Like you I love video games. I’ve been a gamer since I first held a NES controller back in the 80’s. My mum buying that console had to be the best Christmas present I didn’t know I needed… and she didn’t even buy it for me! But I was hooked.

Most about pages share an endless list of achievements, facts, and promises, but I would like to just sit with you for a minute, sip on some English Breakfast tea, and share my story about how, at 40 years old, I ended up running a successful gaming blog all about cozy games.

How I Made My First £500 From Gaming

So probably, like many others, I got my start with content creation in 2020. I was working the hardest I’d ever had to work in my job at my local supermarket, and it was a really scary time. I remember one awful day when the queues spanned the entire length of the store and I was serving back to back angry customers. I took myself off to the toilet and just cried. I pictured myself sitting at that till in 10-20 years time and couldn’t bare it, I felt so hopeless in that moment.

Later that night, while I was playing on my Nintendo Switch to escape my reality, I decided to use the little savings I had to buy my first ever PC and teach myself how to stream my gameplay. I thought, if I can just make money from playing video games I’d never have to work in retail again!

I streamed on Twitch every night after work for a week to get Twitch Affiliate. I was very proud of myself. And although this was an incredibly hard time because I was working 40+ hours a week plus 3-4hrs every night, it was a pivotal moment in my life.

After I made my first £500 from subscriptions and donations I thought I had cracked the code. Here I was playing video games like Destiny 2, Animal Crossing New Horizons and Kingdom Hearts, and viewers enjoyed it enough to donate to me. It was fun, for awhile.

But as life at home got tougher and my hours at work got longer I started to struggle.

I was 36 years old competing against teenagers and twenty-somethings who seemingly had endless amounts of energy, not to mention time, and spoke a language I wasn’t familiar with. I truly, for the first time, felt my age. Was I too old to be playing video games?

I watched so many ‘how to’ videos I think I’m owed a certificate. Videos like – how to set up a live stream, what are the best games to play on stream, how do live streamers get paid, what is the best streaming software, and more. I spent hours talking with other micro-streamers my age. Mostly we spoke about the games we were thinking about playing rather than actually playing them.

I honestly thought this was my way out of my minimum wage job, it just seemed so easy. All I had to do was play my favourite games and start a Discord server for my subscribers to hang out after streams. They would sub and donate and I’d be able to quit my job. That’s what everyone on YouTube was saying. But in practice, for me atleast, it wasn’t the case. And after a year of live streaming I burnt out. I lost all the money I made and found myself back at square one.

Between you and me this was a really low point in my life. I wanted to just crawl under my duvet and give up. I had zero savings left and my credit card bills were pilling up. I was spending more money than I was making and it was crippling me. I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone. I was ashamed to be in my late 30s and unable to pay my bills.

Hitting Pause (and Starting Over)

I felt like a failure.

I decided to quit streaming in 2021 and disappear from social media to spend time with my family. I’d neglected my fiancé and the cracks were showing. Every waking moment of my day throughout 2020 was consumed with thoughts of how I could become a successful Twitch Streamer.

But what I remember looking back now is all the friendships I made, the laughter, the meaningful conversations had after boss battles and the tears that fell when the game invites stopped after I decided to take a step back. I wish I could turn back the clock and take myself less seriously.

I missed playing games with my streamer friends the most. Not the subs and bits.

Hitting pause on streaming helped me get back to what mattered and re-evaluate the reason why I started in the first place. Chasing followers and views had become an unhealthy obsession and ultimately, had turned me into someone I didn’t like.

What I wanted more than anything was a better life for my family. I wanted my fiancé to not have to work as hard and take care of his blood pressure, my cat to have a garden for endless zoomies, and for me to be able to quit working in a supermarket, hauling sacks of potatoes that weighed more than I did and serving entitled customers who felt it was okay to treat me like something they stepped in.

I’d always wanted to make my own money from my passions, but I kept trying and failing. Every business idea left me broke and unhappy.

Back in the day, long before playing video games on the internet, I used to have a personal blog. It wasn’t monetized, it was like an online diary of sorts. I wrote about my life, trying my hand at becoming a makeup artist and the books I loved. It was a simpler time. Long before my chronic condition (Endometriosis & Adenomyosis) turned my life upside down. It led me to jumping from one minimum wage job to another, and how I ended up working in a supermarket still in my late 30’s.

I thought to myself, can I go back? Does anyone even read blogs now? Starting over again would be impossible.

I took some advice from Luigi in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros, “Nothing’s impossible, Mario. Improbable, Unlikely, but never impossible.”

And so, just like that, hercozygaming.com was born.

How I Started Her Cozy Gaming

Okay, so it didn’t happen over night, but the name was an easy pick. The games I mostly played were wholesome, farming and management sims. I understood that these fell under the umbrella of ‘cozy games’ and since I was female and most of the cozy demographic identified as female too, Her Cozy Gaming just made perfect sense.

It took many months of planning, picking a hosting provider, writing copy as well as content, choosing a niche and much more.

I taught myself how to write game reviews, turn my blog posts into scripts, edit long and short videos, basic business skills like paying my own tax, keeping records of income from ad revenue, emailing brands, fixing my rates, I got myself on TikTok and most importantly, learnt how to market myself.

And if you’re a gamer who’s just getting started then I highly recommend learning theses skills too if you want to become a content creator.

It was these skills that helped me land my first paid brand collaboration. It was for a mobile game I was already playing and I earnt £350 for posting a 30 second TikTok video about it. I had less than 2000 followers.

I wasn’t about to quit my day job over it, but it was enough to give me some hope.

Utilizing the skills I learnt through online courses, joining communities and watching hundreds of YouTube Videos I managed to grow my blog from 0-100,000 views in its first year and would you believe it, before the year was out I was accepted by an AD network and could finally start making money from my website.

I honestly couldn’t believe it! I finally found a way to make an income from gaming that didn’t include relying on subscriptions. Seeing that money hit my bank account was the catalyst I needed to keep going.

Turning My Life Around

In just 3 years I went from feeling trapped and unable to pay my bills to making an extra £2000+ a month as a gamer at the age of 40. Proving that making money online isn’t just for the kids. With the skills I’ve learnt I was able to leave my supermarket job and get a job as a Marketing Manager for a local company, marry the love of my life and buy a house together!

None of which would have been possible if I hadn’t took the leap into blogging about video games. Since then I’ve even gone back to live streaming (occasionally). Now I do it to enjoy a new game or catch up with my community, not for the likes, follows and subs.

So if you’ve read this far, thank you! And if you want to become a gaming blogger yourself let me be the proof that it’s possible. If you’re just starting out remember that real growth takes time. My blog wasn’t an overnight success, it took many hours and days of learning and implementing new skills. Take it one day at a time.

(And if you can make more than £350 in your first year you’re already doing better than me!)

My cozy gaming

To me, cozy gaming is all about slowing down and finding joy in the little things. It’s the comfort of a rainy in-game day, getting immersed in a heartfelt storyline, and the peace that comes from exploring at your own pace. It’s not about high scores or fast reflexes. My cozy game must-haves are:

My goal is to help you find cozy games that help you relax. Let’s hang out on YouTube!