to burn through dozens of potions just to explore, followed by hours of tedious farming to replenish them. We play games to have fun. If someone wants a punishing "try and error" experience that feels like a second job, that should be optional by raising the difficulty. Instead, even on Low difficulty, the late-game balancing is merciless and poorly tuned. It’s a shame because the foundation is excellent, but it simply stops respecting your time.
Played this with my husband. Completely lost track of time and ended up not eating all day. We literally looked up at the clock after a restroom break and said, "oh crap it's already 2pm!" Great game 10/10 would recommend.
Reviews sourced from Steam. All reviews belong to their respective authors.
Data sourced from RAWG, Steam, IGDB, CheapShark, Wikipedia, HLTB, and GX Corner. Sources: rawg, steam, cheapshark, igdb, wikipedia.
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