Koira, A Magical Musical Adventure With The Best Pup

The power of friendship will guide you

Find Your Way Home

You’re Not Alone, You’ve Got Your Pup

In Koira, you play as the forest spirit protagonist who wakes in an unknown place, far from the heart of the forest—and very much far away from home. As you gather yourself from your sleepy stupor, a puppy’s bark resonates through the trees, seemingly in need of help. You get to your feet, and immediately find the poor pup hanging upside down on a line. You rescue the puppy and befriend it, and this is where the adventure begins…the journey back home.

Koira is a heartwarming tale of friendship between man (er, spirit, in this case) and their dog companion, who you would need to protect from the dangers of the forest. Traverse the musical woodland, solve ancient puzzles, discover your inner untapped powers, and interact with the creatures of the grove to try and find a way back home, while bonding with your newfound buddy.

New Paths, New Team

Studio Tolima is a new and independent game studio based in Brussels, Belgium. Koira is their debut game, and was created as a result of Koira being backed by DON’T NOD. Studio Tolima’s Game Director, Ben Lega, shared in an interview with But Why Tho’? that “The studio formed around the fact that we signed the publishing deal with DON’T NOD. So before that, I was working mostly on a small game. [Koira] is the first commercial project that I worked on, and my first one with a bigger team.” He then continues to share that even though that was the core of the studio, they learned a lot from the experience and from each other, on the concepts of game design and how to make games. “It was really like a formative experience.”

Inspiration for the game began from Lega’s vision of “something that had a striking visual sight,” trying out and drawing numerous things to find something “striking and unique” to catch the attention of players. “One base idea was to have the texture to explore, which was to have an image with a lot of contrast—with a lot of difference between the light and the shadow. I started to explore this idea of the flat-shaded characters. So very quickly, I just had the main character, who was this black [silhouette] on the white background, and already, there was the idea of just erasing the bottom of their feet to kind of anchor him into the world. And suddenly, there was a world taking life.”

After the art manifested in its current form, the next person to join Lega’s team was the musician, whose compositions directly inspired the narrative of the game. “We knew that he wanted to tell this bittersweet story of the characters where they are both in a moment of bliss. But at the same time, there are some dangers. [Koira is all about] protecting your dog and progressing in the forest with him. And the kind of tension naturally arose from there and then progressively, we built up the story from that meaning.”

A Heartwarming Adventure

Despite the cold and dreary setting the game’s characters are in, the game presents a warm display of friendship. You can feed your pup some apples, and even play fetch, furthering the bond between you and the characters and may even get you attached. The trailer also shows the peculiar hooded bad guys who are hostile to you, and you must do everything in your power to save yourself and your puppy.

There seems to be a lot to discover in this game—who are those villains? Why was the dog abandoned? Who exactly are you in the first place? It’s an emotional story with a lot in store that is presented in a cinematographic way.

“We hope that we can make a story that’s touching and universal. That’s clear for everyone, but at the same time, it can be very personal for each person,” said Lega.

Koira is set to release for PC on Steam in 2025.