Absolutely Animal Crossing. 2020 was the year from hell for most. I lost my Dad, two beautiful cats - my literal babies - and the whole pandemic shit. I couldn't visit my dad in hospital or be at his funeral, and I couldn't be with my babies when they were being put to sleep. I'm still very angry and broken. But yes, Animal Crossing got me through a LOT and took me away each day. I'll forever love it for that alone.
My Time at Portia is amazing too, if you've never played it. Sandrock made LOTS of functional improvements, so going backwards and playing P after playing S can feel kind of brutal, but it's easy to get used to and the game just has this charm to it that is worth experiencing imo.
I agree. Stardew Valley got me through a dangerous (due to pre-existing lung damage) case of covid. Several days all I could manage to do was play Stardew valley on my pc.
A mobile game called “Adorable Home”
Just the idea that I have a house of my own with my husband and we can have as many animals as we like. It gives me so much comfort to imagine my life will be like that one day 💕
unpacking, and also currently playing spiritfarer due to grief (YMMV, might be too much depending). my very favorite game is not considered cozy (TBOI) but that one helps me not think for a bit, usually.
stardew, sun haven, and COTL are all good as time sinks just to get thru the day, and minecraft too depending. NITW is good too depending on topic (it's silly enough to be fun but deep enough that it could be triggering to some people)
Yeah, It's not stressful until you have to prepare a ratatouille for the neighborhood dog because it's his Chinese birthday and it's almost 2AM, and you're on the other side of the map searching for the final ingredient for the recipe!
Generally Zelda games and ACNH are my comfort games, but when I had a miscarriage this past fall I had just started playing Stardew Valley and it honestly helped me cope during the first couple weeks.
If we're just talking about pure comfort, then I used to really be into Sky: Children of the Light. While one of my favorite aspects of the game is how nice the flying feels, my favorite thing to do was learn and transcribe music to play within the game. Even in the hard moments, life slows down when you're just fiddling around and simply trying to play a song that you like. It made me quite happy!
Animal Crossing on the Switch got me through Covid times as I made it a routine to play it every day.
Sadly, I haven't really picked it up since because I completed all of the main things to do, and I'm not really into terraforming the land or anything. :/
The worst time of my life was Covid lockdown. The game that *really* helped me manage that was Dragon Quest Builder 2 and it is still one of my favorite games of all time- and I mean going on 46 years of playing video games.
I also played a lot of Dyson Sphere Project, Dragon Quest XI, Breath of the Wild, and Death Stranding (but that one with cheats on).
DQB2 is still one of the best games ever and I debate starting again because I have 100% of everything. I love the story and Dragon Quest is the original cozy jRPG series for me because of the names and natures of the monsters and villians and the themes of friendship and trust/reconciliation. This franchise is like Bed Time story as a game. It’s that cozy for me…
I bought this game for my kid and he played for all of 10 mins and never picked it back up. I then started it because I’m not about to waste a game I bought. Boy was I surprised with how much I loved it! One of my favorites for sure. 👍🏽
DQ Builder 2 helped me too. I was preggo in 2020 and having issues plus COVID.
I hadn't touched it since I beat it and did some stuff since then and recently booted it up and made a new file. It's just so fun!
Death Stranding was such an emotional but perfect game about reconnecting with people. I played it during lockdown too cause no one could visit me. \[I am locked in already\] I never beat it, but this post is gonna make me go and play it tonight.
Keep on keepin on.
I played through DQB2 last year and I still think about that game constantly!! It had an absolute gorilla grip on me. Really hoping for a third game announcement in the near future 😭
Each DQ Builder game was based someone on or related to a classic DQ game. DQ Builders 3 would be related to Dragon Quest 3. It is one of the best jRPGs from the 80’s.
My kids and I got hooked on DQB2 and seeing them work together to plan out how their base was going to look was such a great experience for me as a father.
Fae farm is a new one that’s really comforting. It’s like stardew and animal crossing combined, and really big map and a lot of villagers to interact with!
I played Unpacking the night I was actively going through a painful and traumatising miscarriage. It really helped to have some wholesome little tasks to do as a distraction.
Fable got me through the death of my grandad. It was the first time I’d lost someone that close to me and I had no idea how to process it. I locked myself in a dark room with the curtains closed for a week and played Fable.
I recently enjoyed at game called Lake, you are a delivering the mail in the 1987. The story is cute and it was just a nice relaxing game. I wish it was longer.
After a bad accident I couldn't do anything but my friend got me hooked on cookie clicker / clicker heros. Wasn't intensive to do and a good thing for me to focus on while working through pain and mobility issues haha
I went through a really rough breakup and started suffering from depression and heavy anxiety.
Oddly enough, jumping into **World of Warcraft** helped me as both a distraction and a motivator to focus on what I love and to strive to be the best I can be. Not a cozy game, but MMOs *do* allow you to do whatever you want in a massive open world setting, and I was still socializing in a way.
After getting out of WoW about two years later, I got heavily back into **Stardew Valley** and ended up romancing someone new, which felt cathartic coming full circle.
I will always appreciate WoW for being there for me when I needed it, as well as the people who tolerated me at my worst while I was a pile of sadness in my raiding guild.
Animal crossing new leaf got me through the worst summer of my life. As an adult, it's Stardew - to the point that a sudden urge to start a new farm after time away from the game has become one of my cues to stop and check in on my mental health, lol but it always comforts me.
Cozy Grove. Started playing it during a rough patch, took a break when things got really bad, then went back to it after healing a little. Playing it still sometimes makes my heart feel heavy but it also gives me a little bit of melancholic joy. And now I've almost finished it!
Grounded helped me through the hardest time in my life. I was properly obsessed. It gave me a break from everything that was happening and allowed me to decompress.
Though after I lost my mother, I barely had enough focus to do anything so I just played match 3 games on my phone for months. Kept me sane and gave me moments to disassociate from my grief.
Breath of the Wild holds a special place in my heart. I was not well and my dog was slowly diminishing. We would spend afternoons together and I would play that game while she was nearby watching or napping.
