Ahhhh Cozy games! *twirls and showers you with game cases* they are my favorite “genre” of game and today I’m going to give you the crash course in this subject!
Now to begin: what on earth is a cozy game? You might be asking. Good question! For the first 20 years of my life I didn’t know either! But I soon discovered that I was a master in the cozy gaming arena without even knowing it.
Cozy games typically have an endearing art style, minimal combat/fighting, and a wholesome story. Now this is by no means an ends all to meet all qualifications for what a cozy game entails! But it’s a good start.
To put it in broader terms: a cozy game is the type of game that makes you relax and destress. Like a favorite blanket and movie!
Now that we’ve gotten the “what is a cozy game” out of the way, I’ll give you the starter pack of cozy games I’d recommend for beginners! Most of my cozy games belong to the Nintendo consoles but I know that not everyone owns a Switch so I will give some mobile and PC games as well.
Beginner friendly Cozy Switch Games.
- Disney Dreamlight Valley $30 (you can get this on Xbox and PC as well!) this is a fun game where you can do quests, get new characters to move in, decorate your valley, build up friendships, and explore! It will someday be free to play, but for now it’s in early access so you have to buy access.
- Story of Seasons Friends of Mineral Town or Pioneers of Olive Town $60. Friends of mineral town has a cute chibi art style that just puts you at ease. Pioneers of Olive town has a more “normal” art style but still super cute. In both games you play as a farmer who has inherited a farm. You can grow crops, raise animals, choose someone to date or befriend, and participate in local festivals! Etc, etc. both are really fun games and great to play. Pioneers of Olive town however has more “start from scratch” if you will. You tame your first animals and you build bridges to get across a river in your farm to name a few things. Either game is great but if you’ve never played a farm sim before you might want the simplicity of Mineral Town instead.
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild $60 ahhhh one of my loves. At its core it’s a “do what ever you want” game. Sure there’s a main story arc and sure there are a few dungeons that are a bit hard, but you can avoid them if you wish. You want to go around taming horses? Go ahead. Want to just collect ingredients? You betcha. Want to just take in the beauty of the world? Sure! It can be a super cozy and fun game to play. Oh! And there are shrines that have puzzles for you to figure out!. This game has a really good tutorial that really helps you get your footing in this world. Highly recommend.
- Animal Crossing New Horizons $60 You get to decorate your island, get villagers to move in, fish, catch bugs, craft furniture, etc. it’s a fun game and a great time sink. Animal crossings are synced up to real life time so whatever time it is where you are so will it be in the game.
- Animal Crossing Happy Homes (dlc for Animal Crossing) $20 this dlc (downloadable content) takes the decorating aspect and multiplies it! You play as a n employee at Happy Homes Paradise where you will decorate and design vacation homes for villagers! It’s a fun and chill game and I love it.
Beginner friendly Mobile/Tablet games
- Genshin Impact (free to play) This is a great game to get lost in. You play as a Traveler who looses their twin. The story arc is all about trying to figure out what happened to your sibling and you explore the grand world of Teyvat. The combat system is easy to get into and the characters are wonderful. It’s one of my all time favorite games. ( You can also find this game on PC and the PlayStation.)
- Professor Layton trilogy $30 (or you can buy them separately.) Ahhhh I loveee these games. Professor Layton takes you on an adventure full of fun puzzles and really intriguing storylines!! I’ve replayed these games about 3 times and it’s almost time to play them again… (you can also get Professor Layton on the 3ds.)
- Bunny Buns (free to play) This game is a great relaxer. You play as a bunny baker who crafts buns with a shape and color. It’s fun and yet it’s not a time sink due to the Bunny having to take a nap after a few minutes of gameplay.
- Flick Solitaire (free to play) !! This is my favorite solitaire right now! It’s a fun way to play as you can “flick” the cards with touch controls instead of the usual click and drag way. You also get to choose a fun deck of cards at the beginning so there’s that!
- Kawaii Mansion (free to play) I really like the atmosphere of this one! It’s a hidden object game that just exudes coziness. You get to decorate the mansion as you tackle hidden object puzzles/rooms.
- Good pizza, great pizza. (Free to play) a wonderful time sink to just relax and turn your brain off. You play as a upcoming pizzeria and you just make pizza! It’s a cozy little game that you can play for as long as you want. (You can also buy this on the Switch if you’d like but it’s free to play on mobile.)
Beginner friendly PC games
- Seekers Notes (free to play) This is a hidden object game that my mother has played for over 5 years! She would tell you that the storyline is easily overlooked once you reach a certain point and she generally only plays for the events that goes on during it. It’s a fun game!
- Microsoft Solitaire and Causal Games (free to play) I mean, do I need to say more? It’s solitaire with twists and turns and it’s a good choice.
- Delicious Emily series (Gamehouse.com the price depends) ahhh these games are my childhood!! Delicious Emily is a time management game series usually surrounding food and diner life. Each game has its own unique story line and I highly recommend them. (You can also play some of them on mobile!) they also have soooo many games for every season1 A Tea Garden, several Christmas themed ones, etc. My all time favorite is Taste of Fame.
- Genshin Impact, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and Story of Seasons can be found on Steam so you can play them on your PC!
Phew! Well that’s my crash course for cozy gaming! I hope that this piqued your interest 
. There will be more posts like this to come in the future, but for today this is it 
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I hope your week goes well! Tata for now.
~Tiffany Michele.
