100+ Best Cozy Games on Steam Right Now (2026 Guide)

Dressmaker is available on Steam for Windows and macOS.

Choose fabric, cut out patterns, and sew them all together to satisfy (or sabotage!) townsfolk in this cozy crafting game inspired by real dressmaking. — Steam

In Dressmaker you run a dress shop and make every garment from scratch: pick your fabric, arrange and cut the pattern pieces (grain or bias is your call), feed them through the sewing machine, then add buttons, bows and lace. The townsfolk want dresses for their big events, and handing them over earns you reputation and coin (you can sabotage them too, apparently). You can also design your own dresses and sell them off the rack.

I’ve already made dozens of dresses and not one is as cute as the ones I keep seeing on TikTok. Whenever an aesthetic game comes out, the girls all have to out-do each other on socials, and I am not that girl. I picked it up to see what the sewing mechanics are actually like.

Your dresses don’t have to go viral. Just have a blast making them. I share everything in my Dressmaker review, plus 10 games you can play next.

Tiny Bookshop is available on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Leave everything behind and open a tiny bookshop by the sea in this cozy narrative management game. — Steam

In Tiny Bookshop you run a second-hand bookshop in the seaside town of Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea. You choose which books to stock, set up shop in different spots around town (each one attracts a slightly different crowd), and recommend the right book to the right customer. You can also decorate your shop with the items you collect, and every item changes how your customers behave. Between sales you befriend the locals and poke around for secrets.

It’s quite literally a mobile bookshop, and you can read some of the books you stock and discover other titles to read too. I had no idea what I was doing at first, and the game never penalized me for it.

If you’re a book lover and a cozy gamer, this one combines your two favorite things.

Stardew Valley is available on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Can we talk about how Stardew Valley is basically the gateway to all things cozy gaming? This game isn’t just popular; it’s like the cozy game celebrity.

I tried it once but I’ve never found the time to properly sit down and play it. Though my community loves it, so I will continue to sing its praises.

It’s the game that makes non-gamers say, “Wait, this is gaming? Sign me up!” Stardew’s got this magnetic pull. A lot of it’s thanks to how much it’s loved by Twitch streamers and YouTubers who can’t get enough of that farm life.

And get this: Stardew’s got over 200,000 glowing reviews on Steam. Gamers adore its laid-back, grow-your-own-crops, befriend-the-town vibe.

So, if you’re looking for a game that’s like, the cozy queen of Steam, Stardew Valley is your go-to. Find more games like Stardew Valley.

Discounty is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Manage your own discount supermarket! — Steam

In Discounty your secretive aunt hands you the only supermarket in the harbor town of Blomkest. You design the shop layout, keep the shelves stocked, work the checkout and strike trade deals with suppliers, all while the locals decide whether they can stand a newcomer. After closing time you wander the town, make friends and dig up its secrets. Steam puts the story campaign at 20 to 25 hours.

It’s my favorite shop sim to come out of 2025. It’s got mystery, it’s got drama, it’s got seafood. And it’s one of the few games I’ve completed in full. Check out my review of Discounty.

Fields of Mistria is available on Steam for Windows and Linux

In this spiritual successor to the Farm-Sim RPGs of the late 90s & onward, build the farm of your dreams as you discover magic, romance, and adventure! — Steam

Fields of Mistria is a pixel-art farming and life sim set in the village of Mistria, where you tend an overgrown homestead. An earthquake has wrecked the town and strange magic is seeping through the land, so your job is to get it back on its feet.

Along the way you farm, fish, mine and craft, raise animals, and unlock magic that helps with both the farm work and the adventuring. There are 30+ villagers to get to know, 12 of them marriage candidates, plus seasonal festivals and ancient ruins to explore.

Coral Island is available on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Coral Island is a vibrant, laid-back farm sim reimagined with multiplayer! — Steam

You know those classic farming games we all love? Coral Island takes that vibe and runs with it, but with a tropical twist. You’ve left big-city life behind for a lush island that’s kinda inspired by Southeast Asia, and as well as planting crops and petting cows, you help revive the town and (get this) the coral reefs.

The cast is huge, with more than 70 people living on the island, and the characters are super diverse. The animals are ridiculously cute. You can now farm with up to three friends too, and dive into the Merfolk Kingdom.

Basically, it’s like the farming sim genre got a glow-up and went on vacation. Looking for more games like Coral Island <- hover here.

