Animal Crossing: New Horizons
With lovable NPCs, boundless character customization, day-to-day tasks, and tiny homes to decorate, Animal Crossing: New Horizons hits several of the most important identifiers of cozy games. It's one of those games that you sink hours upon hours into, sometimes taking hiatuses from playing, but always getting drawn back in eventually.
Potion Permit: Healing the town of Moonbury
In Potion Permit, players take on the role of a medical chemist assigned to the small town of Moonbury, where the residents are initially somewhat suspicious of the player. However, as they establish relationships and develop their craft, they begin to foster a place for themself in the community.
Dorfromantik
Board games can often turn out to be the complete opposite of cozy games. But despite an initially overwhelming board, Dorfromantik turns out to be a low-pressure delight. Much like the satisfaction that comes from terraforming in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Dorfromantik has you combining hexagonal tiles to build your own little slice of country life.
Unpacking
Unpacking was an immediate success upon its release toward the end of 2021. It's easy to see why: there's immense attention to detail, the underlying story prompts emotional involvement, and the block puzzle aspect of the game is a relaxing act of repetition sure to help with de-stressing.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Animal Crossing was long the undisputed king of the relaxing life sim - but Disney may well be the one brand that could give the Nintendo game a run for its money as the cozy game of choice. The Avengers of Disney games, Disney Dreamlight Valley sees you explore the titular land of Dreamlight Valley, interacting with fan-favourite Disney and Pixar characters as you fish, cook, and generally bring magic back to the valley.
Abzu
Abzu gives you the tranquility of being alone as they control a solitary diver in a vast ocean. Though nothing else close to human waits in the depths of the water, there is plenty of life to seek out. Dolphins spring past the sea's surface, schools of fish swarm together, and manatees laze around in kelp forests. The marine environment in Abzu is massive and fleshed out beautifully for such a short game.
Bear And Breakfast
Have you ever wanted to take up the role of a bear who runs a bed and breakfast in a cozy little woodland area? Are you interested in making adorable animal friends and unknowingly accepting quests from deities? Well, Bear and Breakfast is your chance to do all three, somehow.
Stardew Valley
With its colorful graphics, endearing soundtrack, and varied cast of characters that render it impossible not to pick favorites, this game was bound to be iconic. In this game that’s still seeing somewhat frequent updates and new features added, grow crops, raise animals, plan your harvests, get to know the townsfolk, explore the mines, enter a cute but harrowing combat system, and live out your days in farmstead bliss.
Journey
Journey is a unique game in that, while you play it with other people, you don’t actually speak to them. In the game, you communicate through a series of chimes, working together to try to solve puzzles and progress on your, well, journey. Sometimes, it felt like this game was more of an art piece than anything. The landscaping feels infinite and leaves you feeling comfortably small, the music is epic and swells as you travel, and the gameplay itself is smooth and easy.
