There are times when all you want to do is to lay on your bed, grab a thick blanket, sip on a warm drink, and burn the midnight oil with a game that makes you wish you could just crawl in there. In short: to get cozy.
10 Perfectly Cozy Must Play Nintendo Switch Games
The term “cozy game” wasn’t too popular until recent years, it’s been mainly popularized by the huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Though many of these games are available on more than one platform, the Nintendo Switch has got the slight advantage that you can take it with you anywhere, so you can be the warmest blanket burrito on earth.
Cozy games can be anything, though their most popular incarnation are farming-sims. However, there’s already a huge selection of games out there, all with incredibly cute and refined art styles, absorbing soundtracks, and surprisingly compelling stories (and no debt to pay!). So, here’s a list of 10 cozy games that you can enjoy on your Switch today:
Cozy Grove
This one even has the vibes on the title. Cozy Grove is a life-sim where your avatar, a Spirit Scout, arrives on an island and befriends a campfire named Flamey. Flamey will send you to explore the island where you’ll eventually meet Ghost Bears, each with its own task to complete.
With beautiful watercolor-like graphics and soft, autumn colors, this game will have you crafting, collecting, fishing, trending, everything to make those bears happy. A DLC called New Neighbears expands its already decent-sized world, so you can have more little Scout adventures.
Spiritfarer
Often described as “a game about dying”, in this management game you’ll play as Stella, a girl who has the task of traveling the world in a ship to find spirits and help them finally reach the afterlife.
This game was widely praised when came out, and continues to be a fan favorite. If you haven’t played it already, you’re missing out on some outstanding animation and heart-wrenching dialogue.
Ooblets
If you suffer from cute aggression, you’d better get your switch a protective case with this game. It is so incredibly cute. It is a mix of Pokémon with its TCG, and Animal Crossing. You will arrive on an island called Badgetown, where you’ll receive your starting farm that you can decorate however you want and grow Ooblets in it.
Ooblets are tiny creatures that can help you around with tasks, run errands, or you can also make them battle each other. But listen, they’re dance battles based on cards, and they’ve got the cutest animation ever. If you’re looking for a feel-good game, this is it.
Slime Rancher/Slime Rancher 2
A cozy FPS? Is that a thing? Yes! In the Slime Rancher games you play as the courageous Beatrix LeBeau, who is sent to an alien planet to collect slimes. The slimes have all different abilities and characteristics, and the more you discover, the more there is to do. The game is filled with bright colors and rounded, cartoony graphics. Slime Rancher is a fun experience and a change of pace for cozy games.
Unpacking
My personal favorite on this list. There are no gimmicks to learn, no collecting, selling or buying, it’s just you and a bunch of boxes to unpack. Going through people’s stuff in real life might be a tad rude, but in this game that’s how you get to know the lives of the people in it.
Unpacking features beautifully crafted pixel art in isometric perspective. You have complete freedom of where you place the objects you take out from the boxes, so if you ever liked room-design games, you’ll love this one.
Lost in Random
If you’re a fan of games like Little Nightmares and Laika movies, you’re going to love this one. A cozy game doesn’t have to have cute bubbly colorful graphics, they can be a little bit creepy too and it works just as well. This is the case of this adventure game, where you play as Even, and your goal is to rescue your twin sister, Odd.
Your companion is Dicey, a sentient, and actually really powerful, dice block who also assists you in battles. Together you’ll venture through six realms in order to find the truth of the world and retrieve your sister.
Bear&Breakfast
Have you ever wanted to own your own B&B? Or are you a die-hard fan of managing games and bears? Then this one’s for you. The writing is amazing, as it has not only an unexpectedly intriguing story, but also funny dialogue that will have you at least snorting. Fun is guaranteed.
On top of that, the inn you’ll progressively build is completely customizable. Meet new anthropomorphic animals (and actual humans, too), complete quests to enhance your resources and solve a mystery. This game is so good it’ll make you forget the cup of tea you left to cool down in the kitchen.
Smushi Come Home
The little protagonist of this game slightly reminded me of the Koroks in The Legend of Zelda BOTW/TOTK, except that he’s a mushroom and not a wooden being. He’s tiny, he jumps, he glides, he swims, and he is ready to explore!
Much like Unpacking, this game hasn’t really got a major story to follow, your only goal, as the name suggests, is to get back home. To do so you’ll have to explore the forest you were dropped in and talk to the creatures you find to see if they can help you (spoiler alert: it’s actually you that helps them).
Coffee Talk
This might be a more niche option, but it still fits the category. In Coffee Talk you get to be a barista and do latte art, but also talk to your customers and participate in emotional, thoughtful, and even existential conversations.
These actions take place in a fantasy/sci-fi setting, but in the very real city of Seattle. If you’re a fan of detailed pixel-art, you will probably like this game a lot.
Potion Permit
Imagine you’re a doctor and you arrive on an island where they don’t really like doctors, but they absolutely need you because there’s a person that cannot be cured by the magic doctor they’ve already got, who, by the way, doesn’t like you at all. So you have to stay and not only build a life there, but also cure people.
Though the storyline might sound a bit pressuring, this game has got many of the soothing elements present in Stardew Valley. The in-game time system, the stamina, the occasional fighting, the romancing, all the elements for a good RPG/farming-sim are here.
Which one will you be trying first?
Published: Nov 4, 2023 11:57 am