Lost and Found Co. is available on Steam for Windows and macOS.

Lost and Found Co. is a whimsical hidden object game — Steam

I adored hide-and-seek as a kid, and weirdly I’m still doing it, just in games. In Lost and Found Co. you help Ducky, a duck-turned-human intern at Goddess Mei’s magical startup, which tracks down lost items for the townspeople. Each level is a hand-drawn scene where you hunt for hidden objects and return them to their owners, and almost everything on screen can be clicked. Between levels you renovate the office and decorate Ducky’s room.

The story campaign has you helping a tiny dragon regain her power. There are also bonus challenge levels if you want to test your eyes properly, plus Easter eggs tucked away in the scenes.

Wylde Flowers is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and iOS.

The characters in Wylde Flowers are brought to life with a cast including BAFTA award winning voice actors in over 18 hours of voice acting. — Steam

In Wylde Flowers you play Tara, who has moved to the rural island of Fairhaven to help her grandma with her farm. By day you grow crops, look after animals, fish and cook. By night you’re a witch: flying a broomstick, brewing potions, messing with the weather and (yes) turning into a cat. There are 30 villagers, 7 of them are romanceable, and Steam puts the game at 35 to 60+ hours. I’ve played it longer than that!

Now, let’s talk about the age thing. Most of the characters are over 30. OVER 30! As a 40-year-old, I could have cried. Finally, a cozy game that doesn’t act like life ends at 25.

I played it on Switch, but it’s on Steam too, so you’ve got no excuses. Read my game review on Wylde Flowers and find more games like it (but it’s hard to compare to others).

Tiny Shop: Make it Cozy is coming soon to Steam for Windows.

Leave the hustle and bustle behind and bring your dream of a cozy little shop to life! — Steam

In Tiny Shop: make it cozy you build a little shop of your own, decorate it however you like, and watch the visitors fall in love with it. It’s tagged as a sandbox-style shop sim with decorating at the heart of it. I’m currently playing the playtest so I’ll report back when I’m allowed to!

It isn’t out yet, but it already has over 50,000 wishlists, so you’re not the only one eyeing it. Pop it on yours and let Steam nag you when it launches.

Available on Steam: Coffee Talk, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly and Coffee Talk Tokyo.

The much loved coffee brewing and heart-to-heart talking simulator. — Steam

The Coffee Talk games are cozy visual novels where you play the barista in a late-night café. You make drinks for your customers, and what you serve (rather than what you say) shapes how their stories play out. The first 2 games are set in an alternate Seattle, and Coffee Talk Tokyo moves to a new café in Tokyo, where humans and yōkai both pop in for a drink and gossip.

I’ve played all of them. The first game has become a core memory, but I enjoyed the other two as well.

You can play each one on its own, though it’s nice to go in order because characters from the earlier games get a mention later. Read my review of Coffee Talk if you have a minute.

Available on Steam. It’s free to play, and you’ll need a Palia account (you can link it to Steam).

Discover a welcoming world in Palia, a free-to-play fantasy life sim adventure where you can craft, explore, and create the life and home of your dreams. — Steam

Palia is a fantasy life sim set in a shared online world. You farm, craft and explore, make friends with the locals, and build up a home of your own while other players wander about the same world. It’s a proper MMO, so you can play with friends or on your own. Steam also lists optional in-game purchases.

I’ve sunk over 400 hours into it, so of course it’s on this list. I haven’t played the newer updates, so I can’t speak to those. My husband and I used to play it together, but these days we’ve got a different obsession…

Want more like it? I’ve rounded up cozy life sim MMOs like Palia.

Available on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2.

PowerWash Simulator is back, bubbling with fresh locations, soap-erior equipment and splashy features. — Steam

That obsession is PowerWash Simulator 2. You blast the grime off buildings, vehicles and whole locations until everything gleams, which is every bit as soothing as it sounds. The sequel adds a fresh campaign around the town of Muckingham, new tools like an abseiling rig and a cherry picker, jobs that unlock extra areas as you go, and a home-base you can decorate (there are cats). You can play solo, online, or in split screen.

My husband and I play in split screen, and it’s our latest addiction. First-person games normally give me motion sickness, but after a bit of fiddling with the settings this one’s been fine. Here’s what worked for me:

Field of view up to 90.
Reticle visibility set to dynamic.
Look sensitivity down to 10.

