The Rise of Cozy Games

Video games as a hobby and media are as diverse as the human mind can conceptualize. Games that test your reaction time, games that push your endurance, games that ask you to manage resources and survive for as long as your character can without dying.

For many in the gaming public, genres have typically be defined by what the game is, that is it’s action, it’s a role-playing game, it’s a sports simulation. The way that it makes you as a player feel isn’t necessarily the way the game can be defined. A game like Dark Souls or Bloodborne can evoke horror but still be considered as Action RPGs, a game like Call of Duty wouldn’t be classified as much more than an FPS shooter even with its nascent political commentary. So, how does one define a game that seems to want to make you feel, at home? A game that is akin to a warm fleece sweater in the winter. How does one define “Cozy Games”?

Cozy Core Aesthetic

In the mid to late 2010s there was an overt push online for a more laidback form of self-presentation. A general cultural apathy had manifested in myriad ways, with doomerism, Trad, and Uwu, all being aesthetics that at one point or another found prominence in many online spaces.

Cozy-core isn’t so amorphous to apply to any sub-genre, but also not so rigid as to set rules for applicability, it’s a very democritized view of self and presentation and goal. The way to be cozy is to have a sort of universalized comfort. Hallmarks for the style are usually autumnal settings with a lot of scarves, neutral and pastel tones, and oversized comfort wear. It’s as much a mood as it is an aesthetic.

Another key element is low-intensity music. This is almost universal for all cozy media.

Origins and Hallmarks of “Cozy” Games

When a game isn’t challenging the player it’s usually referred to as an easy game. But any game can be easy whether through an options menu or repetition and practice. The idea behind “Cozy” games that unites them as a genre is the shared goal of a stress-free escapism that allows for players to lose themselves for hours.

Many games implement farming mechanics and other low-risk gameplay styles such as fishing and bug catching. Many but not all “Cozy” games have no combat elements but even those that do are less focused on the idea of being “strong” as a vehicle for story telling. It is instead another way for you to play and get materials to get back to the core gameplay loop.

The loop in many of the “Cozy” games is the player is given tasks from members of the their town that they can choose to do or not do. If you do the tasks you are rewarded with items and praise and possibly even an in-game relationship. If you don’t? You just don’t there’s many games in the genre and the penalty for ignoring requests is just that you don’t do the quest.

When discussing the genre of “Cozy” there are really three games that stand head and shoulders above the rest for any number of reasons, whether that be influence or popularity. To further understand “Cozy” games, they’re some games that are essential to know.

Harvest Moon

Arguably the “pater familias” of the genre of “Cozy” gaming, Harvest Moon also known as Story of Seasons (after a bit of a contract dispute) is a farm simulation role-playing game that first came out for the Famicom / Super Nintendo in 1996. It is a game about maintaining a farm. There’s not really consequences for the player but your animals can die if you don’t take care of them as a game it is pretty much average it was a hard sell at the time but the legacy of the franchise carried on for quite a number of games and in fact gave rise to an entire genre of farming games now this is not to say Harvest Moon was the first farming game but it definitely was the driving factor in a lot of the more contemporary design games.

One thing that Harvest Moon really does a good job of doing is making you feel like a farmer with an actual community one of the core aspects of many cozy games is making you feel like the town that you’re living in and the game world is verisimilitudinous that is feeling as though it is real.

It is also unique compared with many “Cozy” games in that it has multiple endings. How you play determines how the ending is shown and there’s even an ultimate ending for someone who grinds out every possible success condition. But you also get special endings for having kids, or chickens, or a lot of hearts from the bachlorettes of the town. Again, you can win however you want.

Stardew Valley

Of the games in this space, few can really hold a candle to the name recognition of Stardew Valley.

Taking from Harvest Moon as an inspiration Stardew Valley made by ConcernedApe is one of the most successful independent games of all time .

Similarly to Harvest Moon you inherit a farm and you live off the land. You become a part of a community. You can get married most notably you can have a same-sex marriage which wasn’t added in Harvest Moon for a time after this game had been published. Another key distinction is that there’s also combat built into the world of Stardew Valley.

Stardew Valley in it’s close to a decade of production is without a doubt one of the most lovingly well crafted games to be produced and one of the most successful ones to be produced by an independent developer. It’s still receives constant updates in as far as “Cozy” games go, it’s core philosophy seem to have been to make a world that you would want to be in and from the hour logs on Steam, from the numerous glowing reviews, from the overwhelming praise of the game it can be said that this game hit its goal and also it is a “Cozy” game.

Animal Crossing

One of the biggest franchises in gaming, Animal Crossing is arguably the biggest name in “Cozy” gaming.

