Koira Review — You Can Pet the Dog

In Koira, you awaken in a mystical forest, alone and scared, until you stumble upon an adorable shadow puppy caught in a snare. After freeing your new best friend, you set out to find its home—until the presence of wicked hunters in the woods threatens the safety of you, your canine companion, and the other creatures of the forest. Using the power of sound, you and your puppy reawaken ancient wards and protect the sacred land from intruders, forming cherished memories and overcoming obstacles along the way.

Spoilers from the title, but yes, you can indeed pet the little puppy at your heart’s content. You can also play fetch, sing to them, feed the puppy apples, and build snowmen with them in some adorable moments of canine companionship. Then, the game will hit you with an emotional gut punch as you watch the same puppy get caught in bear traps and fall into other dangerous situations. While moments of dog abuse are portrayed very simply in the game’s artstyle, with no grotesque violence or shocking visuals, I know this is a subject that can be upsetting to some players, so I thought that a mild content warning would be for those looking to play the game. It’s not a puppy-torture sim by any means—the game’s focus is on the bond you build with your companion and the emotional moments you share on your journey.

Koira is a puzzle adventure game with a big focus on art. While the game does feature puzzles, the real takeaways are the visuals, storytelling, and sound. Complex or challenging mechanics take a backseat in favor of an experience that is as beautiful to sit back and watch as it is to play. Some might see this as a downside, saying Koira might work better as an animation than a game, but I feel like Koira is something that simply works much better if you engage with it personally, adding that little connection to it that makes its emotional beats work so much better.

And those emotional beats really work. You’ll find yourself feeling giddy and distraught as you witness firsthand the highs and lows of your adventure with your doggy companion throughout your adventure in the woods. An argument can be made that these emotional beats are pretty cheap, though, especially when it comes to the game’s sadder or more tense moments. The game is about the health and happiness of forest creatures and a tiny puppy with a Rudolph-ish glowing nose; any time this little guy is put in danger, you are, of course, going to be stressed about it. It’s a freaking puppy, after all.

Regardless, the storytelling works, with the relationship between you and the puppy at its core. The game’s dialogue-free approach leaves aspects of the story open to interpretation, which is something I really enjoyed. One personal interpretation I took from the story was that our protagonist, who is some creature of the forest themselves, is afraid of the dark, and our puppy’s ability to literally light up the shadows and open pathways that were previously blocked by the dark symbolizes how having a friend around can make it much easier to face your fears.

Koira relies heavily upon its use of light, shadows, and sound for its storytelling and visuals, and it does this well. The presence of light in the game often creates an immersive and non-intrusive guide forward through the levels, and shadows (see my last paragraph and my theory about our protagonist being afraid of the dark) often mark areas that cannot be traversed, either because they are map boundaries or simply ways forward yet to be unlocked. Each level is similarly defined by its color palette, with a sleep-blue forest opening into a bright snowy mountaintop and eventually entering a warm autumn field as you progress.

Sound plays an important role in puzzle-solving, as many puzzles in the game are solved by collecting the song of the nature around you and repeating notes back to ancient shrines to restore their power. That’s why it’s a little disappointing that the game really only has one main track in its OST. While beautiful, you’ll get used to it before too long.

Koira is a game that isn’t going to be for everyone. As I briefly mentioned earlier, the focus on art and emotional storytelling has left the gameplay side of things pretty light. Mechanics are simple, and your engagement will be solely through your investment in the story and characters rather than from deep gameplay mechanics. Though the game features puzzles, they are admittedly pretty simple and won’t take a great deal of commitment or challenging thinking to solve, which is certainly something some puzzle game enthusiasts look for in their games.

Koira, at its core, wants you to get attached to a cute dog and a beautiful forest, teasing you with emotional highs and brief stings of tension but ultimately leaving you with a heartwarming experience. It’s nothing more than a little game to play when you’re looking to relax and unwind (yes, moments of dog pain included), and really, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re looking for a game to win your heart over a relaxed afternoon at home, Koira is exactly what you need.

TryHardGuides was provided a PC review code for Koira. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Koira is available on Steam and PlayStation.