Bones That Rattle: Cozy Games Are A Lie!
If everything is cozy, then maybe nothing is.
I thought I knew what a cozy game was, but I have no idea what it was after my wife joined a cozy games Facebook group. Everything is cozy, really.
I’ve written a post where I, lightly, went over the time I rage-quit a “cozy” game named Coral Island. After reading
’s post that ended with an invitation to a fight.I just went, “why not?”
We All Know It’s True
While Katya Ryabova did say everyone has their own perspective of what cozy is, I can agree and disagree with that.
Imagine you’re snuggling on your sofa or bed. It’s just cold enough that you feel that warmth below your blanket, and you’re watching a movie. What movie would you watch? Many people could come up with different answers. From fantasy to documentary, from romance to horror, it’s a matter of perspective. In this, I agree.
But not when it comes to cozy games, looking for them in the store, I just can’t. Skyrim isn’t cozy. The Sims aren’t cozy. Coral Island isn’t cozy. From the way I’ve heard some people describe it, Stardew Valley isn’t cozy (I know, I know). I’d say that they have cozy properties.
A cozy game, to me, is a game that lacks a fail-state (A way to lose), has a “gentle” art style, it is low tempo, usually deals with building a community, usually has some crafting, decorating, or building, and usually focuses on emotional connection when it has plot.
Here are some examples:
Spilled!
Spilled! is a game where you are (on?) a boat, and after the evil big boat made a mess by spilling oil, dumping drums, and leaving litter floating around, it’s up to you to clean it all up. There’s no timer, no urgency. The art is as pretty and soothing as the music that runs in the background, alongside your boat. All at your pace, and you can’t fail.
Gourdlets
Gourdlets is a sandbox game, where chill vegetable people join your town as you expand it however you want it. Add a beach, lots of trees, a bunch of houses, and decorate the interior, tons of campfires, and they will love it. In their eyes, everything you do is hype, no matter what.
Sticky Business
Sticky Business is a game where you run a sticker business. Running a business is stressful, or so I’ve heard, but not in this game. You can’t fail in this game; you chill while you create adorable stickers, and they also added Among Us to it.
Tiny Glade
Tiny Glade is another sandbox game, but in here, you build your diorama. You are given an area where you can create your pleasant, peaceful, and soothing town, cottage, castle, ruins, whatever you want, really. You don’t worry about resources, the weather, or insurrections.
Fruit Bus
Fruit Bus is a game where you run your food bus, but you cannot fail. Explore, discover, cook, and serve people. Customize your bus, drive around, go to different towns, and just enjoy your time. Come to think of it, there are a lot of cozy games that allow you to run your business, without the stress that comes with a real business.
Solarpunk
Alright, Solarpunk isn’t out yet, so we’ll see, but I enjoyed the demo. It’s purely focused on exploration, building, and enjoying the fruits of your labor. I mean, I even ran out of thirst and hunger, and I didn’t die. You get to explore different islands and caves, without the fear of dying, all while building a beautiful and self-sustaining cottage? That’s hype.
Locomoto
In Locomoto you befriend passengers, customize your train, gather and craft, and go around the whole area safely, getting everyone to their destination. No stress of money, angering people, feeding a Lovecraftian horror to keep the train running, and yourself alive. Just you, adorable animals, and the soft wind.
Powerwash Simulator
This one is only cozy if you can handle cleaning an absurd amount of grime. Powerwash Simulator is a game where you clean, in my opinion, unlivable or unworkable places from the amount of dirt and grime they’re covered in. I’m a little bit iffy about this one, because I got antsy cleaning everything here, even if there’s no timer or high stakes.
What Is A Cozy?
You know what all of these have in common? Probably more than a couple of things, but primarily it’s the lack of a fail-state. You can’t lose, you can’t die, there’s no timer, you can just take your time, and relax.
At least, this is what you’ll get when you look for games that are tagged as cozy, or what you usually get when you look for cozy games. It just allows people to find a genre of games that focuses on being very low-stakes, looking cutesy, and giving them a space they created for you to relax. That’s what cozy games are.
But to me? Want to know what I find cozy?
Nubby’s Number Factory
In Nubby’s Number Factory you get to play Peggle, shooting a ball, bouncing it around, and seeing numbers go way up there.
Bullet Heavens
Wildkeepers Rising. Vampire Hunters. Desktop Survivors 98. Pest Apocalypse. I turn my brain off and just mow people down. These are great.
And There Are Many More!
I can agree that cozy, what cozy really means, is subjective. Skyrim can be cozy. Sims can be cozy. Coral Island (I guess) can be cozy. Cozy is any game that can help you relax. Some people may even find games like Factorio or Dwarf Fortress cozy. In a way, Outlast Trials is cozy to me. A game is cozy if it can get you to relax, as that is the intention of the cozy genre.
Put Down Those Pitchforks!
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What’s a cozy game to you? And which cozy game are you playing?
I’m playing Kabuto Park, and it’s a very adorable creature-collecting game.
Lack of a fail-state is an excellent descriptor! I'm going to add it to my arsenal of tools to describe cozy games. I'd argue that Stardew Valley doesn't really have a fail-state, but calling it cozy isn't the hill I'm dying on.
Also thank you for the list of titles you find cozy, adding a bunch to my wishlist too.
Really, pitchforks aren't needed here. I'm just stoked that we're trading essays and inspiring conversations!
Cozy for me are games where I know it well and can relax. Most recently my brief 15 minutes relaxing game is Mario Kart World, despite the research that it is the most stressful game. haha.