Animal Crossing is a franchise that is one part life simulator and one part Farming Simulator and probably the biggest name when people think of ” “Cozy” games it is not a stretch to say that many “Cozy” games were directly inspired by Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing as a franchise has always aimed to create a community for its player to play. Within there are dozens of quests where you can collect bugs collect fish chat with NPCs get items from those NPCs sell trade go to other towns go to your friends’ towns there are so many different things for you to do within the world of Animal Crossing that the idea of Animal Crossing is a bit overwhelming. But the thing about it is you don’t have to do anything. D

Again, Animal Crossing does not tell you, “You have 7 million things you have to do you have to do right now you have to do it right now!” Despite the pressure from Tom Nook to pay off your debt, there is no consequence for not paying off your debt immediately. There is no consequence for taking an extended break outside of your neighbors noticing that you’ve been gone for a while and at the end of the day the game only asks for you to do what you would like to do.

Its most recent release Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold so many units made people pick up the Nintendo Switch at such a high clip that it would be disingenuous if not right dishonest to say that it does not have an impact on this current wave of “Cozy” games but where is a boom, there is a bust, and where there is praise,and hype there of course is, backlash

Criticism of “Cozy”

In film and music there is the genre of “mumblecore” made up of a vague awkwardness and twee that to some is appealing and to others is revolting. in film the term is most often used with regards to independent works that lack a lot of the hallmarks of the typical Hollywood production, such as in budgeting, scope and scale, and the titular “mumbling” dialogue.

The term “mumblecore ” is a matter of contention to some because of the connotations of “mumbling” carries an implicit air of derision. Mumblecore films are accused of lacking plots or compelling characters that other movie genres present as a matter of fact. In music “mumblecore” is derided for the amateurish nature of the production and again lacking a certain gravitas that other genres present. These criticisms are also replicated in the genre of Cozy gaming.

Youtuber, Koramora goes into detail about her and many others criticisms of “Cozy” games, especially after the boom period of Stardew and AC: New Horizons, most chief among them is the sense of pointlessness some “Cozy” games can rely on.

That is to say, progression in “Cozy” games can sometimes be described as cyclical and disengaged. With a game like Mario, you’re working towards an ending. With a game like Animal Crossing, the game is infinite theoretically.

In more active games, you’re responsible for getting things done or facing consequences. You lose out on things for failing. But that’s the opposite of the intent in many “Cozy” games. They’re not designed around you losing.

Is “Cozy” a crime?

This criticism of “Cozy” games can be lobbied at games as a whole but the critique is a bit more salient for “Cozy” games because the general premise is these are games that don’t pressure you. You can veg out and just have a good time with them.

And is that really a problem?

Gamers as a consumer demographic have an unfortunate but not highly unique tendency of elitism. As gaming became more mainstream many gamers sought to differentiate themselves from “casuals” by the time invested in games. That began to fall to wayside however as many “casual” gamers had hours in the 100s if not 1000s of their preferred games.

So the remedy then became to disregard games of certain genres, as lesser. To say these games aren’t “real” games and their players are thus, not “real” gamers.

The value of said title notwithstanding, if one wants to apply a harsh definition, all games and thus gamers aren’t doing more than playing digital skinner boxes. None of these toys are necessarily or inherently valuable. They do serve a function and that is entertainment. For some that’s shooting a zombie fish-gecko in Resident Evil 4, for others it’s catching a Lionfish in Animal Crossing.

Works Cited

Americanspy. “Game Trends: Why Cozy Core Is on the Rise.” eBaumsWorld, eBaumsWorld, 25 Apr. 2021, gaming.ebaumsworld.com/articles/game-trends-understanding-cozy-core/86815939/.

Bellingham, Hope. “Cozy Gaming: Why a Wholesome Trend Became a Recognized Genre.” Gamesradar, GamesRadar+, 26 July 2022, www.gamesradar.com/cozy-gaming-why-a-wholesome-trend-became-a-recognized-genre/.

Brinks, Melissa. “Explore Comfort and Self-Reflection in Cozy Games.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 July 2019, forbes.com/sites/melissabrinks/2019/07/01/explore-comfort-and-self-reflection-in-cozy-games/?sh=341f6b374127.

koramora. “Why Do Cozy Games Suck?” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Oct. 2023, youtube.com/watch?v=MnMQgN0aTQM.

Strampe, Louryn. “The Best Cozy Games.” Wired, Conde Nast, 10 Nov. 2023, wired.com/gallery/best-cozy-games/.

Velocci, Carli. “The Best Cozy Games for Unwinding and Relaxing | CNN Underscored.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Nov. 2023, edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/electronics/best-cozy-games.

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