Koira is a relaxing, wholesome adventure game where fans get to explore a hand-drawn world at odds between light and shadow. Its goal is to allow players to become part of its winter landscape for a moment, unaware of the outside world and even the dichotomy itself as they awake in a forest with the sound of a dog barking in the distance. It’s up to the player to save the dog and make it feel comfortable with them as they navigate the world together, going on a musical adventure where singing songs and bonding with the puppy opens new avenues. Game Rant was given a chance to experience Koira‘s unique text and dialogue-less world early ahead of the demo’s release.
The demo for Koira will take players roughly 30 minutes to complete, though there’s nothing wrong with taking some extra time and spending it with the puppy if fans wish to. It’s hard not to because players can play fetch, sing to, and, of course, pet their canine companion. Bonding with the puppy is one of the core aspects of Koira and integral to the overall experience.
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Koira is a Great Game to Relax and be Immersed In
It doesn’t take much sleuthing to figure out that Koira tells a self-contained, emotional story, similar to Journey which is one of the title’s core inspirations. It’s a special type of game that will only have an impact if one interacts with it and its world, and Koira manages to do that through many gamers’ favorite critter to interact with, a puppy.
Koira isn’t a game where players can simply rush in and pet the dog, though; they have to befriend it. The poor thing is left scared, afraid, and alone in a world with shadow clouds that hurt when touched, and it takes time for it to react to another person. It becomes very apparent that the only way to communicate with this dog is by actions and singing musical notes. It’s also soon revealed that the puppy has a unique ability to literally light the way forward.
Exploring Koira’s Unique Artistic World
Koira is a fully hand-drawn experience. Players are allowed to explore this 2D world at a relatively calm pace in what feels like a rather expansive area. In order to stand out, Koira chooses to limit its color palette to better serve its themes of loneliness, companionship, and the exploration of a world of light and dark. There may be many games with the same themes and animal creatures, like Annapurna Interactive’s Stray, which still use plenty of color. However, Koira sticks to many shades of white, black, gray, yellow, and red to make important aspects stick while players are in this world. It keeps things minimalist and just as simple as the designs of the characters, while also allowing for beautiful complex visuals like when the player and the dog find a house for refuge.
Singing is one of the biggest ways to navigate this cold forest, and the music of Koira swells and quiets depending on how this unique adventure progresses. Due to this, there are melodies that fans will discover while speaking with their puppy, observing the world around them, or listening to the birds relaxing nearby. The music notes that fans find during Koira are just as integral to the adventure as anything else, as they’re accompanied by the delicate touch of being shaped like pieces of the journey itself. There’s no singing too much as we found during our playthrough of the demo, but the environment does react to some stray singing such as responses from owls in the woods. The art direction of Koira as a whole seems like a thesis statement on how much can be done artistically with a minimalist and limited approach in terms of visual and game design, while the bond between fans, their dog, and the music itself gets full attention.
Simplicity Doesn’t Stop Koira From Tugging at Players’ Heartstrings
Using beauty and simplicity, the adventure found in the demo showcases the easy-to-solve puzzles to all the core elements of the game. The musical score that accompanies the journey adds a bit of a fantastical complexity to the endeavor, as the sounds accompany the sights and truly elevate the bond between player and puppy. It may come off as a mundane adventure with a pet for some players, but others will certainly enjoy the story of the dog and the forest spirit. For those players, it may resonate deeply with them in the way Studio Tolima is hoping for.
Those who wish to enjoy their time with the puppy should be warned, however. The demo ends on a cliffhanger that serves to introduce the “bad guys” of the story, the Hunters, and Koira doesn’t leave much room to know if the dog will be okay in the end. To be a wholesome game, though, the puppy and forest spirit should come out okay, but fans will need to wait until Koira releases to know for sure. A Koira demo is available soon.
Koira is scheduled to release in 2025.