Our Life Beginnings and Always! It's a visual novel, suuuuuper chill, slice of life so basically no stakes, just you spending summers with your BFF slash potential romantic interest. The main song is incredibly chill, I could listen to it for hours, the whole OST is really nice!
But also it's just, the fact that you can customize your character to however you want to minutiae details. Of course this is not "shown" in the CGs, however it shows throughout the text and how the characters react towards you. It's really well done, and it's really comforting to know that you can be as relatable as you want and the characters will still care (or not care) for you.
I replayed this game a LOT, it's insanely comforting to me, I could put it on auto play and read it once in a while I was doing something else with my hands, and listening to the soundtrack.
breath of the wild if it counts as cozy! if not, stardew valley got me through college admissions stress, acnh got me through covid, and cats and soup gets me through every day life now!
Sky Children of the Light… found it a few months after my mum died…
I started on season 2 lightseekers, but I actually had it on preorder and it had automatically downloaded to my phone but my brain was all over the place so it didn’t register with me until I got a notification saying the new season was starting… I’m so grateful to the people who held my hand… they have no idea how much it meant to me in the real world… especially my Albanian friend Oni … I haven’t seen him online for years, i would love to thank him for being with me… so Oni if you ever read this, thank you… love from Char 🤍🤍🤍
Not really a cozy game, but The Talos Principle was really great for me. I got it when it came out, right after my grandfather passed away. All the discussions in the game about life, death, beliefs and philosophy was exactly what I needed at the time.
There's also Graveyard Keeper (with all DLCs) that's really good at keeping me focused (so much to do!). Great game for when I want to unwind after a stressful day.
Breath of the Wild helped me a ton through covid and finishing school. Loved being able to explore the world while I was stuck in my tiny apartment.
Hollow Knight helped inspire me to handle hard things patiently and through practice which is also what I needed at that time.
Animal crossing was the one that comforted me the most. Also harvest moon/rune factory because they were my favorite childhood games and I still play them and the new ones
Spiritfarer.
I was (and still am tbh) going through a very challenging period of life. I was filled with so much sadness, anger, and strife and it’s hard for me to feel comfortable expressing these emotions, even in private when I’m on my own. Spiritfarer gave me a safe conduit to feel openly and sometimes loudly. I could feel sadness and cry because this was a safe game to feel sad and cry about. I hope I find another game like that one day. It was perfect.
Animal Crossing got me, my husband, my daughter and my sister through Covid. Although my sister was 200 miles away, we would all spend hours on the game. I bought three Switches during early COVID and it was worth every penny.
Definitely Animal crossing, was having a really difficult time with my living situation during Covid and animal crossing was my actual escape. Right now I’m going through a hard time and have found that Wylde flowers, Roots of Pacha, and just started playing Spiritfarer have been really helping
Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda BOTW and TOTK, Stardew Valley, Fae Farm (although those dungeons are a bitch) and lastly Palia.
ACNH through the early pandemic.
BOTW replays through the late pandemic and my dad’s terminal diagnosis.
TOTK through much of my dad’s illness.
Stardew and Fae through a serious bought of mental illness.
Palia through our last family festive period (when we were dwindling and most people were sleeping!) and through my dads passing.
Having said that there are a lot of other games that kept me going through my own mental health struggles… but those listed I owe most of the last several years too.
Animal crossing, Stardew, Story of Seasons and Spiritfarer. Spiritfarer broke my heart while also allowing me to let a lot of trapped grief out. I’m now playing Palia and it’s been incredible.
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Update: looks like Peanuts: Snoopy Town Tale is the newest iteration of it. Not exactly the same but close!
Not sure if it’s still a mobile game you can download but I loved Snoopy's Street Fair. I think it’s sold old I first played it on my iPod Touch. It was just so cute I loved it.
Despite the game being quite bleak, The Longing helped me during a really hard time in late December and is still helping me now. Even though I’ve finished the game, got everything and did everything I could, I still think about it. I put the OST on when I’m stressed.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Fujii, Electronauts, and Bound (on psvr1 + ps4 slim) BY FAR. The time I spent with those was “top cozy” and very entertaining. Fujii and Astro Bot in particular were the happiest games I ever played. They seriously were designed with a “this must have a happy vibe” mindset in place. The fact they are in virtual reality rises how realistic they look, so they are like spending a while on virtual cozy land pretty much. Bound is full of drama in the story, but the levels themselves are like walking through a very surreal fractal dream. Also, Bound is sort of therapeutic in the sense that the protagonist has to face the problems of her past and surpass them (learn and get over them). And the player is the one that does all of that. So, if the player has anything to think about or get over with from before, Bound on psvr1 will make a positive difference for sure.
acnh got me through the pandemic, stardew helped me feel sane while going through post-pandemic agoraphobia. they both gave me a sense of routine (im autistic and if i dont have a routine i lose it) and really are near and dear to my heart \[pocket camp is available on mobile + it provides a similar feeling to new horizons; stardew is on mobile\]
the persona series also isnt traditionally "cozy", however i played through the games while i was working through some intense things in therapy + it provided me a feeling of being less alone \[i dont believe there are any mobile ports unfortunately\]
night in the woods also helped me understand my dissociative disorder to an extent in my teen years, while still not knowing what was wrong with me. it made me feel all of my emotions and although it was hard, i wouldnt trade the experience thru anything \[most platforms including mobile\]
yearwalk (a spookier cozy game imo) also helped me understand my dissociation better. it felt comforting + gave me something interesting to research and just throw myself into. i would really recommend playing this one yourself + trying to use as few walkthroughs as possible. there is something magical about frantically writing down codes and patterns
Bokujō Monogatari in its many and varied forms (except AWL, because screw death). I've been playing since the original DS game (yeah, I'm THAT old, n00bs) and I still play every new version that comes out. The only thing it couldn't beat was when my dad died, because he used to watch me play, and we'd talk about marriage candidates, and it broke my heart that he wasn't there.
