Whether you’re a PC or console gamer, or are wanting to get started with gaming, you definitely need to check out these games and perhaps add a few to your library. Some of these games are PC exclusive and will be distinctively marked.
I’ve broken this list up into categories so that it’s easier to find games to your liking – General, Puzzle and Farming Sim. Let me know what one is your favourite from this list in the comments!
As a disclaimer, these games are my opinion and my opinion only. The games on this list are featured on here solely because of my genuine love for these games – no one is influencing or paying me to put these games on this list. If you don’t agree with this list, feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments but please don’t fight about it, these are just games 🙂
Please note that all prices featured are for the switch versions unless otherwise specified.
General
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – $79.99 CAD – Switch Exclusive
A staple in the cozy gaming community.
I feel like everyone who owns a switch has this game by default, it’s a great starter game for those that want to tap into cozy gaming. If you have the funds available to you to purchase this game, I definitely recommend Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a great first place to start.
Between exterior decorating, villager hunting and forever being in debt to Mr. Nook, there’s tons of things to do in this game. My personal favourite thing to do is going villager hunting to make the island of my dreams come true. Although timely, villager hunting really does pay off in the end. You can make a dreamies list and choose which villagers you want on your island if the vibe of the villager matches the theme of your island OR if their house matches the vibes of your island.
Animal Crossing is a great game for those that don’t want to play yet another farming sim, albeit there is a tiny little bit of farming in this game – it’s not a huge aspect of the gameplay whatsoever and can be avoided if you so choose.
This game does come with DLC – Happy Home Paradise – which can be purchased for an additional $32.99 CAD, however I personally recommend starting with the base game and then if you feel like you want more from the game, then consider purchasing the DLC.
I also recommend considering purchasing a membership with Nintendo Online for Animal Crossing because you can unlock so much more potential for your island. With just the base game, you’re very limited as to what you can do decorating wise and will need to learn all of the DIYs for those items. Whereas with Nintendo Online – specifically for this game – you can visit Treasure Islands and simply pick up those items; you can shave off so much time spent on this island this way.
The Sims 4 – Free – PC Exclusive
The Sims 4 went free as of October 18th 2022 and if you haven’t hopped onto the Sims bandwagon yet, I definitely recommend that you do.
If all you’re going to focus on is building, the base game will suffice however you will more than likely get bored after a while as there are only a select few build/buy items available to you. This can easily be fixed though through the loads and loads of DLC available to purchase OR through custom content.
Same with Animal Crossing, definitely start out with the base game – especially if you’re not sure that you’ll be playing this one as often or as much – make sure that you like the game and then think about tapping into some DLC. I’ll be doing another post soon talking about my favourite packs for building so stay tuned for that, if you ever need recommendations.
On the other hand, if you’re more interested in creating Sims and don’t really care about building, I would recommend looking at the DLC as you’re even more limited in the clothing choices available to you in the base game. There is also custom content available for create a sim items if you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a game just for virtual accessories.
The world is literally your oyster in the Sims. You can build whatever you want within the limits of the game and essentially do whatever you want in this game. The Sims 4 is a great game for the players that like taking things slow and really working their up through the game and it’s great for the really cut throat players too. Some YouTubers do Hunger Games style gameplay and it’s really fun to watch the outcome. Whatever your preferred play style is, the Sims 4 is a great beginner game for anyone.
Mini Metro/Mini Motorways – $11.99CAD/$17.99CAD – PC and Switch
Whenever I talk about these two games I always group them together because they’re essentially the same game to me. You do the same thing in each game but one revolves around building a city and the other revolves around building a subway system. You don’t have to play one to play the other, but I like having both because they each have their own experience. I don’t have a preference between the two which is why both are on this list.
Both of these games have the ability to get pretty stressful so if you don’t like games that make you stressed, I don’t recommend these ones for you. It can be avoided if you create your city/subway system in an optimal way but inevitably, your city/subway system will get overcrowded at some point throughout each playthrough. At least for me, mine always get overcrowded at some point.
If you don’t mind the stressfulness of this game, it is really fun to create your own city and/or subway station, it’s almost like you get to be a person in power and do whatever you want in a city that you created. If you want to change something about a road then you just do it, no permits or approvals required.
I think the thing I like most about these games is that I can play them on my laptop without any lag or frame issues that I’d usually get from other games. I’ve only ever played these games on my PC and laptop so I can’t speak on the experience you’d get if you were to play on the Switch, but the cozy vibes this game radiates is just so nice and warm.