… you’re welcome.

Leafy Corner is available on Steam for Windows and macOS.

Run a cute little plant shop in this cozy and relaxing game. — Steam

In Leafy Corner you run a little plant shop where you grow, care for and sell more than 100 houseplants, variegated ones included (like I know what that means yet). Customers come in with requests, so part of the fun is matching each person to the right plant. As your shop’s reputation grows you unlock more content, and you can decorate with pots, furniture and extras. There’s no storyline, no deep economy and no advanced plant care. It’s a simple game but made me so happy playing it and that’s all I wanted.

I loved everything about it but if I had to gripe, it would be that I wish it had a day to night cycle instead of the shop just being open or closed.

Coming October 13, 2026 to Steam for Windows. Pre-purchase is open now.

Build a wilder world in Planet Zoo 2. Create distinctive zoos around the globe filled with awe-inspiring animals. — Steam

Planet Zoo 2 is the sequel to Frontier’s zoo-building sim. You design zoos, build habitats to suit each species, and keep your guests happy with shops and amenities. This time there are fully aquatic animals (in custom aquariums) and flying birds (in aviaries) for the first time, plus conservation projects where you release animals into wildlife reserves. It has Career, Franchise and Sandbox modes, and a workshop for sharing blueprints with other players.

I grew up playing Zoo Tycoon, so the first Planet Zoo brought back fond memories. What I loved most in that game was how detailed you can get, plus the animal welfare side, which is close to my heart.

Coming to Steam in Early Access on November 3, 2026, for Windows and macOS.

Welcome to Loftia, a cozy, multiplayer world where you can build towards a brighter, more sustainable future! — Steam

Staying on the subject of upcoming games. Loftia is a cozy multiplayer game set on floating islands. You get an island of your own to farm and decorate, and you can link up with other players to form neighborhoods. The farming leans sustainable (hydroponics, aquaponics and trellis farming), your tools run on renewable energy, and you can adopt animals like capybaras and turtles to tag along. Beyond the city there are scavenging trips, puzzles and group quests, plus community projects that open up new islands.

It launches in Early Access, so it’s a work in progress, with the developers planning on roughly a year before the full release. I backed this game on Kickstarter so looking forward to playing it. I’ll come back and update you once I have.

Wax Heads is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Wax Heads is a cozy-punk narrative sim about working in a struggling record store. — Steam

In Wax Heads you work at Repeater Records, a struggling record store, and it’s your job to get it back on its feet. Customers walk in unsure what they want, so you solve little puzzles to find the right record: browsing the shelves, scrolling social media and reading local music zines for clues. Between sales you might run the lights for a local band, design a gig poster or pack orders.

The records aren’t just props. There are 80+ hand-drawn albums, each with an invented band, a backstory and a fanbase, plus dozens of original tracks to go with them. Expect lots of reading and banter with your eccentric colleagues, because it’s more story than stock management.

This is peak cozy gaming.

Whisper of the House is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Whisper of the House is a cozy game about organizing and decorating.  — Steam

In Whisper of the House you’re the housekeeper of Whisper Town. Residents hire you to move into new homes, tidy cluttered rooms, set up shops, sort through keepsakes and even track down lost cats. Finished jobs earn you rewards and furniture, which you use to design a home of your own from 1,800+ pieces and 10+ layouts, with wallpaper, flooring and select items you can recolor.

A lot of the furniture is interactive (press the gramophone, squeeze the rubber duck, pull a tissue from the box). With over 2000 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam it’s worth checking out.

Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S & iOS.

Relax in a cozy world filled with the magic of Disney and Pixar! — Steam

I’ve been playing Disney Dreamlight Valley since its release on October 11th, 2022. If you’re a big fan of farming games or life sims you’ll want to add Dreamlight Valley to your rotation. I picked this up because I’m such a kid at heart.

Before this, I was playing Disneyland Adventures but it became fairly repetitive because, well really it’s geared to a younger audience. That’s not the case with Dreamlight Valley. There are a few mature storylines that touch on feelings of loneliness and depression.

I predominately play on my Switch but as the game has crossplay I can move over to my PC whenever I feel like it which is handy.

Coming November 12, 2026 to Steam for Windows. There’s a demo on Steam if you can’t wait.