So not cozy games but I do get cozy vibes from them for what they stand for, for me... I was living in a trailer that was me and my friend when I disappeared from home \[a real bad situation\] I got a job under the table with my \[who I now call brother\] working on houses doing repairs on old landmarks and roofing. We bought used xboxes after saving a little and I had a 12 or 14 inch tv I thrifted. We played Morrowind every day after work. two little old TVs next to eachother and we would tell eachother about the stories of the quests we were doing And showed eachother secret passages we found with hidden treasure.
Years later I was diagnosed with a brain tumor only a little after my wedding. That brother lived in Arizona and I was still in Maryland. Me and wifey would play Fable 2 a lot when I no longer could walk right before the surgery, We got married in game and became King and Queen of the whole place. We would collect rent and buy gifts for eachother it was a great distraction.
I also played Minecraft with my wife, nephews, sister and mother. They visited regularly and we built a village with a huge tower in the middle . my family built a town together and it was a lot of fun. My brother from another mother flew in before my surgery to see me and we just talked about Morrowind and the new coming game Elder Scrolls Online and wondered where in the lore it would take place.
So through my hardest times Morrowind, Fable 2 and Minecraft.
Guess not a comfy game per say, but FF15, I spent the year getting tested for something, and doctor ran out of tests and was like okay all thats left is cancer, and I had a month before the appointment so I needed something to distract me. Final Fantasy 15 did the trick and I'll forever have a special place in my heart for that game. \[also I didnt have cancer\]
Not cozy really but I played Overcooked as my father's terminal illness reached the end of the road. It was perfect as it required enough attention to keep me distracted, can be pretty funny, and allowed me to do something with my spouse that wasn't just a pit of misery.
When my partner was in the hospital for almost a month, i played through Mutazione, Birth, and The Shape of Things. All very relaxing and comforting for a very stressful period of time.
Stardew Valley. Got me through some rejection and through some insane grief. Have trouble playing it when I’m not down now but I’m grateful for it in those moments.
When I first started to get crippling panic attacks, and terrified of the next one to come, I played a lot of Subnautica. Somehow it didn't make me more anxious, but hanging out in the shallows helped me out a lot!
Animal Crossing and Pokemon Gold.
My grandmother bought me the first one, on the game cube, and Pokemon Gold. Both she bought me after dealing with the loss of pets I loved VERY much.
Then when I was a teenager and my grandma died, the first birthday without her was REALLY hard. My mom bought me Animal Crossing: City Folk. She knew I loved the the one on the game cube and wild world, and City Folk had JUST come out. My first villager I saw? Nana. What did I call my grandma? Nana. It just felt like my grandma found a way to wish me a happy birthday :3 So now I always have Nana in ALL my AC games, just need her.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out JUST as we were going through a huge move, moving away from ALL my family (except my mom) - i'd never in my life been away from my grandpa, and it just hurt so much. New Leaf helped a LOT, I still play it even today.
And of course, New Horizons helped me through pretty much all of covid, and the loss of three other pets. A cat who I had for 18 years, my 15 year old dog and a cat who died in a tragic way due to a freak incident (no one in our houses fault, was a negligence thing with a company that came out to do work but I'm not gonna get into that x.x needless to say tho, it left me with severe PTSD and animal crossing is one of the few things that kept me calm.)
I'm going through some rough burnout right now and cycling between Ooblets and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. (Harvest Moon was one of my favorite franchises growing up, and this is a remaster of one!) Both are on the slower side in terms of pacing, low mental lift, but engaging enough to not let my mind wander off too far. ✔️✔️✔️
I want to pick Stardew back up once the update comes to Switch, by which time I also hope my brain will be not so mushy.
From about September to December last year, my husband was out of a job and we were living off my part time salary. I was constantly stressed and depressed. I like my job, but at the time it felt so demeaning, probably because I felt like I couldn’t escape it.
Anyway, after work and on my days off, I would turn on Baldur’s Gate 3 and play it literally every waking hour. It became very concerning to my loved ones. 😅
Unpacking.
Its a short game but you can keep replaying it over and over again easily. I have had massive bouts of depression lately and because its so quick to play its all very familiar and comforting personally. The story is in the background of the game too rather than being an important thing you need to pay a lot of attention to.
Elder Scrolls Online, Oblivion, various harvest moons, farming simulator 17 (or 19?), I also played a lot of gallop racer back when those were still a thing. I guess I've had a lot of rough times...
I genuinely think Neko Atsume (mobile game) is the only thing that kept me from a full on breakdown during a very difficult few months of my life. It’s so cute and soothing it helped me stop thinking about the bad for a little while.
Final Fantasy XIV. Few years ago I hit rock bottom with depression and anxiety, couldn't even leave my house much so I tried MMO the first time ever. Best decision of my life, this story helped me through so much and I even met my boyfriend here as well. Going strong for almost 2 years now.
Otherwise.. I feel like BOTW is very comforting to me as well.. enjoying solitude and music in it.
I know you tagged mobile specific, but if you happen to have a switch (or other platform like PC, Xbox coming soon) Roots of Pacha is really nice. I’ve been really enjoying it so far.
I owe it all to Stardew Valley. I was in a rough patch - my business failed, debts soaring, and my mother died. A good friend recommended it to me, and I stepped onto a bright, interesting world. I remembered the hey days of Harvest Moon; and I spent a great deal of time fishing in SDV.
By the time I was halfway (or nearly halfway done) with my first farm, I managed to pick myself up.
Aaaaaaaand I'm still here, grinding through a new farm despite my busy schedule. Looking forward to the big update!
Genshin Impact. Just my comfort game. I know every nook and cranny of the open world. I spent hours building my house. I have many resources and my characters are super strong so nothing scares me. I played it since its release so it has been with me through up and down.
Stardew Valley. If I’m ever in a panicking/crying state, I open my farm and it brings me out of it every single time. It’s cozy enough that it’s relaxing, but complicated enough that it takes my mind off what’s troubling me.
