I mean, "cozy games" isn't really a genre.
What are we talking about? Stardew Valley like farming sims? Zero-gameplay diorama builders? VNs with happy contexts? These are all so wildly divergent.
this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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IMO, a lot of them suck as games because they're not really games in the traditional sense. They are experiences. Or even just art pieces. What annoys me most about them is they are usually touted and tagged as being "experimental" and yet don't do anything new or unique or anything one could legitimately say is experimental.
There is a steam group called "Wholesome Games" that lists cozy games. They also do nintendo direct style twitch streams. There is a ton of amazing cozy games. Of course there are some not so great ones. But the video seemed to focus only on stardew valley clones. Even though there are so many unique ones out there.
For example i played a VR demo a few weeks ago called Sushi Ben. It was very unique and cozy. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419240/Sushi_Ben/
This one is very cozy too.
There is a ton of unique and amazing cozy games in the Wholesome Games group that i suggest people check out: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35411526/
I think the link is to their curator steam page but I'm on my phone so its a bit hard to navigate.
They're not really for me, as I find it difficult to relax while playing them, but I'm glad they exist.
Gaming had a real identity crisis around the 2000s, when every other game was a brown military shooter.
Now we've got cute games and cozy games and artsy games, and I feel like that opens up the genre to more people and enriches the whole medium.
Cozy games are more difficult to make, though, because the gameplay is not anymore just "point cursor at screen and click in the right moment". So, yeah, you will get some worse examples, especially as the genre is still figuring itself out.
The brown MilSim apocalypse was a bad time.
Ultimately, these cozy games are so often Indies with a limited scope and budget. The fact that this sort of genre has found the following is a good thing for gaming and Indie devs.
Of course once we reach market saturation and people are fed up with them, they won't sell as well and new twists on the genre will have to be developed in order to stand out. This is a good thing for gaming and indie devs again.
I'd rather have an over saturation of cozy games than an over saturation of live service hero shooters
I think you should play whatever the fuck you enjoy and anyone who criticizes you for it can eat shit
Are there cozy games that aren't Stardew Valley?
Slime Rancher
Upcoming one that looks promising is Loftia, then theres Tiny Glade that just came out. Just from the top of my head
...animal crossing, for one?
I feel like Paleo Pines is a decent mix of Animal Crossing and Stardew, with just a tiny bit of ARK thrown in (Dino taming). The art style is honestly so freaking adorable and I can't get enough of the dino buddies and all their little noises. I think the dev team might all be women, but I'm not 100% on that.
There's a demo on steam that lets you play through the first three weeks, and you can save and continue, and your progress will transfer to the full game if you decide to get it.
The granddaddy, Story of Seasons, as well.
I know I'm not the target audience when I accidentally blitzed through most of the content for Pioneers of Olive Town in 2 seasons.
Probably the best cozy game that I've played in recent times has been Thank Goodness You're Here. It's an incredibly quirky and zany romp through a northern British town full of lively characters and great visuals. The soundtrack is honestly probably one of the best OSTs around in recent years, too. Your only controls are movement, jumping, and slapping things to interact with them.
The entire game can be finished in about 3-ish hours depending on how often you stop to just interact with the world. I honestly can't recommend the game enough, and I'm not even English.
Northern England, I think "Northern Britain" would just be Scotland
Oh no, I spaced out for 4 seconds. Have the British taken over the world?
Not recently...
Have a look at the game and you'll see we're not really capable of taking over anywhere anymore
There's this concept in game design called game flow, which in simple terms is essentially what happens when a game is both engaging and challenging at just the right amounts to the point where you get immersed in the experience. You can't have good flow without both some challenge and reward.
That's why games that are too simple and/or easy are boring. I feel like that's a very fine line you have to walk if you want to make a "cozy" game. How relaxing is relaxing enough without being boring? You need a minimum of challenge and stakes, because that's makes good games good.
Imo what's key to a cosy game is that you choose within the game how much you want to challenge yourself. Take stardew, for example. My mum was content just farming crops. I went into the difficult mines with lots of combat etc. You can enjoy the game if you don't do the hard parts, or you can do them sparsely, or all the time. You choose, and that's what makes it so relaxing.
Turns out that the majority of games suck. In every genre. There are just fewer cozy games so there aren’t as many stand out hits to choose from.
These trailers have started to blend together for me, and I think that's the issue. They might have a "nice vibe", but that alone isn't enough. What makes your game unique and fun to play? Sell me on that!
Cosy games are meant to be relaxing, almost stress-free experiences that revolve around repetition and reward playing them in small doses each day. I can understand why hardcore gamers don't like them, but at the same time they're not made for them.
I'm not a hardcore gamer, but usually mostly into RPGs. But I've also got hundreds of hours in stardew and thousands in the Sims. When I play one of those, I'm always low key scared to grow bored because I LOVE those games and I know that there won't be another good one right around the corner.
When I got bored of Skyrim, I played the Witcher, and when I got bored of that, I played Fallout. Repeat ad nauseam, because there's more playable, entertaining RPGs out there than any one human could play in a lifetime.
With cosy games, not so much. When you grow bored of one, chances are, there won't be another one that'll be enjoyable to you at all, and you'll have to hope and wait that something good will come out at some point.
Well, I'm making one so i guess i can't say they suck. I do feel like a lot of them aren't great games, though. As in, they create a good vibe but they often lack solid gameplay. I think the writing in some I've played leans far too much into awkward and insecure characterizations too, and that gets tiring for me quickly. I'm trying to avoid those pitfalls in mine.
Any link/info on your game? I’m down for a cozy game with a bit more core gameplay
Thanks for the interest! I only have a short demo and trailer up so far but would love to hear what you think. 😄
This looks fun! Going to have to check that demo out when I get home.
Thank you! I'd love to hear what you think. 😄
That looks really cool. It will help me live out my fantasy of having a handful of ants in my pocket that I can deploy at any moment.
You can also get a jar of bees! Thanks for the kind words. :)
I really like what i saw in the trailer! I'll try the demo later today if i don't forget haha. Keep it up! 😁
Thanks for the kind words. Means a lot for an unknown solo dev like myself. 🙏
Hopefully it involves parachuting dogs
It doesn't, but it does have a pig-based sliding puzzle. 🐖 i posted the demo on the comment you replied to if you're curious.
Hmm I guess "cozy" games are a genre, but I kinda felt like they are games that make you feel cozy, fun without the stress. If a game sucks then I don't know I'd consider it "cozy".