Geek Herring’s Cosy Games of the Year
Cosy games are the best new genre of games out there right now.
In case you haven’t heard of them before, these are games that evoke a sense of safety, comfort, softness, and abundance. They’re overwhelmingly positive, don’t have any kind of violence or gore, and are safe from danger and risk.
Cosy games give you all those good feels. You feel better after playing them, more whole, more joyful, and like you’ve treated yourself to a bit of self-care and self-love.
And we all know that, especially in this year of 2020, a little bit of self-care and self-love is essential!
We’ve put together our list of favourite cosy games with the help from our wonderful community! Is there any we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments what else we should include!
A Short Hike (PC/Mac/Linux)
A Short Hike is our own Amanda’s cosy game of the year. It was one of those magical moments that she truly wishes she could revisit for the first time, all over again.
In Amanda’s own words, “A Short Hike blew me away this year. It’s the kind of game that gives you all the right feels and makes you feel warm, cosy, and loved while playing. The soundtrack is incredible, the gameplay wonderful, and the story just strikes all the right chords. Plus, it’s so colourful, joyful, and fun.”
Animal Crossing (Nintendo Switch)
Buy on Nintendo Store
Obviously, Animal Crossing is a game it seems at least half the world invested way too many hours into in 2020. Including our very own Monika, who you can watch play Animal Crossing live on Twitch!
Monika says, “Animal Crossing came out when lockdown started, so you could be on an island while actually being confined at home. You could do all the things outside you didn’t dare to do IRL anymore without any guilt or fear for your safety. The music alone was 100% meditative and I often just had the game open without actually doing anything and just run around on the island contemplating what else I could potentially do – even if I never did, that was okay.”
Like, Monika is not wrong at all. We are 100% on board with this!
Gravity Rush HD Remaster (PS4)
Buy on Playstation Store
Gravity Rush HD Remastered come from Justin over at Super Tangent Podcast. He says, “Cosy games, you say? I think the cosiest game this year I’ve fallen in love with is Gravity Rush HD Remaster for PS4. The enhanced frame rate, deep watercolour illustrations of its Victorian steampunk world…the calming music….it was ultra cosy.”
Journey (PC)
Buy on Steam
We absolutely have to include Journey on this list! Having streamed Flower earlier this year, we know first hand the wonderful feels these games evoke.
Anna from the Geek Herring community says that Journey is her cosy game of the year. You can catch Anna on Twitch, too, where you just might see her streaming her art or maybe a bit of Journey!
Anna says, “When I played journey for the first time, it was because I loved the art that I had seen of it – a calm and often monochromatic world of desert, water and snow. It’s amazing how the game tells a story and makes you experience all emotions you have without dialogue, combat, or great action, simply with environment, illustration and a wonderful soundtrack.
Despite the lack of communication tools, it’s wonderful to meet another responsive traveller, especially if you experience the end of the game together. It always makes me feel humble, calm, and restores some of my faith in the world.”
Kind Words (PC/Mac/Linux)
Sil from Whispers of War podcast suggested Kind Words as her cosy game of the year. She says, “I love the music and the idea behind the game.”
Thom from Three Extra Lives also says, “That game is great. Have you replied to many people or wrote anything of your own? (not asking for any details, just asking in general). I’ve generally just replied to people but I did write something a while back and got quite a lot of replies and it was really warming to experience.”
To which Sil replied, “Yes, I’ve written several replies, but also for myself. People have been absolutely lovely. There were one or two I reported because I was worried about the person. They seemed like they were very low and might do something to hurt themselves. I’m happy that the option to report is there as well and hopefully they got the help they needed.”
We love the concept of this game, too. A game where you actually just get to write nice letters to people and have other people write nice things to you? This is ultimate cosy game level 3000.
Ooblets (PC/Xbox)
Buy on Epic | Xbox Store
Ooblets is the cutest, weirdest game ever. Like, it’s called Ooblets, for goodness sake! But after watching Frazley stream it a bit, we fully agree with their suggestion for cosy game of the year.
Frazley, from Frazlcast podcast, says, “Ooblets is such an underrated game in my opinion. It’s in Early Access, and the programmers just welcomed a new human into this world! 😀 Enjoyed my time so far and excited with the new updates! AND IT’S SO DAMN CUTE!!!!!!!!!”
Undertale (PC/Mac/Linux)
Undertale comes in from Thom over at Three Extra Lives podcast. He says, “Undertale was that cosy game for me recently. It’s a game that felt so soulful and there was something comforting about this strange underground world full of “monsters” you end up in. Warming characters that you felt instantly attached to. Takes an interesting twist at the end but still, I’d put it in that basket.”
While yes, there is a little bit of RPG fighting in this game, our initial look at Undertale shows that you don’t actually have to engage in any kind of violence with the monsters. You might catch Thom streaming Undertale over on his Twitch channel!
War for the Overworld (PC/Mac/Linux)
Okay, we know what you’re thinking. Any game with “war” in the title can’t be cosy! But looking at the gameplay of this one, it totally falls into the category, especially if you’ve played similar games in the past.
Fellen/Fandangly from the Geek Herring community recommends War for the Overworld! He says, “War for the Overworld is a remake of ‘Dungeon Keeper’ which is a game I played a bunch growing up. Something about the nostalgia and the game itself are very cosy to me. You carve out a lair for yourself underground and recruit minions but I think the cave aspect is sheltering and nice.”