Koira Preview: An emotional and charming adventure

While there's no denying that voiced audio or dialogue can do a lot for narrative and immersive storytelling in video games, it's also not at all crucial. Games can tell emotional and impactful stories without ever saying a word and that's something we'll get another example of in 2025 with Studio Tolima's Koira.

This indie project is an adventure game about a sprite that is tasked with saving and returning a puppy that has become lost in an ancient and dangerous forest. It's a heartwarming tale about bonding with this small canine, protecting it from dangers like hunters and their vicious hounds, and ensuring it's well-fed and happy so that it can put its amazing ability to light up the darkness of the forest, like Rudoplh the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to good use.

I've had the chance to get a brief taste of Koira in the form of a short demo that is set to soon be widely available. Spanning around 25 minutes in length, this demo introduced me to the world, the core and basic gameplay mechanics, and then also teased some of the dangers the protagonist and puppy must escape and evade on their journey. It's a heart-wrenching and devastating tale, one with so much character and charm that even though every interaction is made simply through minor animations, you begin to connect with the leading duo and develop a real bond and connection with the puppy too.

While the narrative is clearly an area where Koira will excel, I do think it's in the overall experience and presentation that this game thrives most. Studio Tolima has created a striking and truly gorgeous world that spans multiple different biomes and environments. From dense and haunting forests, to open and pure snowy fields, to rich and colourful orchards, you'll wander through this world and be blown away by the locations and vistas you visit. The soundtrack also adds to this ambience with a fitting and atmospheric tone that truly builds up the importance and intensity of the adventure at hand.

But this is all by design because Koira is meant to be a treat for the eyes and ears first and foremost. There's not much mechanical depth here, as the most challenging Koira tends to become is when it requires you to explore your surroundings to interact with creatures and objects to learn their correlating musical notes to resonate and harmonise with totems or dying trees to revive them. Add to this the ability to play with the puppy, by picking up and throwing sticks, finding apples to feed to the pooch, or building a snowman, Koira is not meant to be a mechanically deep and complex experience.

I do think this will be fine for the wider game though. From what I've seen in the short demo, Koira has a huge amount of charm and emotional depth, and the moments where the puppy is being tracked by hunters and hounds and you can't do anything to protect it will put you on the edge of your seat while the more gentler and sweeter moments will leave a smile plastered across your face. We'll have to see if Studio Tolima can continue to provide moments that generate these emotions across the complete experience, but if this demo is anything to go by, Koira is set to be a very promising indie adventure when it makes its full arrival next year.