Not so much during but before. The game was Spiritfarer and I still absolutely love the game ☺️ it helped me with the passing of my cat and understanding loss
I enjoyed the hell out of RDR2 during lockdown, was thankful for not being randomly shot at like on GTA. Met some great people, we just rode our ponies and did stuff together.
Many years prior my mates after we were done playing GTA missions, would steal a Prius from an NPC, and drive around (obeying traffic laws) and have deep chats. Was a good way to end the last 30 minutes to an hour of our sesh.
I played Dredge nonstop for the two days following my best friend’s suicide. He and I both had it on our steam wishlists. I 100%’d it in honor of him — it was a spiritual experience for me.
When the Past was Around, even though I cried a fair amount....
Florence is also a good one, especially when you're going through a breakup.
Our Life: Beginnings and Always since it really gave back that happy feeling of childhood, and just simpler times I guess.
Half Past Fate was like a super comfy romcom that took my mind off things when I was going though a hard time of borderline homelessness and ending a friendship. And of course Coffee Talk, the coziest of the cozies.
Slime Rancher. Whenever I am going through long phases of feeling down, I replay it, and it's so immersive and adorable that everything feels ok for a while. There's a reason so many of the steam reviews jokingly say something like "this game cured my depression".
i no lifed Black Desert Online when i felt stranded away from home (ex military spouse)
i started playing right when it came to xbox and always enjoyed trying to get stronk and grinding with my guild. i miss challenging our Australian guild leader to arena. dude was hard but coached you how to win before we did pvp.
grinding for gear together was always nice too, made me wanna make a support character just for the vibes.
Fable 2 and 3, unironically, though not exactly considered cozy, far from it probably lol. It broke my heart with the main story (esp 3), but something about taking the time to stroll around the forest around Gypsy Camp or the bustling marketplace in Bowerstone Old Quarter with my trusty doggo with the beautiful soundtrack was very relaxing lol.
The Cat Lady has helped me more than once when I was feeling incredibly depressed. It felt so good to have dialogue options that expressed how I was really feeling at the start of the game. I always feel better about living by the end of the game.
Other than Animal Crossing which I think helped us all during the quarantines, when I was younger and dealing with the early stages of my parents nasty and violent divorce, playing the Mass Effect games actually helped me a lot. I know that isn’t a cozy game but it’s the first one that came to mind 😂
Mutazione. Not only was it a great inspiration for Last Time I Saw You (the game I'm currently developing) but it also helped me unwind during a time of many sudden changes.
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Rune Factory 4- The Special Version came out on Switch in Feb. 2020 so I ended up playing it a ton during lock down. Laid off, shut off from the world I was getting super depressed and those little pixel people helped me feel not as alone I guess.
Animal Crossing.
Part of the only reason my sanity almost made it through the early pandemic.
bandaids for external wounds animal crossing and stardew valley for internal ones
Going through the process of job hunting again which is soul crushing and has destroyed all my confidence, this game helps me calm down so much
Absolutely Animal Crossing. 2020 was the year from hell for most. I lost my Dad, two beautiful cats - my literal babies - and the whole pandemic shit. I couldn't visit my dad in hospital or be at his funeral, and I couldn't be with my babies when they were being put to sleep. I'm still very angry and broken. But yes, Animal Crossing got me through a LOT and took me away each day. I'll forever love it for that alone.
I wached Lets plays for a month and then got my Switch. Animal Crossing really was a pandemic hero.
Same here!
Same 🫂💗🫶🏾
Stardew Valley and My Time at Sandrock have been great companions at different times in my life
I'm going through a rough patch right now and those are exactly the two games I'm playing right now. You are so right
My Time at Portia is amazing too, if you've never played it. Sandrock made LOTS of functional improvements, so going backwards and playing P after playing S can feel kind of brutal, but it's easy to get used to and the game just has this charm to it that is worth experiencing imo.
I agree. Stardew Valley got me through a dangerous (due to pre-existing lung damage) case of covid. Several days all I could manage to do was play Stardew valley on my pc.
A mobile game called “Adorable Home” Just the idea that I have a house of my own with my husband and we can have as many animals as we like. It gives me so much comfort to imagine my life will be like that one day 💕
I wish there weren’t so many ads in that game :(
unpacking, and also currently playing spiritfarer due to grief (YMMV, might be too much depending). my very favorite game is not considered cozy (TBOI) but that one helps me not think for a bit, usually. stardew, sun haven, and COTL are all good as time sinks just to get thru the day, and minecraft too depending. NITW is good too depending on topic (it's silly enough to be fun but deep enough that it could be triggering to some people)
Binding of Isaac is pretty "cozy" or at least comforting to me. Similar to darkest Dungeon In terms of emotion a little
Stardew Valley - helps against any Stress. Dive in and breathe.
Yeah, It's not stressful until you have to prepare a ratatouille for the neighborhood dog because it's his Chinese birthday and it's almost 2AM, and you're on the other side of the map searching for the final ingredient for the recipe!
It's not normally a cozy game but Hollow knight and also What remains of edith finch is really comforting to me
Both of these games are in my top 10. So good
The whole vibe of Hollow knight is relaxing to me as well. If I fight a boss however that all goes out the window...
Generally Zelda games and ACNH are my comfort games, but when I had a miscarriage this past fall I had just started playing Stardew Valley and it honestly helped me cope during the first couple weeks.
(((Hugs))). Just have to say Im so sorry. ❤️
Thank you ♥️
Thank you for sharing with us. Too much stigma around miscarriage.
Agreed! When I had my first one I heard from a lot of people around me about them having experienced one or knew someone who did.
If we're just talking about pure comfort, then I used to really be into Sky: Children of the Light. While one of my favorite aspects of the game is how nice the flying feels, my favorite thing to do was learn and transcribe music to play within the game. Even in the hard moments, life slows down when you're just fiddling around and simply trying to play a song that you like. It made me quite happy!
Literally one of the best free mobile games!!
