Is Hozy Really As Cozy As Everyone Says It Is?
What happens when you smush Unpacking and House Flipper together? I found out when I played Hozy for the very first time. Hint: it’s got gorgeous vibes, but there’s one glaring problem.
Game key kindly gifted for review by the team at Tiny Build. This has not influenced my opinion.
If you’d rather watch my playthrough of Hozy, you can find the full series on my YouTube channel. Yes, I’m back on YouTube, it only took me a year but I’m so happy to be recording again.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing Hozy for you but it’s not a perfect game. Today I want to share my honest thoughts on Hozy after 8hrs of gameplay. The game itself only took me 4 hours and 45 minutes to complete.
Everyone I know recommended this game to me, even people who wouldn’t call themselves a gamer. My husband wouldn’t shut up about it. Normally I’m the one telling him about new games.
What is Hozy About?
Hozy is an asmr-vibe renovation sim where you are tasked with renovating abandoned studios. With a variety of satisfying mechanics that will make you go “oooh!”, you can enjoy every tiny detail of home design.
Interact with tools, items and furniture to bring each space back to life, restoring not only rooms, but the memories and stories of an entire community. Well that’s the goal anyway.
Every small action delivers a micro-dopamine hit and a tiny “aha!” moment. Plants sway, music players can be turned on, and trash realistically tumbles in and out of the bin. Open the window and you’ll hear the sounds of nature even louder and invite the wind to play with dust particles.
Stop it and tidy up
It’s kinda cruel how I’m expected to tidy up someone else’s mess. As I unveiled each level they came complete with discarded plastic cups, crates and cartons left behind from… squatters, maybe? Who knows.
My mouse acted as a magnet as I picked up the litter and popped it in the bin. I did like how crunchy it sounded, despite getting my mouse dirty.
The mop though. I’ve never had so much fun mopping the floor.
Not only did it clean, it glistened as the water slopped around! My only gripe is the mop never dried out and I didn’t have to clean it. So basically I just spread the dirt about (well in my mind I did, that wasn’t actually the case).
The window squidgie bothered me because sometimes I would miss the tiniest speck of dirt and I honestly couldn’t see it. I’d have to go over the window again until I ticked off my to do list.
All of this was giving House Flipper vibes, but in a much more aesthetic and pleasing way.
Decorating in Hozy
The first thing I noticed when I started to decorate my apartments was how limited the paint colours were.
Each room gave 3 options. Also, unlike in House Flipper where I had the option to make the task easier by upgrading my tool, Hozy expected me to just crack on. Each level used the same mechanics – no tool upgrades, but occasionally I received a different tool… and swiftly forgot to use it.
I had no problem using a crowbar instead of a wood saw to cut off the end of some planks!
After creating a more hospitable environment the best part of the game was unpacking the furniture.
You get a small, curated furniture collection, no two pieces are the same. I was able to rotate, move, and place items freely. By that I mean, empty the contents of the boxes onto the floor and then redistribute them to different places around the room until I got bored.
I’m not a very aesthetic person. I’m a if it fits, that’s good enough type of person.
The whole vibe was very ‘Ideal Home Magazine’ rather than a collection of stuff someone has accumulated over their lifetime.
It felt like I was staging a home for sale rather than to be lived in.
Who lives in a place like this?
I was so confused with who the central character was and how everyone was related to them. It reminded me of when I played Unpacking and I didn’t get the story on my first play through.
It wasn’t until I was editing my gameplay videos that I noticed it literally says ‘My Childhood Home’ when you click on the first level! So I was the woman in the first image. Maybe I’m just not very perceptive.
Each level had a very different feel. It excited me to see what I was going to be unpacking next. Some of the items let me interact with them to reveal a few secrets. I’m pretty sure I found a drawer full of cash!
In all, there were 9 levels to complete with each taking around 30-45 minutes.
I found myself lingering on some levels more than others. There were 3 levels which were just rather odd in all honesty. One had a weird sound I couldn’t turn off and creeped me out, another felt like the devs had gone to Alice in Wonderland but just reused items from previous levels. And one level was so dark I could hardly see it despite turning the brightness all the way up in the game.
Each level felt at odds with the last, I struggled to see a connection between them. So I stopped trying to follow the story and just enjoyed seeing what items I would unpack next.
Is Hozy Worth It?
Hozy is one of those games that has instant charm and visual appeal. It’s a gorgeous unpacking-style game that has taken the time to understand what cozy gamers love.
Yes, we love crunchy, satisfying sounds, we love stuff and we are partial to some pretty visuals. But it’s lacking in one aspect that matters deeply to me – storytelling.
Other than the central character going back to her home to help her father renovate houses, it doesn’t seem to go much deeper. It’s heavy on the cleaning and decorating but falls flat with its emotional depth.
It tries to shoehorn in some hints here and there in the form of pop-up bubbles, but they are so ambiguous that they didn’t add anything extra to the story. It was almost like being in a tutorial. I felt like I was always waiting for the story to drop a clanger and I’d be like, “Oh, I’m such an idiot, of course! How did I miss that?”
That’s how Unpacking got me hooked. I found out the ending and had to go back and play it again. Then I had to replay it a third time to get all the achievements.
There was no achievement hunting in Hozy. I managed to complete all of them on Steam just by finishing the game. So why would I replay it? For me, aesthetic games are fab for some light escapism, but if there’s going to be a story involved, make me fall in love with the characters. Give me a reason to root for them. Add in a twist at the very least.
My favourite level was the Cafe. It was a nice little touch being able to rename it myself. If I do revisit the game in the future it will be for this level.
But I’ll let the game speak for itself. You can watch my gameplay series on YouTube and decide for yourself if Hozy is the game for you right now.
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I Get Cozy in Unpacking
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As an INFP, Wendy is always late for her house. Her wardrobe is stuffed with snuggly jim-jams, and her hot water bottle is her best friend. Wendy enjoys playing a little bit of everything, but she'll always prefer to unwind with simulation and management games.
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I played Hozy and gave up shortly because I’m not creative enough for the decor bit 🤣🙈 I did really enjoy the cleaning bits though.