A lamp, a pickaxe, and the dark backing off one metre at a time.

The profile reads like a night with friends more than a memory for life. Fun is what stands out: ahead of 62% of games, the only criterion that really lifts off. Everything else hovers around or below average, desert island barely at the midpoint, connection just under the line, feel in the hands ahead of only 35% of titles. Art direction drops to 21%, and rediscovery bottoms out ahead of just 11% of games. Several of these lines rest on a handful of duels, the sound one on a single vote, so go easy. But the trend holds together: you have fun, you don't dream about going back.

Which makes perfect sense for a co-op mining sandbox. The pleasure comes from the loop and the company, not from a visual shock or a revelation you'd want to relive untouched. Against the benchmarks of the genre, Core Keeper plays smoothness and accessibility rather than a visual signature.

So, who is it for? For you if you love digging, building and rummaging with seven friends in an endless cavern. Much less so if you want a game that stays with you, alone, once the controller is down.