Portabellows is an adventure of exploration and a collectathon. — Steam

In Portabellows you play Erma, a retiree relaxing on the beach of her quiet island when a plane falls out of the sky. You follow the clues to the crash site, help the quirky castaways you meet get off the island, and collect jelly beans to trade for seeds, upgrades and outfits. It’s a 3D platformer collectathon, so you jump, sprint and swim your way around, and new abilities open up more of the island.

You also gather ingredients to bake pies step by step, using recipes you find along the way. And yes, there are pies (obvs).

A Short Hike is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park. — Steam

In A Short Hike you play Claire, a bird visiting her aunt in Hawk Peak Provincial Park. The only spot with phone reception is the summit, so you set off up the mountain. There’s no rush. You can follow the marked trails or wander off them, glide from the peaks, fish, swim, chat with other hikers and hunt for hidden treasures that help you climb higher.

It’s short by name and by nature, with the main story taking around 1 to 2 hours. I’ve written up more in my game review of A Short Hike.

Play it if you want a cozy game you can finish in an afternoon.

Available on Steam (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android.

Strange Horticulture is an occult puzzle game in which you play as the proprietor of a local plant store. — Steam

In Strange Horticulture you play the Horticulturist, who runs a plant shop in the town of Undermere. Customers ask for plants by description, so you flip through your encyclopedia, study the clues and work out which one on your shelves they mean. The plants you hand over change how the story goes, from soothing herbs to outright poisons, and there are multiple endings.

Between customers you follow clues on a map to find new plants in the woods and lakes beyond town (and yes, you can pet your cat). Heads up: it’s dark in places, with cults and a touch of Lovecraftian creep, so it’s cozy-spooky rather than cozy-cozy.

Available on Steam (Windows and Linux).

A cozy first-person farming sim, set in the heart of a futuristic city. Grow plants, cook what you harvest, and discover new varieties as you turn your apartment into a thriving urban garden, from a small balcony to a rooftop paradise. — Steam

In Tiny Eden you turn a small apartment high above a futuristic city into a garden. You start with a few pots and learn what each plant needs (the right planter, soil mix, light, temperature and water, plus keeping the weeds down), then care for them from seed to harvest. You cook with what you grow, sell the dishes to the people living in the building, and spend your earnings on new varieties and more space, from extra rooms and balconies to a rooftop greenhouse.

You decorate the apartment too, and your cat needs to feel at home as well. It’s played in first person and needs a fairly modern graphics card, so check the system requirements before you buy.

If Leafy Corner left you wanting to grow plants rather than sell them, start here.

Available on Steam (Windows, macOS and Linux), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, iOS and Android.

Is This Seat Taken? is a logic puzzle game where you play matchmaker for groups of hilariously particular people. — Steam

In Is This Seat Taken? you play matchmaker for groups of very particular little shapes. Each one has a pet peeve (one can’t stand strong perfume, another wants a nap on the bus without loud music), and your job is to find everyone the right seat in cinemas, buses, wedding receptions and taxis. There are no timers or leaderboards, so you can take as long as you like.

A story runs through it too, as an aspiring actor called Nat travels from city to city looking for a hero and a place to fit in. It was nominated for a BAFTA in the Family category.

Available on Steam (Windows), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

A sequel to the House Flipper game that gave players a unique chance to become a one-man renovation crew and sold more than 3 million copies. — Steam

In House Flipper 2 you renovate houses in first person: clean them up, fix them, redecorate and sell them on. Story mode is set in the town of Pinnacove, between the mountains and the sea, with long renovation projects and quick jobs. Sandbox mode lets you build a house from scratch, although Steam itself warns that’s no easy task.

Up to four players can team up online in both modes, across PC and consoles, using the free Co-op DLC. Players also share their designs on mod.io. If you’d rather just scrub things clean, my list of cozy cleaning games has more.

Available on Steam (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Run a Small Sticker-Making Business in Sticky Business. — Steam

In Sticky Business you run a small sticker shop. You build stickers from thousands of combinations of elements, add sparkle or holo effects, and lay them out on sticker sheets to get the most from your materials. Then you pack the orders and ship them off. Different stickers attract different customers, and every order comes with a little of the buyer’s story.

Your earnings go on upgrades: more sticker graphics and foils, plus goodies and custom packaging to make customers happier. If you stream, there’s a Twitch integration that lets your viewers become customers in the game.

Available on Steam (Windows, macOS and Linux), Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.