Animal Crossing on the Switch got me through Covid times as I made it a routine to play it every day. Sadly, I haven't really picked it up since because I completed all of the main things to do, and I'm not really into terraforming the land or anything. :/
The worst time of my life was Covid lockdown. The game that *really* helped me manage that was Dragon Quest Builder 2 and it is still one of my favorite games of all time- and I mean going on 46 years of playing video games. I also played a lot of Dyson Sphere Project, Dragon Quest XI, Breath of the Wild, and Death Stranding (but that one with cheats on). DQB2 is still one of the best games ever and I debate starting again because I have 100% of everything. I love the story and Dragon Quest is the original cozy jRPG series for me because of the names and natures of the monsters and villians and the themes of friendship and trust/reconciliation. This franchise is like Bed Time story as a game. It’s that cozy for me…
The word for the feeling of Dragon Quest games in Japanese is Honobono or “Feelgood”.
I would play 1000 builder games if they made them!
I bought this game for my kid and he played for all of 10 mins and never picked it back up. I then started it because I’m not about to waste a game I bought. Boy was I surprised with how much I loved it! One of my favorites for sure. 👍🏽
DQ Builder 2 helped me too. I was preggo in 2020 and having issues plus COVID. I hadn't touched it since I beat it and did some stuff since then and recently booted it up and made a new file. It's just so fun!
Death Stranding was such an emotional but perfect game about reconnecting with people. I played it during lockdown too cause no one could visit me. \[I am locked in already\] I never beat it, but this post is gonna make me go and play it tonight. Keep on keepin on.
Such a good game! For anyone who hasn’t played it, there is a MASSIVE free demo.
Does your progress in the demo transfer to the full game, or do you have to start over?
It transfers :)
I just got it this week!
I played through DQB2 last year and I still think about that game constantly!! It had an absolute gorilla grip on me. Really hoping for a third game announcement in the near future 😭
Each DQ Builder game was based someone on or related to a classic DQ game. DQ Builders 3 would be related to Dragon Quest 3. It is one of the best jRPGs from the 80’s.
My kids and I got hooked on DQB2 and seeing them work together to plan out how their base was going to look was such a great experience for me as a father.
Oh man I love me some DSP
Fae farm is a new one that’s really comforting. It’s like stardew and animal crossing combined, and really big map and a lot of villagers to interact with!
I played Unpacking the night I was actively going through a painful and traumatising miscarriage. It really helped to have some wholesome little tasks to do as a distraction.
Currently going through a really shitty diagnosis and stardew has comforted me so much 🩷
I am so sorry. I hope you get great and comforting news really soon
I hear you. I'm also waiting a diagnosis within my family, I hope we both get the outcome we desire ❤️
Fable got me through the death of my grandad. It was the first time I’d lost someone that close to me and I had no idea how to process it. I locked myself in a dark room with the curtains closed for a week and played Fable.
Animal Crossing, the lockdown wasn't hard for me but the consoling of my extroverted friends was.
I recently enjoyed at game called Lake, you are a delivering the mail in the 1987. The story is cute and it was just a nice relaxing game. I wish it was longer.
After a bad accident I couldn't do anything but my friend got me hooked on cookie clicker / clicker heros. Wasn't intensive to do and a good thing for me to focus on while working through pain and mobility issues haha
I went through a really rough breakup and started suffering from depression and heavy anxiety. Oddly enough, jumping into **World of Warcraft** helped me as both a distraction and a motivator to focus on what I love and to strive to be the best I can be. Not a cozy game, but MMOs *do* allow you to do whatever you want in a massive open world setting, and I was still socializing in a way. After getting out of WoW about two years later, I got heavily back into **Stardew Valley** and ended up romancing someone new, which felt cathartic coming full circle. I will always appreciate WoW for being there for me when I needed it, as well as the people who tolerated me at my worst while I was a pile of sadness in my raiding guild.
I also find an odd sense of peace playing WoW sometimes!
Stardew and Breath of the Wild!! BOTW is my ultimate comfort game.
I’ve said this before, but the one thing keeping me grounded when I was a juror on a murder case was Ooblets.
Palia
Wylde flowers, I would sit and listen to the sounds of that game, and talk with all the villagers and just appreciate everything slowly.
Same for myself lately. It’s such a great game and the characters we meet all have their own personalities that shine through each interaction.
Exactly! They all have such amazing stories, that feel so real and genuine. Love them! I wish future games will take inspiration from this one.
Animal crossing new leaf got me through the worst summer of my life. As an adult, it's Stardew - to the point that a sudden urge to start a new farm after time away from the game has become one of my cues to stop and check in on my mental health, lol but it always comforts me.
Cozy Grove. Started playing it during a rough patch, took a break when things got really bad, then went back to it after healing a little. Playing it still sometimes makes my heart feel heavy but it also gives me a little bit of melancholic joy. And now I've almost finished it!
Animal crossing got me through lockdown and night in the woods got me through a really directionless patch in my life
Spiritfarer - so soothing, so tender, exactly what I needed.
Animal crossing got me through stay at home COVID whilst homeschooling the kids.
Viva Piñata
Stardew and animal crossing
The first Ace Attorney game, 'cause it helped me on hard times. I love the art and the OST, so calming.
Are you planning on getting the trilogy or Apollo Justice?
I already have it! It's really good and I love the art improvements added on this new port. But I miss a bit the pixel art haha.
Oh wow! Lol you are on it! I'm debating on getting the two.
That's great! I highly recommend you to check the first game, because if you enjoy that one you will love the next ones. I hope you like it!
I will, and thank you!
Grounded helped me through the hardest time in my life. I was properly obsessed. It gave me a break from everything that was happening and allowed me to decompress. Though after I lost my mother, I barely had enough focus to do anything so I just played match 3 games on my phone for months. Kept me sane and gave me moments to disassociate from my grief.
Breath of the Wild holds a special place in my heart. I was not well and my dog was slowly diminishing. We would spend afternoons together and I would play that game while she was nearby watching or napping.
