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Game pageCore Keeper: turn underground discoveries into a place of your own
An underground sandbox of mining, exploration and base building.
It suits players pulled both toward the next discovery and toward improving a place to return to.
What makes it fun
One more wall to dig through
Dig through a wall, find a new area or ore, then bring it home to make tools. Once the tools are ready, it is tempting to pick another direction and keep digging.
Bring the scenery home
Bring back grass and decorations from the places you explore, then use them to shape the area around your base. Discovering a new place can also inspire what you build at home.
Mine and build on separate paths
While a friend searches for ore, you can tend the farm or work on the base. Your separate efforts both take shape in the same underground world.
Game details
As of Oct 29, 2026- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Release date
- Aug 27, 2024
- Developer
- Pugstorm
- Languages
- Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Korean ／ 13 languages total
A typical run
Mine resources for tools and a base, using your haul to prepare the next outing and improve your home.
Combine ingredients in the Cooking Pot. Discovered recipes remain in the Cookbook, so you can choose expedition supplies by their effects rather than eat indiscriminately.
After returning with discoveries, use dedicated Pouches and the nearby-chest quick-stack button to organize your haul. This is a useful moment to decide what you want to bring back next.
Boss fights involve more than equipment strength. Against Glurch, for example, watch its jumps and choose the gaps in which to attack.
Boats provide a travel option in the Sunken Sea. Dividing your session between preparing things at home and searching a new area becomes a goal of its own.
Reviews describe fatigue with later repetition. Consider whether you want to enjoy detours and base building or move quickly toward a stopping point.
Core systems
World-generation settings
You can adjust cavern count, ore density and a setting that affects how biomes overlap.
Consider what exploration environment you want before a new world.
What sets it apart
Its gentle appearance does not make it a game primarily about tending a farm. Consider whether mining and combat also interest you.
Satisfaction from improving a base is not the same as satisfaction from advancing. Reviews can enjoy construction yet tire of later progression; identify which activity you want to keep doing.
Learning curve and difficulty
Before a trip, consider something you want to make with the haul, not just something you want to discover. It gives exploration and building a shared purpose.
Treat collecting everything and creating a home as separate goals. Reports of repetition fatigue can help you judge which goal you would actually enjoy.
Co-op partners need not enjoy the same activity. Discuss when explorers and builders want to reunite rather than assume everybody wants the same pace.
Builds and playstyles
Set breeding before a trip
Breeding can be toggled for each cattle animal. Decide whether you want it continuing before an expedition, then plan what to attend to on your return.
What longtime players say
One co-op account describes laying a railway network for faster travel and walling off sections. It turns a long journey into a shared construction project, not a mandatory route.
What players like
Exploring underground for new places and discoveries is enjoyed.
Sharing the underground adventure with companions is enjoyed.
Building and decorating a base are enjoyed.
Scenery and lighting make the underground enjoyable to look at.
Building machinery and automation is appreciated.
Developing and choosing skills or talents is enjoyed.
Common complaints
Later play has felt less varied or repetitive in its exploration and progression.
Repeated work to obtain items or finish developing skills has felt burdensome.
Similar boss encounters have felt repetitive.
Who it’s for
Players who enjoy both discoveries beyond the next wall and improving their home afterwards.
Groups that want to bring different interests into one shared underground world.
Who might not enjoy it
Players expecting combat-free living from the cute visuals and farming.
Players who need fresh enemies and rewards throughout, and dislike repeated collecting or levelling.
FAQ
- Is it a fit if I only want combat?
- Reviews enjoy the bosses but also report frustration with repeated exploration and gathering. Consider whether you want the time between fights.
- May I stream or publish videos?
- Official streaming and video-posting terms could not be verified. Check the rights holder’s terms before publishing.
These impressions are based on 100 Steam reviews sorted by “Most Helpful.” They do not represent the views of all buyers.
Image: Core Keeper on Steam