Some games simply ‘wow’ you from the moment you’re permitted to enter their worlds, and in that regard, Project Bloomwalker is a blessing indeed. Revealed for the first time in the Xbox @ gamescom 2025 Broadcast, Project Bloomwalker is a beautiful survival crafting affair set in a gorgeous, anime-infused land that has been corrupted – its plant life shrivelled, and its ground turned an ashy white. As a ‘Bloom Walker’, you have the ability to cure the world of this blight, using your travelling caravan, a deceptively spacious house escorted by giant robotic legs, housing an equally giant talking cat. It’s quirky, inviting, and frequently magical.

During a hands-on demo at gamescom, we were invited to explore Bloomwalker’s world, and how you’ll seek to purify it. This really is the crux of the game. You’re not crafting to dominate the natural world – you’re there to heal it, and it feels truly different as a result.

The demo begins with your character carefully escorting their house through some tainted areas, using its power to slowly restore the world around it. It’s immediately inviting; the ground around it is restored as it works – the terrain explodes into vibrant green, foliage and massive mushrooms transform from nasty, sludgy mounds to bright, rainbow hues – everything here feels intentionally placed and ripe for exploration, which is exactly what you’ll need to do.

While the majority of the world we saw in the demo was relatively safe (sans one attack from a giant pelican), the tainted areas require some thought to explore, adding layers of puzzle to the mix. You’ll need to be prepared to encounter enemies like the aforementioned pelican, and venture into dangerous, blighted parts (taking damage as you do) until you can clear it. Luckily, there are resources like the Breathblossom that allow you to temporarily breathe in those spots, but you’ll need to work fast. For all of its beauty, Project Bloomwalker’s world can be treacherous, and it seems you’ll need to brace yourself for it in order to survive and keep your house moving.

The house’s purification power (or ‘purrification’, according to our cat, Kuroru), won’t last forever; after a short amble to the designated spot, we’re invited to settle the house down and start crafting more purification crystals. This is the resource that allows you to keep purifying, and it can be made from a number of items scattered around the map – berries, apples, honey, and a few other special materials like luminite.

This is where Kettlekid comes in, a creature I can only describe as the sentient, very hungry contents of a cauldron. Throwing your gathered resources into Kettlekid will create purification crystals, used to fill purification gauge so the house can keep on moving. These crystals are ferried over to your house by the absolute highlight of the demo – Oddlings. These tiny, squeaky balls of pure joy are here to help you, but they’ll need a bit of care to function effectively.

Fortunately, you have a wooden crafting table (also equipped with legs, naturally) at your disposal, which allows you to craft little leafy beds and tents for your Oddlings to rest in. In a pinch, you can also approach Oddlings that are exhausted and give them a hug, which will not only restore 50% of their energy, but also cure a tiny part of your own soul, too. It’s truly adorable.

Rogue Oddlings can also be found out in the wild, either stressing out in the open or concealed by a small puzzle. Once you found them, they can be adopted and recruited into your own Oddling army. While they’re a joy to have around anyway, building a larger group also expedites some automated crafting activities (like getting crystals from Kettlekid over to the house). There’s a hint of factory sim underneath all the loveliness.

Your own ambling house is truly impressive; the quaint little cottage, while small on the outside, houses a pocket dimension of sorts – a whimsical, celestial-themed bedroom full of sparkling trinkets and cute decorations. It’s truly amazing the first time you realize that it’s bigger on the inside than the outside, with no loading screen or transition. The attention to design is really felt here – I spent a good few minutes peering into round terrariums and zooming into the walls to absorb every magical detail. It’s also where you’ll come to chat to Kuroru about what’s going on, orienting you on your next goal.

Even with just a short time in Project Bloomwalker, I’m absolutely entranced by its whimsical landscape and characters, and its poignant premise.