My brother has long made fun of me for the types of games that I like to play — point- and click games or puzzle games without much in terms of combat or skillful maneuvering — saying that they “aren’t real games.” Now, I love the guy, but his attitude certainly isn’t unique, stemming from a history of video game marketing that, in its quest to secure the male audience, has made gaming a pretty toxic space and limited the perception of what gaming looks like.
The truth is, video games are an incredibly versatile medium with the ability to create vastly different but just as entertaining experiences for users, and they don’t need to look or function a certain way to be “real games.” As time has gone on, more women and people of color have gotten involved behind the scenes of the gaming industry (though there is still quite a ways to go), and developers everywhere have been bringing new ideas to the gaming sphere.
More and more people are starting to realize that video games can serve all sorts of purposes, even relaxation. Cozy gaming, an unofficial category of games that can be recognized by adorable art styles or endearing stories, is on the rise, as seen in the massive success of games like the best-selling “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”
A lot of the cozy games developed by independent developers, like the four on this list, push the boundaries of what video games can do, providing experiences that make you feel or think, blow you away with stunning visuals and draw you in for hours and hours. They provide an engrossing way to unwind without breaking the bank, making them worth a play.
“A Short Hike”
In “A Short Hike,” you play as a bird named Claire on a trip to an island nature park who decides to climb up Hawk’s Peak, the only place where she can get reception. In order to get there, Claire must collect enough golden feathers to improve her climbing and flying abilities, but everything else in this open-world game is up to you. You’ll meet an array of quirky and sweet animal characters that introduce you to mini-games that will bring you back to the game again and again, and the call Claire makes once she reaches the summit paired with stunning visuals may bring a tear to your eye.
“The Longing”
This point-and-click game is a thoughtful meditation on solitude and time whose primary objective is to… wait. You play as the Shade, a servant to the king of a vast underground kingdom tasked with staying with him as he sleeps for 400 days, leaving the poor Shade as perhaps the only soul awake in the entire system of caves. It’s up to you how you want to spend these 400 real-world days — you can put the game aside and come back 400 days later to see how it ends, walk around the caves to collect decorations and books or you can explore further still to dangerous outer regions of the cave.
“Strange Horticulture”
Out of all the games on this list, “Strange Horticulture” definitely gives you the fewest changes in scenery. You spend this puzzle game behind the counter of a Victorian plant shop, where you must help the customers who come in by identifying plants with the correct occult abilities to help them with their problems. This game is a must for plant lovers, but is also perfect for the Halloween season with its moody music, earth-toned color palette and an overarching story about witches, cults and an ancient monster where your choices can unlock eight different endings.
“Unpacking”
“Unpacking” is a puzzle game meant for all the organization-oriented people out there, as you unpack boxes in different living spaces. You have free reign over how you design the space, other than the fact that all the items need to be in places that make sense, allowing you to put your eye for design to the test. Throughout the game, you get to see how the life of the player character progresses all based on the spaces that she occupies and the things she takes with her. You follow her through her childhood, to college, to a crappy boyfriend, back home and finally to married life, bringing in a surprisingly emotional element.
Cozy games come in many different types of stories and gameplay, making the genre versatile and accessible to all kinds of gamers and non-gamers alike, something that even my brother would concede after his friends finally managed to get him into “Stardew Valley.” The next time you need to work through some stress, consider going on a journey with one of these indie games.