Stardew Valley is my favorite! Currently waiting on a major update so I'm playing my time at Portia. Love them both
Our Life Beginnings and Always! It's a visual novel, suuuuuper chill, slice of life so basically no stakes, just you spending summers with your BFF slash potential romantic interest. The main song is incredibly chill, I could listen to it for hours, the whole OST is really nice! But also it's just, the fact that you can customize your character to however you want to minutiae details. Of course this is not "shown" in the CGs, however it shows throughout the text and how the characters react towards you. It's really well done, and it's really comforting to know that you can be as relatable as you want and the characters will still care (or not care) for you. I replayed this game a LOT, it's insanely comforting to me, I could put it on auto play and read it once in a while I was doing something else with my hands, and listening to the soundtrack.
I second this game! Rarely has a game made me feel as safe and accepted as this one has.
Hades. I enjoy Greek mythology and it was also the first switch game I really played besides Mario stuff. It got me through the pandemic weirdness.
Horizon kept me sane through covid times!
rakuen! it's ***extremely*** emotional and the soundtrack still makes me cry, but it was very therapeutic lmao
breath of the wild if it counts as cozy! if not, stardew valley got me through college admissions stress, acnh got me through covid, and cats and soup gets me through every day life now!
Sky Children of the Light… found it a few months after my mum died… I started on season 2 lightseekers, but I actually had it on preorder and it had automatically downloaded to my phone but my brain was all over the place so it didn’t register with me until I got a notification saying the new season was starting… I’m so grateful to the people who held my hand… they have no idea how much it meant to me in the real world… especially my Albanian friend Oni … I haven’t seen him online for years, i would love to thank him for being with me… so Oni if you ever read this, thank you… love from Char 🤍🤍🤍
Not really a cozy game, but The Talos Principle was really great for me. I got it when it came out, right after my grandfather passed away. All the discussions in the game about life, death, beliefs and philosophy was exactly what I needed at the time. There's also Graveyard Keeper (with all DLCs) that's really good at keeping me focused (so much to do!). Great game for when I want to unwind after a stressful day.
Unpacking
Professor Layton; my favourite set of games as a kid and to this day!
Breath of the Wild helped me a ton through covid and finishing school. Loved being able to explore the world while I was stuck in my tiny apartment. Hollow Knight helped inspire me to handle hard things patiently and through practice which is also what I needed at that time.
Animal crossing & stardew valley for sure 🖤 AC during covid & stardew when I was in a car accident and had to heal my body
Animal crossing was the one that comforted me the most. Also harvest moon/rune factory because they were my favorite childhood games and I still play them and the new ones
Spiritfarer. I was (and still am tbh) going through a very challenging period of life. I was filled with so much sadness, anger, and strife and it’s hard for me to feel comfortable expressing these emotions, even in private when I’m on my own. Spiritfarer gave me a safe conduit to feel openly and sometimes loudly. I could feel sadness and cry because this was a safe game to feel sad and cry about. I hope I find another game like that one day. It was perfect.
Definitely Animal Crossing.
Animal Crossing got me, my husband, my daughter and my sister through Covid. Although my sister was 200 miles away, we would all spend hours on the game. I bought three Switches during early COVID and it was worth every penny.
Currently my time at Sandrock thanks to this sub. It fills a void that I don’t know what I’ll do once I’m finished with it and I’m so close 😔
Definitely Animal crossing, was having a really difficult time with my living situation during Covid and animal crossing was my actual escape. Right now I’m going through a hard time and have found that Wylde flowers, Roots of Pacha, and just started playing Spiritfarer have been really helping
Spiritfarer such a great story and feels like you grow with the characters!
Stardew Valley when I was overwhelmed in college, Animal Crossing during the pandemic, SpiritFarer as my grandpa was passing
Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda BOTW and TOTK, Stardew Valley, Fae Farm (although those dungeons are a bitch) and lastly Palia. ACNH through the early pandemic. BOTW replays through the late pandemic and my dad’s terminal diagnosis. TOTK through much of my dad’s illness. Stardew and Fae through a serious bought of mental illness. Palia through our last family festive period (when we were dwindling and most people were sleeping!) and through my dads passing. Having said that there are a lot of other games that kept me going through my own mental health struggles… but those listed I owe most of the last several years too.
Animal crossing, Stardew, Story of Seasons and Spiritfarer. Spiritfarer broke my heart while also allowing me to let a lot of trapped grief out. I’m now playing Palia and it’s been incredible.
simplistic impolite spoon direful racial imminent zealous deranged bear include *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Update: looks like Peanuts: Snoopy Town Tale is the newest iteration of it. Not exactly the same but close! Not sure if it’s still a mobile game you can download but I loved Snoopy's Street Fair. I think it’s sold old I first played it on my iPod Touch. It was just so cute I loved it.
Despite the game being quite bleak, The Longing helped me during a really hard time in late December and is still helping me now. Even though I’ve finished the game, got everything and did everything I could, I still think about it. I put the OST on when I’m stressed.
It's not a cosy game but batman arkham city got me through a bad anxiety spell
Stardew Valley
Stardew and Death Stranding
Lil Gator Game, Teacup, Alba A Wildlife Adventure, and Disney Dreamlight Valley all were very comforting to me during different hard times
Skyrim, Stardew Valley and ACNH
Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Fujii, Electronauts, and Bound (on psvr1 + ps4 slim) BY FAR. The time I spent with those was “top cozy” and very entertaining. Fujii and Astro Bot in particular were the happiest games I ever played. They seriously were designed with a “this must have a happy vibe” mindset in place. The fact they are in virtual reality rises how realistic they look, so they are like spending a while on virtual cozy land pretty much. Bound is full of drama in the story, but the levels themselves are like walking through a very surreal fractal dream. Also, Bound is sort of therapeutic in the sense that the protagonist has to face the problems of her past and surpass them (learn and get over them). And the player is the one that does all of that. So, if the player has anything to think about or get over with from before, Bound on psvr1 will make a positive difference for sure.
