Welcome winter with one of the coziest survival games I’ve played — and my most recent Xbox Game Pass gem discovery

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Xbox Game Pass has had a ton of great games this year, making it hard to decide what to play! I’m here to highlight a lesser-known gem on the service that I really think you should check out.

Winter Burrow is a brief but charming survival game where you play as a young mouse returning to its family’s old home. You’ll need to learn how to make it through the long, difficult winter in the forest.

Looking for a cozy game to get you in the winter spirit? This charming indie title is a perfect choice. It’s a short experience – you can finish it in under ten hours – and it’s available on all Xbox platforms through the Play Anywhere program. It’s a great example of why the ID@Xbox program is so valuable for bringing us unique and wonderful games.

Finding friends hidden in the snow

You’re a mouse who grew up in the forest with your parents and aunt. You enjoyed life in the wild and were learning to survive on your own, but the winters started becoming longer and more difficult. To protect you, your parents made the tough decision to leave your forest home and move to the city.

Over the years, harsh living conditions and risky work took a heavy toll on your parents, eventually leaving you completely on your own. All you had left was a strong longing to go back to the snowy forest you grew up in and the aunt who still lived there.

Winter Burrow is a relaxing survival game where you rebuild your family home, learn essential skills, reconnect with your aunt, and build friendships as you go.

Winter Burrow is easy to pick up and play. The game features several large areas to explore, each filled with different resources, hidden secrets, and creatures. You’ll collect everything you find to fix things up, build furniture, make tools, and cook food.

It’s important to monitor your health, hunger, energy, and particularly your body temperature. Spending time outdoors can become risky, as the cold affects you faster depending on the time of day, weather, and location. This creates a constant sense of urgency during your explorations, but Winter Burrow isn’t an overly difficult survival game.

Winter Burrow doesn’t offer a lot of guidance, which can be tough for some players, but overall it’s not a particularly hard game.

The biggest difficulty isn’t the harsh environment or the enemies you’ll face, but figuring out where to go and what to do next. The game doesn’t hold your hand with maps or waypoints; you’ll need to explore and learn each area thoroughly, especially as you meet animals who need assistance. Even something as simple as remembering where you’ve already been can be incredibly useful.

It’s natural to feel lost when you’re searching for something – whether it’s information, hidden items, or loved ones. I found the game design particularly enjoyable, mainly because the core actions of finding resources, making things, and fighting are all very straightforward in Winter Burrow.

A little too short, but still a Game Pass gem

With the weather getting colder and less to do outdoors, I’ve found a few hours of calm and comfort in Winter Burrow, snuggled up in soft blankets. It definitely feels cozy and comforting, though the experience doesn’t last very long.

While it’s fun to rebuild your home, reconnect with family, make friends, and help others—all while improving your equipment and customizing your space—the game, Winter Burrow, feels a bit short. I completed everything, including all achievements, in under 10 hours, which suggests it doesn’t have a lot of long-term content.

The game offers many furniture recipes, but not much incentive to actually make them. While you can slightly customize your character’s appearance, it’s mostly tied to unlocking better clothing. The main reason to play Winter Burrow is to experience the five different storylines offered through each character’s personal quests and to explore the world as you progress.

Winter Burrow wraps up rather suddenly, going straight to the credits after a disappointing conversation with your aunt. To be honest, I was hoping for a bit more from the game – specifically, more engaging gameplay that would encourage replayability even after finishing the story.

I had a really great experience playing Winter Burrow. Pine Creek Games did a fantastic job creating a beautiful atmosphere, and the story is touching – sometimes sad, but always hopeful. You can find Winter Burrow now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, gaming handhelds, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass.

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2025-11-25 17:40