I’m quite torn about Dorfromantik (a tile placement game) in this regard. The relaxing music and ambience, the beautiful graphics and the minimal interface and lack of time pressure all point to a relaxing game.
Getting a high score however – one of the game’s principal extrinsic goals – puts my brains into a bit of a stress modus because I’m mentally rotating pieces, moving around the board, evaluating probabilities and hedging against the luck of the draw. To play optimally actually takes a lot of focus.
You can build your landscape solely based on aesthetics but unfortunately most of the game’s unlockable content is gated behind milestones that can only be reached by a min-max playstyle. This is a conflict in the game’s design imo.
It’s worth mentioning however that the game also comes with a map editor in which you can place arbitrary tiles to create your dream landscape. You are completely free of any pressures but also can’t unlock additional content in this mode.
Any game in easy mode. But none of these games lasts the longest without challenges, even minecraft stops being cozy when you find yourself spending all your time digging.
The Guild. The ORIGINAL The Guild. It's so atmospheric that, despite being all about running businesses and politics in 15th century Europe, it's hard not to feel a sense of relaxation when you enter one of your buildings, the winter winds fading to a whisper behind you, as you look over your hard-working journeymen and the results of their labor.
As a person who can’t really pin down a good definition for “cozy game,” I’ve noticed that a lot of games frequently considered cozy tend to have a smaller focus. You’re not saving the world or killing gods. You’re focusing on your farming operation (yes, you basically single-handedly revive your local community in Stardew and Animal Crossing but it’s still just one small town), seeing some spirits you get to know personally off to the afterlife, exploring a small area, or developing relationships with others.
Also noticed that there’s a focus on something other than beating up and/or killing enemies. It may still be possible to engage in combat, but it’s not the main focus.
The only one I’ve played from the Humble one is Alba but I agree it was a genuinely lovely game, thoroughly enjoyed it.
I don’t know a whole lot about Fanatical or their business model but I’ve also bought Steam games from there in the past without any trouble, they seem pretty legit.
I’ve been thinking about getting that game but every time I almost do I realize that I can’t justify cleaning fake houses to procrastinate cleaning my real house lol
currently i’m playing story of seasons for slow pace, final fantasy 16 for faster pace, and coop games to chill with friends. Also car mechanic simulator
Littlewood! It’s basically what you’d get if you mixed Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing New Horizons, which are both super cozy in their own right.
Also, Life Quest and Life Quest 2 are games I discovered a decade or so ago that I come back to every couple years. They’re super quick, 1 day games at this point, but they’re a great pick me up.
It is basically Animal Crossing, or so I have been told. I always wanted to play Animal Crossing but with already not enough time to play all my PC games it didn’t make sense to buy a console just for one game. Now I can play something similar on PC. ( ´ ▽ ` )
The other one is House Flipper. I like that I can just play for a few minutes on my break at work when I am stressed out.
Unless you hate the art style, the Atelier Games (especially the newer ones, like the "Ryza"-Trilogy or "Sophie 2" that got rid of the time limit) are definitely worth a look!
And if you enjoyed Stardew Valley, then Rune Factory might also be worth a look: the newest entry (5) is the first mainline 3d-title, which was a divise change (especially due to not amazing performance on the Switch), though I enjoyed it; but the "Special"-version of part 4 is also worth a look (if you can stomach the 3DS-style visuals)
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