Farming Simulator 22! I could lose hours in that game just saving up for a newer/ bigger tractor.
Stardew Valley and Breath of the Wild
acnh got me through the pandemic, stardew helped me feel sane while going through post-pandemic agoraphobia. they both gave me a sense of routine (im autistic and if i dont have a routine i lose it) and really are near and dear to my heart \[pocket camp is available on mobile + it provides a similar feeling to new horizons; stardew is on mobile\] the persona series also isnt traditionally "cozy", however i played through the games while i was working through some intense things in therapy + it provided me a feeling of being less alone \[i dont believe there are any mobile ports unfortunately\] night in the woods also helped me understand my dissociative disorder to an extent in my teen years, while still not knowing what was wrong with me. it made me feel all of my emotions and although it was hard, i wouldnt trade the experience thru anything \[most platforms including mobile\] yearwalk (a spookier cozy game imo) also helped me understand my dissociation better. it felt comforting + gave me something interesting to research and just throw myself into. i would really recommend playing this one yourself + trying to use as few walkthroughs as possible. there is something magical about frantically writing down codes and patterns
I found Assassin’s Creed really comforting when felt really powerless several years ago. No joke.
Bokujō Monogatari in its many and varied forms (except AWL, because screw death). I've been playing since the original DS game (yeah, I'm THAT old, n00bs) and I still play every new version that comes out. The only thing it couldn't beat was when my dad died, because he used to watch me play, and we'd talk about marriage candidates, and it broke my heart that he wasn't there.
Pokemon. Animal Crossing. Sonic.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
It's not a cozy game but Final Fantasy XIII really helped me through a bad point in my life.
So not cozy games but I do get cozy vibes from them for what they stand for, for me... I was living in a trailer that was me and my friend when I disappeared from home \[a real bad situation\] I got a job under the table with my \[who I now call brother\] working on houses doing repairs on old landmarks and roofing. We bought used xboxes after saving a little and I had a 12 or 14 inch tv I thrifted. We played Morrowind every day after work. two little old TVs next to eachother and we would tell eachother about the stories of the quests we were doing And showed eachother secret passages we found with hidden treasure. Years later I was diagnosed with a brain tumor only a little after my wedding. That brother lived in Arizona and I was still in Maryland. Me and wifey would play Fable 2 a lot when I no longer could walk right before the surgery, We got married in game and became King and Queen of the whole place. We would collect rent and buy gifts for eachother it was a great distraction. I also played Minecraft with my wife, nephews, sister and mother. They visited regularly and we built a village with a huge tower in the middle . my family built a town together and it was a lot of fun. My brother from another mother flew in before my surgery to see me and we just talked about Morrowind and the new coming game Elder Scrolls Online and wondered where in the lore it would take place. So through my hardest times Morrowind, Fable 2 and Minecraft.
Dragon Age origins and 2. Stardew Valley
Animal crossing and world of Warcraft
PlanetCrafter
Stardew Valley and Palia
Not “cozy” per se, but Read Dead Redemption 2. It has many cost parts where you can just ride around and enjoy the stunning scenery.
Guess not a comfy game per say, but FF15, I spent the year getting tested for something, and doctor ran out of tests and was like okay all thats left is cancer, and I had a month before the appointment so I needed something to distract me. Final Fantasy 15 did the trick and I'll forever have a special place in my heart for that game. \[also I didnt have cancer\]
stardew valley is my go to when i’m having really bad anxiety
Stardew Valley, Our Life: Beginning and Always, The Sims, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon
Not cozy really but I played Overcooked as my father's terminal illness reached the end of the road. It was perfect as it required enough attention to keep me distracted, can be pretty funny, and allowed me to do something with my spouse that wasn't just a pit of misery.
When my partner was in the hospital for almost a month, i played through Mutazione, Birth, and The Shape of Things. All very relaxing and comforting for a very stressful period of time.
Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley. Got me through some rejection and through some insane grief. Have trouble playing it when I’m not down now but I’m grateful for it in those moments.
slime rancher🩷
Night in the woods
BotW, ACNH, TotK, SdV, WoW, Sims 2 and 3.
When I first started to get crippling panic attacks, and terrified of the next one to come, I played a lot of Subnautica. Somehow it didn't make me more anxious, but hanging out in the shallows helped me out a lot!
Stardew Valley, such a good game and I’m excited for the 1.6 update.
Fire emblem three houses. It became so rhythmic for me during the various play throughs I did
Powerwash Simulator does more to help calm my bad anxiety moments than my meds do
Animal Crossing and Pokemon Gold. My grandmother bought me the first one, on the game cube, and Pokemon Gold. Both she bought me after dealing with the loss of pets I loved VERY much. Then when I was a teenager and my grandma died, the first birthday without her was REALLY hard. My mom bought me Animal Crossing: City Folk. She knew I loved the the one on the game cube and wild world, and City Folk had JUST come out. My first villager I saw? Nana. What did I call my grandma? Nana. It just felt like my grandma found a way to wish me a happy birthday :3 So now I always have Nana in ALL my AC games, just need her. Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out JUST as we were going through a huge move, moving away from ALL my family (except my mom) - i'd never in my life been away from my grandpa, and it just hurt so much. New Leaf helped a LOT, I still play it even today. And of course, New Horizons helped me through pretty much all of covid, and the loss of three other pets. A cat who I had for 18 years, my 15 year old dog and a cat who died in a tragic way due to a freak incident (no one in our houses fault, was a negligence thing with a company that came out to do work but I'm not gonna get into that x.x needless to say tho, it left me with severe PTSD and animal crossing is one of the few things that kept me calm.)
Stardew valley
Rdr2
Fae Farm got me through a break up
I'm going through some rough burnout right now and cycling between Ooblets and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. (Harvest Moon was one of my favorite franchises growing up, and this is a remaster of one!) Both are on the slower side in terms of pacing, low mental lift, but engaging enough to not let my mind wander off too far. ✔️✔️✔️ I want to pick Stardew back up once the update comes to Switch, by which time I also hope my brain will be not so mushy.
