So…What Exactly is a Cozy Game?
What do you think of when you hear the term “cozy game”? Does your mind immediately go to Stardew Valley? Perhaps, it actually thinks of Skyrim. As the cozy phrase becomes more popular when discussing various games, defining the blossoming genre continues to get a little more unclear. So, the question remains: what exactly is a cozy game?
What Makes a Game Cozy?
The genre isn’t as easily defined since cozy to some may not be cozy to others, but there is a clear mixture of certain gameplay elements that traditionally classify a game as cozy by the general public. It’s always a bit weird to try and put guardrails around things that are so subjective, but we are able to look at the landscape of “traditionally cozy” games and identify what similarities they all have to know what an apt recommendation for a stranger would be.
Every cozy game tends to hit the perfect blend of art style, music, and gameplay.
If you’ve ever perused the cozy gamers subreddit when looking for game recommendations, you’ll notice that the same 10 or so games are usually the first ones to appear under the comments unless they are explicitly ruled out based on the requestor’s taste. Things like Stardew Valley, the My Time series, and newer farming sims tend to dominate the conversation. A cozy game doesn’t need to hit ALL of the checkboxes, but it does need that perfect blend of three elements that make it feel cozy: art style, soundtrack, and gameplay.
A Well-Defined, often Playful Art Style
An inviting, often playful art style. Whether the game is pixel art, 3D, or hand-drawn, cozy games tend to have a color palette separate from the rest. They aren’t rooted in hyper-realism most of the time, so even dark academia style games like Strange Horticulture can feel inviting and distinct.
Simulator games often find the line of creating the 3D world without tying it too deep into realism. Whether that is a budgetary or artistic choice isn’t always known, but that chase for hyper-realistic graphics is something that is typically not associated with cozy games. For that reason, seeing a game's art style is usually the first thing that helps me categorize it in my brain as cozy over comfort.
A Lowkey yet Calming OST
A great OST, typically similar to good background music–and that’s a compliment! The best cozy games pair the art style with a soundtrack that teleports you to another world by setting the mood. Part of Stardew’s charm (for me, at least) is how well the music blends with the art style to make the game feel like cozying up with a good book. The music is quietly fantastic, as opposed to bombastic and epic. Think along the lines of a good lofi playlist.
A Gameplay Loop Outside of Combat
Gameplay that is low-stakes, can be done on your own time, and isn’t combat-heavy will usually catch the eye of those who love cozy games. Now, that’s not to say that combat can’t exist at all, but it is usually just one of multiple gameplay mechanics available in the game.
There’s a section of gamers that often find farming sims to be a bit stressful right out of the box, but the accessibility options is what makes it low-stakes. Modern sim games are now starting to add settings in the game menu that truly allow you to make the game more relaxing and better fit your needs. Features like turning off combat, extending the length of an in-game day, or turning off the fishing mini-game are just a few of the features that help widen the reach of games in an oversaturated genre.
Is it Cozy? Or is it a Comfort Game?
The Sub-Genres of Cozy Games
For me, there are a few sub-genres underneath the larger “cozy game” umbrella. The most obvious and universal genres are:
Farming / Crafting / Life sims - Games like Story of Seasons, Palia, or The Sims.
Visual Novels / Walking Simulators - Games like Gone Home, Coffee Talk, and Beacon Pines
Checklist / Collect-a-thons - Games like Wytchwood, Toem, or Cozy Grove
Shorter Story-Driven Games - Games like Toem, Lake, or Strange Horticulture
Then, there are cozy-ish genres that aren’t “sweaty” games but aren’t as frequently recommended as the genres mentioned above. These are:
Hobby / Job Simulators - Games like Powerwash Simulator and House Flipper
Management / City Builders - Games like Tiny Glade and Two Point Campus
The Comfort Games
But what happens when you have a game that is cozy to you but wouldn’t traditionally qualify as a cozy game to the general public? Well, that’s where comfort games come in.
Comfort games are more specific to personal taste. These are the games that wouldn’t traditionally be tagged as “cozy,” but they are the games you personally find to be really relaxing and comforting to play when you just want to zone out for a bit. For me, my comfort games are:
Elden Ring (a FromSoftware souls game that’s open world)
Octopath Traveler 2 (an 8-character turn-based RPG)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (a D&D CRPG)
Hades (an action roguelike)
Hollow Knight (a souls-like metroidvania)
The above aren’t traditionally cozy–especially Elden Ring–but they are all games I can turn on and play without being stressed. They’re comfortable, familiar, and with the exception of Octopath, they are all games where I don’t need to remain engaged in the story to enjoy. I usually find all survival games cozy as they feel very much like farming sims just with an added gameplay element, but I know the survival aspect is what would generally rule it out of the mainstream definition.
What Does “Cozy Game” Mean to You?
All in all, the cozy game genre is vast and not limited to farming sims, even when the perception may feel that way. There are cozy games, there are comfort games, and there are some that meet in the middle. Ultimately what matters is how you feel while playing them. And if you’re looking for something new to play within the cozy world, check out my post with a few recommendations!
