Core Keeper Review (stretch611)
Core Keeper is an interesting mining game that is destined for greatness. I whole-heartily recommend it.
You start with a character customization screen that has multiple cosmetic options. You can also pick a background which gives a mild stat boost and one piece of gear to you to start with. (Or start as a nomad with nothing at all.) You enter into a dark cave that is dimly lit by the core. You need to gather nearby wood to build torches, a wooden pick axe, and a basic workbench. As you explore farther away from the core, you will find copper, tin, iron, and scarlet ores. Each ore can be smelted into bars and will unlock the next workbench which builds the next tier of equipment. Of course each ore has progressively harder mobs around it.
Of course you do not want to starve while underground. There is a variety of plants and mushrooms around; each of which gives a small benefit to you while exploring and fighting. For a better benefit, build a cooking pot to cook any two ingredients together. The cooking pot even has a recipe book that remembers the recipes you tried already (all combinations are valid,) and what the resulting food was.
Creative types will be happy as well. There are multiple walls and flooring to make a base with. Chests, planters, and pedestals to highlight your items that you find, decorative torches, and 8 different paints to color things. If you are so inclined you can spend hours just building the base to your wildest aesthetic desires.
But wait, there's more... Skills are increased by doing... fishing is an option, there are at least 5 bosses to defeat, NPCs to move into your base and trade with, 8 person co-op multiplayer, unique artifacts, and even unique giant plants and mushrooms to find; railway carts, automation, and more. This is available now after less then one month in Early Access. The developer has promised even more content before the EA period is over. All this will likely make Core Keeper one of the classics like Terraria and Stardew Valley.
It runs well under native linux (Mint 20.3) on both a desktop PC and a laptop with only integrated graphics. Currently it is also listed as "verified" for the Steam Deck as well, making this a good game for a wide variety of hardware.