In Core Keeper, a survival game, you play an explorer who wakes up in a long-forgotten underground cavern and spends the game mining, crafting and farming. You start in a central chamber that holds the Core, then dig outward to collect wood, ore and other materials. You need those materials to craft tools, and better tools let you mine tougher ore, which is how you push deeper into the cave. The cave is dark, so you also need a lantern or torch to see what you're doing.
Each trip underground follows the same rhythm. You mine, explore and fight, then head back to your base to craft, store items and cook. Food matters because going hungry lowers your max health and stats, so you farm crops and cook meals to stay in shape. Farming means tilling the soil with a hoe, planting seeds, watering them and harvesting once they've grown.
Most of the game builds toward restoring the Core. Glurch, Ghorm and Malugaz are the three bosses you must beat to fix it, and each one drops a relic for one of the statues around the Core. Once all three statues are powered, you can interact with the Core and move the story forward. After that, the game opens into deeper areas with tougher bosses, including the endgame zone called the Passage.
- Developer
- Pugstorm
- Publisher
- Fireshine Games, bilibili
- Release
- PC Early Access: 2022-03-08 · PC / PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X|S (1.0): 2024-08-27 · PlayStation 4 / Xbox One / Nintendo Switch (digital): 2024-10-17
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Game data
Bosses
Core Keeper's bosses range from the three early giants that gate the story to the six Titans and the final Core Commander. Some are required to finish the game, others are optional, and a few open up after the final boss. Most don't come back on their own after they're defeated, but summoning idols let players fight them again.
Weapons
Weapons in Core Keeper fall into melee, ranged, thrown, magic, summoning and explosive types, and each type grows with its own skill. Bows and crossbows fire from a distance, staves spend mana, tomes call minions and grenades bring blast damage. Better weapons come from moving up the ore tiers, from copper through solarite, with anvils and workbenches doing the crafting.
Biomes
Biomes are the separate regions that make up the underground world in Core Keeper. They're arranged in rings around the central Core, and each one has its own ore, creatures, and bosses. The Great Wall keeps the outer biomes closed off until you've made progress, and difficulty rises the farther you travel from the Core. Biome positions also change from world to world, depending on the seed.
Armor
Armor pieces are the gear your character wears in the helmet, chest and leg slots, with rings and necklaces in some sets. Each piece adds protection and extra stats, and wearing matching pieces from one set unlocks a set bonus. Armor comes in tiers that follow the metals you gather, from basic wood gear to late-game sets, and it comes from crafting, enemy and boss drops, chests and fishing. Picking a set that fits your playstyle matters as much as the Armor number.
Accessories
Accessories are equipment worn alongside weapons and armor, with rings, necklaces, off-hands, bags, lanterns and pouches each having their own slots. Most of them add boosts such as health, damage, mining and movement, and each has a level that can be raised at the Upgrade Station. Pouches work differently, adding storage for ores, seeds, fish, valuables, potions and critters instead of stats. Matching accessories and armor can also unlock set bonuses when worn together.
Mounts
Mounts are cattle animals fitted with a Saddle or Racing Saddle so the player can ride them. Moolin, Bambuck, Strolly Poly, Orex, Dodo, Kelple and Drohmble can all be mounted. Only grown animals qualify, and saddles are crafted at the Livestock Workbench. Taking the saddle off returns the animal to ordinary cattle.
Core Keeper gameplay tips
- Pick a background that matches how you want to start. Miner starts with a copper pickaxe, so you can dig right away. Fighter starts with a copper sword, which makes early monsters easier to handle. Starting gear saves you the first few crafts, when you have nothing yet.
- Break the roots around the Core for wood, then craft a Basic Workbench for 8 wood. The workbench unlocks your early tools, and you need one to make more workbenches.
- Craft a cooking pot early and keep your food bar up. Combining two ingredients in the cooking pot makes food buffs. Going hungry lowers your max health and stats, so a steady supply of meals keeps you in fighting shape.
- Activate every waypoint you find. Activated waypoints let you travel between them quickly, which saves a long walk back through the caves.
- Fight Glurch before the other two Core bosses. He's the gentlest of the three, and his Glurch Eye powers one of the statues around the Core, so you get your first step toward restoring it.
- Use a bed near your base. If you die, your main inventory drops into a gravestone where you fell, and you respawn at the Core or your last bed. A bed close to your workbenches and storage means you can get back to your gravestone and your work quickly.