Moonstone Island is a colorful pixel open world life-simulator and creature-collecting game. — Steam

In Moonstone Island you move to a floating island to finish your alchemy training, following your village’s tradition. You grow crops and flowers to brew potions and tame wild spirits (there are 70+ of them), cook, make friends with the villagers (you can even marry one) and build a home on any of the 100 islands in your world. You get around by balloon, broom and glider, and you can decorate with 300+ pieces.

It also has dungeons and card-based battles where your spirits fight alongside you, so expect a bit of scrapping alongside the farming.

Available on Steam (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and Google Play Games.

Raise mystical crops, learn spell-casting and potion-making, and befriend – or even romance – the local werewolves, witches, and mermaids. — Steam

In Moonlight Peaks you play a young vampire, child of Count Dracula, who moves to an abandoned family homestead in a supernatural town to prove that a life of kindness is possible, even for the undead. You grow cursed crops (cursed food is your main source of sustenance), raise magical livestock, learn spells and potions, unlock vampire abilities like shapeshifting, and decorate your gothic cottage.

The town is full of werewolves, witches and mermaids, with around two dozen characters you can romance and the secrets of seven families to unravel. Want more like it? Try my games like Moonlight Peaks list.

Available on Steam (Windows), iOS, Android and Apple Arcade.

Repair old-school objects in this cozy puzzle game. — Steam

In Assemble With Care you play Maria, a globe-trotting antique restorer who arrives in the sunny town of Bellariva. The locals bring her their most treasured broken objects, and you work out how each one fits together, take it apart and put it back together. As you fix things you get to know the townsfolk and their quirks, and the stories behind the objects often turn out to be about things cracking in their own lives too.

It’s a short, tactile puzzle game with a soundtrack inspired by the sounds of the 80s and a free epilogue. It was also nominated for a BAFTA in the Mobile Game of the Year category in 2020.

Available on Steam and coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S later in 2026.

Enjoy the little details as you interact with tools, items and furniture to bring each space back to life. — Steam

In Hozy you head back to your small hometown after things don’t work out in the big city, and find a new passion: cleaning and decorating. Each of the 9 abandoned rooms starts as a mess. You clean it with tools like a mop, squeegee and crowbar, repaint the walls, then unpack boxes of furniture and decorate it however you like. There are no timers, scores or penalties, and a photo mode lets you show off your work. A free DLC, Hideaways, adds 3 more levels but i’m yet to play those.

It was much better than I expected. I played it on YouTube and wrote up my full Hozy review.

Apparently I don’t know what a saw is for.

Available on Steam (Windows, and macOS on Apple M1 or newer).

ReStory is a chill, narrative-driven shop management simulator. — Steam

I know I have a lot of shop sims on this list but as a former cashier for 30+ years I gravitate to them okay. In ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs you run a small electronics repair shop in mid-2000s Tokyo. Customers bring in nostalgic gadgets (consoles, handhelds, phones, cameras and music players, including officially licensed Atari consoles), and you take each one apart, clean it, replace the faulty parts and put it back together. You also surf a Y2K-era web browser for spare parts, fill in-person and online orders, and keep an eye on your finances.

The customers come with stories, and the choices you make when you talk to them lead to a branching storyline with multiple endings. Heads up: you’re juggling money and spare parts as well as screwdrivers, so it’s a management sim as much as a repair game.

Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Botany Manor is a first-person puzzle game set in a Victorian English manor. — Steam

In Botany Manor you play Arabella Greene, a retired botanist in a 19th-century English manor, working to finish her research book on forgotten flora. You explore the house and grounds hunting for clues (books, posters, letters and Victorian contraptions) to work out the ideal conditions for each plant, then grow it from seed. The plants are beautiful and inspired by real phenomena in nature, so some of them make you think outside the box. Room by room, you also learn more about Arabella’s life and career.

I’ve walked around so many manors in real life just to admire the gardens, so wandering around in Botany Manor I did occasionally forget I was playing a game. Read my Botany Manor review to see what I made of it.

Available on Steam (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android.

Come enjoy a calming world in an observational puzzle game with surprises around every corner. — Steam

In A Little to the Left you sort, stack and organize household objects into just the right spot, while a mischievous cat does its best to undo your work. There are 100+ puzzles (which way should the clock hands point? how do the eggs go?), most with more than one solution, and a Daily Tidy Delivery gives you a fresh puzzle every day. There’s no pressure: you can skip a level with “Let It Be” and ask for as little or as much of a hint as you like.

