Explorers! Gear up for a supersized battle against the creepiest and crawliest bosses of them all: Nimzura, Queen of the Burrowed Sands, featured in Core Keeper’s new Bags & Blasts free content update. If you’ve yet to discover this underground epic, Core Keeper is a sandbox adventure game that you can play as a solo explorer, or together with friends in 2-8-player online co-op. Best of all it’s available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass!

Nimruza – Queen of the Burrowed Sands

Before the rise of the Caveling empires, cicadas were a dominant species in the Underground. Their life cycles aligned with the natural order, earning them the title of “keepers of time.” However, as the Cavelings expanded, conflicts over territory escalated into a prolonged war. The cicada husks and ruined Caveling settlements that can be found across the underground are remnants of a struggle that nearly wiped out both sides.

At the centre of this conflict is Nimruza, a once towering cicada queen whose brood spanned the desert depths. That was until she was infected with a parasite that burrowed into her body, consuming her from within. Now driven by a dark, malevolent force, she is a formidable enemy in the latest Core Keeper update. Nimruza’s story in Core Keeper is one that expands the adventure and progresses the story of the Cicada-Caveling War.

But Nimruza is not just another boss fight. Her introduction marks a major turning point in Core Keeper’s world and the continuation of the game’s story. Her creation began with the idea of a massive cicada queen, a natural evolution of the cicada husks that you’ve come across during your adventures.

Designing Nimruza

The development team at Pugstorm spent a long time considering all the ways they could make Nimruza stand out from the other bosses in Core Keeper. The decision to design her as a corrupted force that has twisted into something unnatural and menacing is reflected in her attack patterns. You can expect a challenging battle with regimented, almost mechanical attacks designed to illustrate the loss of Nimruza’s natural instincts and transformation into a machine of evil.

Exploring the Oasis

In the Bags & Blasts free update, you will get to explore the Oasis, a brand-new sub-biome located in the Desert of Beginnings and take the battle to Nimruza in an attempt to quell this evil new force. Fend off cicada hordes, evade Nimruza’s crushing attacks, and avoid the devastating effects of dark energy to overcome this supersized insect in one of Core Keeper’s biggest boss fights yet.

While you’re in the Oasis, keep an eye out for the Drohmble, an adorable new camel-like creature that wanders the Oasis’s bountiful plains. Ranching these can uncover a valuable (but stinky) resource that’s useful for crafting brand new weaponry.

Explosive New Skills & Weapons

Wait, new weaponry?! Yep, you heard right! The Bags & Blasts update is all about bringing even more boom to Core Keeper, with the introduction of a brand-new Explosives skill tree that provides a blastingly powerful new way to play. Fend off enemies from afar with the introduction of Grenades, and discover brand-new bomb types, like the vacuum Void Bomb and multi-blast Blunder Bomb, to blast through cavern walls and create all new strategies to take down Core Keeper’s biggest threats.

Play it on Game Pass

It’s incredible to think that over 4 million players have already started their adventure in Core Keeper. Whether you’re a solo adventurer or you’ve been exploring the caverns together online, we’ve been blown away by the reaction the game has received – we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has played so far.

And if you haven’t started your adventure yet, or you’re excited to jump back in to take on Nimruza in this colossal new boss fight, don’t forget: Core Keeper is available right now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. See you in the underground!

Core Keeper

Fireshine Games

☆☆☆☆☆ 251

★★★★★

$19.99 $15.99

Get it now

Xbox Game Pass

Awaken as an explorer in a long-forgotten cavern teeming with untold secrets. In this award-winning, 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure, your choices shape an epic journey. Harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed. Level up your skills, defeat legendary Titans, and unveil the power of the Core. Grow your garden, fish in mysterious waters, master a vast array of recipes, raise and care for animals, encounter the Cavelings, and carve out your own unique world in an enchanting underground adventure.

Core Keeper

Fireshine Games

☆☆☆☆☆ 3

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Awaken as an explorer in a long-forgotten cavern teeming with untold secrets. In this award-winning, 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure, your choices shape an epic journey. Harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed. Level up your skills, defeat legendary Titans, and unveil the power of the Core. Grow your garden, fish in mysterious waters, master a vast array of recipes, raise and care for animals, encounter the Cavelings, and carve out your own unique world in an enchanting underground adventure.