How to get Animals and Pets in Core Keeper

It can get lonely underground, especially if you’re a solo player. Fortunately, you can find faithful companions to share your adventures with if you know where to look. With this in mind, here’s how to get Pets and Animals in Core Keeper.

What animals are available in Core Keeper?

There are two types of animals in Core Keeper. First, you have friendly creatures, like cows and goats, which you typically leave at your base. You can also get pets that follow you and bestow buffs. The latter can also level up and earn XP just like you can.

An element of chance is involved in animal husbandry in Core Keeper, but here’s how to obtain each type of creature:

How to get Friendly Creatures in Core Keeper

You must track down some animals before you can keep them, and they are typically found in the Meadow Biome. As the Core Keeper map is procedurally generated, I can’t show you exactly where to find a Meadow, but they look very distinct (pictured above).

Meadows are whimsical places where no hostile mobs will spawn. That said, hostiles can wander into Meadows and kill any friendly animals they find. Animals do not respawn in Core Keeper, so prioritize their safety. You can find Meadows just about anywhere, and they can even appear right next to the Core if you’re lucky.

Once you’ve found a Meadow, your next task is to bring any animal you want back to your base. You can craft a Leash with 8 Fiber on a Livestock Workbench to do this and drag your new friend to your settlement. Don’t worry if you don’t have a leash, as you can hold food, like mushrooms, to draw the animals to you.

The latter is pretty awkward if you have to travel a long distance, but it’s better than nothing. Animals can’t open doors, so making a small pen with a gate is a good idea to keep them safe. Mobs will spawn in poorly lit areas, so keep those fires burning.

How to get Pets in Core Keeper

Pets are a little different from regular animals in Core Keeper and must be hatched from an egg.

Eggs are pretty rare, but you can find them in random chests and even in the walls while mining. Once you have an egg, you can incubate it, which requires an Incubator and electricity.

You can do a ton of fancy things with electricity in Core Keeper, but here’s the most basic setup for an Incubator and how to make one:

First, make a Copper Workbench (8 Wood, 6 Copper Bars) and use it to build an Electronics Table (8 Wood, 8 Copper Bars). Make sure to also create the Egg Incubator with the Copper Workbench (8 Copper Bars, 8 Glass Pieces). The latter can be made with a Glass Smelter (5 Copper Bars) on the same Work Bench.

You can use the Electronics Table to build an Electricity Generator (10 Copper Bars). Place it on a tile next to the Incubator to power it.

With your incubator ready, place the egg inside and wait for it to crack. Once the egg hatches, you can put your new pet in the pet slot of your inventory (pictured above).

Pets level up naturally as they share your adventures. You can also give them an XP boost with Pet Pellets, Rare Candies, and Beast Boosters. These items have a low drop rate and can only be obtained through random chance in the wild.

All Egg Varients in Core Keeper Explained

We’re about to dive into major spoiler territory, but if you’re wondering what each egg contains, here’s everything you need to know:

Core Keeper is a game you can enjoy at your own pace and definitely falls into the “cozy game” category despite the combat. Animals are completely optional, but you can have a great time trying to collect them all.