Loading...
Loading...
KYORA Overview
August 26, 2026 at 04:25 AM
Corrected the Core Keeper sales figure to the studio-stated number
KYORA is a 2D mystical multiplayer sandbox adventure developed by Pugstorm, the studio behind the award-winning sandbox game Core Keeper, and published by Chucklefish. The game is planned to launch on PC via Steam Early Access, with a release date still to be confirmed.
Set in a world of mystical ruins, KYORA invites one to eight players to mine resources, craft physics-altering wands, battle powerful boss creatures called Heralds, and reshape the environment pixel by pixel. Every part of the terrain can be shaped, mined, built upon, or destroyed, giving players a high degree of freedom in how they explore and survive.
KYORA was announced at The Game Awards in December 2024. As of early 2026, the game had surpassed 500,000 Steam wishlists. The development team has stated that Early Access is still some time away and that active development continues, with a focus on refining core systems and expanding biome content before launch. Development updates are shared through a quarterly dev blog, which had reached six numbered entries by July 2026.
Pixel-by-pixel terraforming: reshape terrain for building, bridging, and mid-combat cover
Procedurally generated open world with multiple biomes
Crafting system for wands, weapons, armor, and food
Boss encounters against biome-controlling beings called Heralds
Up to 8-player online co-op with wand ability synergies
Single-player supported alongside multiplayer
Character customization including appearance and gear
Day and night cycle that affects exploration and danger levels
Full controller support and Family Sharing on Steam
Experimental traversal tools including a glider, Gust Beetles, and slingshrooms
In-engine world-building tools planned for players during Early Access
KYORA's world is built from interactive pixels and generated procedurally, so every player gets a different layout. The journey begins in a cozy, welcoming first biome of lush grass and rolling hills, then opens out into harsher regions such as forest-cloaked ruins and blistering desert sands. The further players venture, the more dangerous the world becomes, and the more each biome's resources are needed to survive.
KYORA is developed by Pugstorm, the team behind Core Keeper, a sandbox mining adventure that has sold over two million copies. Pugstorm was founded in 2018 by Fredrik Präntare and Julian Seifert-Olszewski. It is a Sweden-based, remote-first indie studio that describes itself as a global team of around 35 full-time and contracted artists, programmers, and marketers, and KYORA is its third project. Präntare is credited as game director, with Sven Thole as technical director. The studio has built a separate dedicated team for KYORA and confirmed that Core Keeper development is unaffected by work on the new game. KYORA is published by Chucklefish, an independent games studio and publisher known for a number of sandbox and adventure titles.
Pugstorm publishes its KYORA development updates under the name of the team member who wrote them, which has put several of the project's leads on record. The studio and its publisher have named the following people in connection with KYORA.
Name | Role |
|---|---|
Fredrik Präntare | Game director, and a co-founder of Pugstorm. Also posts as Prantare. |
Sven Thole | Technical director |
Felix | Associate game director, who goes by Fewes. Wrote the world generation and traversal updates. |
Anders | Art director on KYORA. Wrote the environment design update. |
Linus | Gameplay lead at Pugstorm. Wrote the character customization and gear update. |
Max | Gameplay programmer at Pugstorm. Wrote the crafting and progression update. |
Several of the team worked on Core Keeper before KYORA, and the studio has said it is applying that experience to the new project. Only first names have been published for some of the leads. Composer, sound and wider credits have not been announced.