Want more tidy-up puzzlers? Try my list of cozy games like A Little to the Left.

Cairn is available on Steam and PlayStation 5.

You are free to climb anywhere. Explore the mountain, read the rock face from the ground and plan your route carefully to reach the top. — Steam

In Cairn you play Aava, a pro climber taking on Mount Kami, a summit nobody has ever reached. You can climb anywhere, so you read the rock face, plan your route and place your hands and feet one hold at a time (if you’re not careful, you will fall). Along the way you manage pitons, chalk, finger tape, food, water and medicine, and set up camp on the mountain. The story and art come from comic-book artist Mathieu Bablet, and the game is made by the team behind Furi and Haven.

Not every cozy game should be easy. Sometimes we need a challenge.

There are no boss fights, but the mountain is the boss, both in the game and in real life. It shouldn’t be taken lightly, so go in prepared (you can adjust the difficulty, too).

Buy it if you want a game about rock climbing. It has an amazing story.

Available on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Slime Rancher 2 is a sequel to the award-winning, smash-hit original that has been enjoyed by over 15 million fans worldwide. — Steam

In Slime Rancher 2 you play Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who sails across the Slime Sea to Rainbow Island. You wrangle slimes with your vacpack, keep them fed in a conservatory you build up as you go, and collect the plorts they produce to sell for newbucks. The money goes on upgrades and new gadgets, and the island is full of new slimes to find (like the bouncy cotton slime and the aquatic angler slime), plus puzzles in the Grey Labyrinth. It’s played in first person.

Just an fyi on the cozy front: hostile Tarr slimes and feral slimes can chase you down, and you have a health bar. You can switch both off in the settings though.

Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Roots of Pacha is a farming and life simulation game set in the stone age. — Steam

Now let’s go back in time (and down a few thousand pixels) to the Stone Age. In Roots of Pacha you farm, gather and explore as part of a clan, helping your village grow. You domesticate crops and animals (some of them become pets), craft tools, and discover new “ideas” that move your clan forward, while decorating your home and farm along the way. There are festivals, friendships, romance and the chance to start a family.

There’s no rush, as ideas and prophecies can be completed in any season. You can play solo or in co-op with friends, with crossplay between all platforms.

Available on Steam (Windows), PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Leave home for the first time to collect memories before a mysterious cataclysm washes everything away. — Steam

In SEASON: A Letter to the Future you play Estelle, a young woman who leaves her hometown for the first time to document the last season before a mysterious cataclysm washes everything away. You cycle through open landscapes, photograph what you see, record sounds and fill a customizable journal, and you meet a diverse cast of characters who each share the story of their life. It’s a quiet, third-person exploration game with a story that asks big questions.

I had trouble putting this game down, in all honesty. Its beauty and open exploration made me want to have an adventure of my own. Read my full SEASON game review to find out more.

Available on Steam (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories is a cozy slice-of-life game about running a small-town convenience store, inspired by early 1990s Japan. — Steam

In inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories you play Makoto Hayakawa, a college student spending her summer helping out at her aunts store. You stock shelves, tidy displays and order goods, with simple mini-games for restocking, scanning and checking out customers. Between tasks you explore the store and its surroundings and get to know the regulars through branching conversations, where your choices shape relationships and uncover their stories. There’s even a capsule toy machine with little surprises to collect.

Expect lots of reading, as it’s more story than stock management. Want more quiet slice-of-life games? Try my games like inKONBINI list.

Journey is available on Steam (Windows), Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4 and iOS.

Explore the ancient, mysterious world of Journey as you soar above ruins and glide across sands to discover its secrets. — Steam

Now up next is a game that started my adoration for walking sims all all games by Annapurna Interactive.

Journey is a wordless adventure in which you cross a vast desert as a robed figure, heading for a distant mountain. You glide across the sands, soar above ancient ruins and uncover the world’s secrets, either alone or alongside a fellow traveler, all to a Grammy-nominated musical score.

Originally released in 2012, this beautiful game has captured the hearts of many gamers. When I first met another person in it, I thought they were an NPC! It’s done so well that you won’t even care about hitting achievements until you’ve played it through once. You’ll just be mesmerized by the stunning view and the pleasant score.

Available on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Design, manage and develop incredible museums. Exhibit maintenance is crucial. — Steam

Two Point Museum is the third game in the Two Point series, after Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus, and I’ve played (and obsessed over) all of them.