Puzzle
Baba Is You – $18.90CAD – PC and Switch
I’d say this is one of the cutest puzzle games out there. If you’re into coding, you’d love this one but if that’s not your thing I wouldn’t recommend it for you – unless you want a bit of a challenge. You have to string together sentences and every sentence lets you control a different part of the game. For example, the sentence “baba is you” means that you control baba and “flag is win” means that the flag is how you win the level. If you made “flag is you” then you control the flag. Pretty neat concept for a game but makes for a very difficult challenge however still very cute.
I’ve streamed this game maybe two or three times and I have yet to complete this game so if you’re interested in this one, be prepared to sink a lot of hours into it especially if you get stumped. The wiki is my bestest friend for this game and I definitely don’t use it every now and then for pointers.
In all seriousness, the concept of this game is so cool. It feels fresh and unique from other puzzle games out in the market. I definitely recommend every cozy gamer to give this game a shot at least once but as with all my other suggestions, make sure it’s a game you actually want to play so you aren’t wasting money. I personally watched a streamer play Baba Is You before I purchased it myself just to see if it’s a game that’s up my ally.
Unpacking – $24.69CAD – PC and Switch
I saw a few people playing this game before I decided to purchase it for myself so I already knew the story and how the game ends but that didn’t take away from me wanting to play the game myself. If you like interior decorating, this is the puzzle game for you. Moving into a new place, you’re responsible for finding a spot for all of your items. Some will be in the correct spaces, and others won’t be. What might make sense to you, won’t make sense to the game and so you then have to find a spot for that item.
I must really love pixel art style games because I just realized that the only games mentioned in the puzzle category both use pixel art… I swear I didn’t do that on purpose. I feel like this game is also a staple in the cozy game starter pack – every cozy gamer I know has played this game before or has at least heard of it. I think it’s safe to say that almost everyone who plays this game ends up recommending it to their friends solely because of how cozy it is.
Same as Mini Motorways, I’ve only played Unpacking on PC so I can’t speak to the experience you’d get if you were playing on the Switch but I imagine the two would be similar (plus it’s cheaper on Steam so bonus points for PC players). I have the game on my Switch as well, I just haven’t gotten around to playing it on the Switch yet but once I do, I will update this post with my thoughts and let you know what one I liked playing on more!
Farming Simulators
Stardew Valley – $16.99CAD – PC and Switch
Easily my first pick from this list. If I was to start fresh with cozy games, Stardew is the first game I’d be buying. Stardew Valley is the only game I’d ever pay full price for, I just love this game so much. Regrettably, I bought Stardew on Steam when it was 50% off but we don’t talk about it.
I know I put this under the farming sim category – because that’s how Stardew is widely known – but honestly I feel like this game could also be under general. There’s lots to do within the valley besides just farming (such as mining, fishing, foraging and combat) so if you get bored of farming, or it’s not your vibe, you don’t have to farm if you don’t want to – there’s other things for you to do within the game.
For brand new players of Stardew, I definitely recommend to check out the Stardew Valley Wiki because it’s your ultimate guide and cheat sheet. You can find any and all information about the game in the wiki, from NPC’s schedules to the seasons that certain fish can be caught, everything you need is on that website. The game itself doesn’t give you a lot of direction and there’s no tutorial which makes the wiki a god send for when you don’t know what to do next.
Where to Find Cozy Game Recommendations
If you find yourself wanting more recommendations, this section was made for you.
- TikTok. There are loads of TikTok pages out there that promote cozy games and give lots of cozy and indie game recommendations. My favourite pages are Wholesome Games, Cozy Tea Games, Cozy Games Kennedy and MadMorph. These pages post daily cozy game recommendations and are great first places to start. They all feature classic cozy games as well as promote new and upcoming games in the industry.
- Twitch. Similar to TikTok, there are loads of cozy streamers out there. A lot of streamer’s chats are filled with people that enjoy the same game(s) as them and the best part about this is that you can join anyone’s stream, ask them what their favourite cozy games are or ask them for their recommendations. Some of my favourite cozy streamers right now are Selendrea, Elisshroom, JiaKimchi and StrictlySab. (Please do not go and harass these lovely people, I featured them in here because of their wholesome vibes and communities).
- This blog! If you haven’t guessed already, I too consider myself to be a cozy gamer and I love talking about each and everyone of them. I have a whole category on my home page dedicated to cozy games that I’ll be filling up with my favourites.
If you read this far, thank you so much, I appreciate it and let me know what your top 3 cozy games are in the comments!
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julzy 
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