This time you’re the curator of a growing collection of museums across Two Point County. You send your experts off on expeditions to dig up new exhibits, show off their finds, design the layout and look after your staff, guests and displays (that includes keeping them safe from thieves and from children who can’t keep their hands to themselves). There are 5 main museum themes, covering prehistory, an aquarium, the supernatural, science and space, plus a sandbox mode for building a mega museum of your own.

There’s DLCs too, including Fantasy Finds, Zooseum (which adds animals) and Arty-Facts, with a new expansion, Rides & Relics, arriving this month.

Available on Steam for Windows.

Make pottery, open exhibitions, complete orders, train apprentices, run your own showroom and start a relaxing pottery journey. — Steam

In Master of Pottery you’re a potter who makes every piece from scratch: throwing it on the wheel, drying and firing it in stages, then painting and glazing it. Finished pieces go on display in your own showroom, where visitors wander in, fall for their favorites, buy them and sometimes send you a thank-you letter. You can also take orders, train apprentices and expand the showroom into a full exhibition, all inspired by traditional Chinese pottery craft.

You can paint your own images onto pieces and export your creations to share with other players.

Available on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Adorable Adventures is a relaxing refuge from the worries of the world. — Steam

Adorable Adventures may be the cutest game I’ve played this year.

You play Boris, a curious baby boar who has to learn to use his nose to find his family after a forest fire separates them. You follow scents across meadows, forests, caves and rocky highlands, filtering out the smells that distract you, and you convince each of your brothers and sisters to join you by solving puzzles that suit their personalities. The park is inspired by the Cévennes National Park in southern France, and a park ranger guides your story with full voiceover.

There are plenty of playful side activities too, including photography challenges, tidying the park and optional time trial races. Read my review of Adorable Adventures or watch me first impressions on YouTube.

Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android.

Meditative gameplay with no timers, meters or scores. — Steam

In Unpacking you pull possessions out of boxes and fit them into a new home, room by room. It’s part block-fitting puzzle and part decorating, with plates to stack, towels to hang and bookshelves to arrange. Over eight house moves, the things you unpack (and the things left behind) slowly tell the story of a character you never see. Nothing is timed or scored.

If you love a tidy-up puzzler, my cozy cleaning games list has plenty more or read my game review of Unpacking.

Get Paralives in Early Access on Steam (Windows, and macOS on Apple M2 or newer).

Paralives is a life simulation game about building homes, lives and bonds. — Steam

Paralives is a sandbox life sim where you build homes, create people and watch their lives unfold in an open-world town of shops, parks, restaurants and museums. The character creator lets you tweak everything from height to outfits to personality, and the building is gridless, with curved walls and split-level floors. Your Parafolks find jobs, make friends (or enemies), fall in love, have children and grow old.

Currently it’s still in Early Access, so expect bugs and missing features. The developers say pets, cars, weather, seasons and more are still to come, and that they’ll only ever release free updates. Want more life sims? Try my list of cozy games like The Sims.

Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Woodo feels like a 3D coloring book you can touch, a relaxing puzzle-tale told through handcrafted wooden dioramas. — Steam

Woodo is a cozy diorama puzzle game where you build little wooden scenes piece by piece. Put each object in the right spot and the scene fills with color and comes to life with tiny animations. You follow Foxy and Ben the frog through a series of linked dioramas, each telling a moment from their adventure, with a friendly narrator keeping you company.

Pieces aren’t placed in a fixed order, so you turn the 3D scene around to find the hidden ones, and the game helps out when you need it. I played the demo awhile back. I just need to get around to playing the full game. Woodo is as cozy as cozy gets.

Get Tiny Glade on Steam (Windows, macOS and Linux).

Tiny Glade is a small diorama builder where you doodle whimsical castles, cozy cottages & romantic ruins. — Steam

Tiny Glade is a diorama builder where you doodle castles, cottages and ruins in a quiet meadow. The building is gridless, so draw a path through a wall and a door pops up, or raise a wall and the beams line up to hold it. The game adds the details as you go, with ivy creeping over your buildings, sheep wandering your paths and fireflies at night. There’s no management, combat or goals, and no wrong answers.

The game is built for a mouse and keyboard, and Steam says you’ll need a mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel. Or you could play with a controller in one hand and a mouse in the other à la me 🤷 I dunno, I think I’m broken.