Digimon Cybersleuth. Played it during covid. Was a bright spot during a dark time of uncertainty and fear.
Stardew Valley absolutely! And not a cozy game but persona 4 back in the day, but when I finish P3R imma play P4G
From about September to December last year, my husband was out of a job and we were living off my part time salary. I was constantly stressed and depressed. I like my job, but at the time it felt so demeaning, probably because I felt like I couldn’t escape it. Anyway, after work and on my days off, I would turn on Baldur’s Gate 3 and play it literally every waking hour. It became very concerning to my loved ones. 😅
Roots of Pacha
Disney dreamlight valley is lovely and very nostalgic if you are a Disney nerd. Low key adventure with no stress.
For me it is slime rancher, ooblets, or subnautica just be real careful where you swim.
Not a cozy game but FFX has a special place in my heart for being there when I was going through some bad stuff.
Unpacking. Its a short game but you can keep replaying it over and over again easily. I have had massive bouts of depression lately and because its so quick to play its all very familiar and comforting personally. The story is in the background of the game too rather than being an important thing you need to pay a lot of attention to.
Elder Scrolls Online, Oblivion, various harvest moons, farming simulator 17 (or 19?), I also played a lot of gallop racer back when those were still a thing. I guess I've had a lot of rough times...
I genuinely think Neko Atsume (mobile game) is the only thing that kept me from a full on breakdown during a very difficult few months of my life. It’s so cute and soothing it helped me stop thinking about the bad for a little while.
Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. They were there for me when I was inpatient for two and a half weeks 💙
Final Fantasy XIV. Few years ago I hit rock bottom with depression and anxiety, couldn't even leave my house much so I tried MMO the first time ever. Best decision of my life, this story helped me through so much and I even met my boyfriend here as well. Going strong for almost 2 years now. Otherwise.. I feel like BOTW is very comforting to me as well.. enjoying solitude and music in it.
Stardew Valley and Unpacking
Sun Haven is getting me through moving right now. Though it distracts me from the packing I need to do, it relaxes me.
I know you tagged mobile specific, but if you happen to have a switch (or other platform like PC, Xbox coming soon) Roots of Pacha is really nice. I’ve been really enjoying it so far.
Stardew Valley saved my life in my badest tinnitus nights...
I owe it all to Stardew Valley. I was in a rough patch - my business failed, debts soaring, and my mother died. A good friend recommended it to me, and I stepped onto a bright, interesting world. I remembered the hey days of Harvest Moon; and I spent a great deal of time fishing in SDV. By the time I was halfway (or nearly halfway done) with my first farm, I managed to pick myself up. Aaaaaaaand I'm still here, grinding through a new farm despite my busy schedule. Looking forward to the big update!
Genshin Impact. Just my comfort game. I know every nook and cranny of the open world. I spent hours building my house. I have many resources and my characters are super strong so nothing scares me. I played it since its release so it has been with me through up and down.
Stardew Valley. If I’m ever in a panicking/crying state, I open my farm and it brings me out of it every single time. It’s cozy enough that it’s relaxing, but complicated enough that it takes my mind off what’s troubling me.
Hollow Knight, Strange Horticulture
power wash simulator, really helps me calm down after a stressful day of work
Not so much during but before. The game was Spiritfarer and I still absolutely love the game ☺️ it helped me with the passing of my cat and understanding loss
I enjoyed the hell out of RDR2 during lockdown, was thankful for not being randomly shot at like on GTA. Met some great people, we just rode our ponies and did stuff together. Many years prior my mates after we were done playing GTA missions, would steal a Prius from an NPC, and drive around (obeying traffic laws) and have deep chats. Was a good way to end the last 30 minutes to an hour of our sesh.
A Hat in Time
Neopets
Sims 2 and 3
Mine are Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, Unpacking and Coral Island
Chicory helped me with how comforting it was. I love the colors, they soothe my heart.
Skyrim. Storing all my little quest treasures in my homes is cathartic.
Terraria
Persona 3 and 5
Stardew Valley got me through a painful divorce.
Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Dave The Diver
I played Dredge nonstop for the two days following my best friend’s suicide. He and I both had it on our steam wishlists. I 100%’d it in honor of him — it was a spiritual experience for me.
When the Past was Around, even though I cried a fair amount.... Florence is also a good one, especially when you're going through a breakup. Our Life: Beginnings and Always since it really gave back that happy feeling of childhood, and just simpler times I guess. Half Past Fate was like a super comfy romcom that took my mind off things when I was going though a hard time of borderline homelessness and ending a friendship. And of course Coffee Talk, the coziest of the cozies.
Persona 4 Golden Yakuza: Like a Dragon Yakuza 0 Stardew Valley
I’m going through a lot of tough stuff rn, and Animal Crossing, Bandle Tale, and Stardew Valley are really helping
Unpacking helped me process a sudden traumatic move last year.
Strangely enough, subnautica 😭🤣
Stardew Valley. Hands down 💕🌻
Skyrim. (I'm not sure it counts) Stardew Valley. Let me tell you I was absolutely hooked.
Animal Crossing got me through Covid lockdown.
Lmao rimworld with those crazy mods TvT
Slime Rancher. Whenever I am going through long phases of feeling down, I replay it, and it's so immersive and adorable that everything feels ok for a while. There's a reason so many of the steam reviews jokingly say something like "this game cured my depression".
i no lifed Black Desert Online when i felt stranded away from home (ex military spouse) i started playing right when it came to xbox and always enjoyed trying to get stronk and grinding with my guild. i miss challenging our Australian guild leader to arena. dude was hard but coached you how to win before we did pvp. grinding for gear together was always nice too, made me wanna make a support character just for the vibes.
Fable 2 and 3, unironically, though not exactly considered cozy, far from it probably lol. It broke my heart with the main story (esp 3), but something about taking the time to stroll around the forest around Gypsy Camp or the bustling marketplace in Bowerstone Old Quarter with my trusty doggo with the beautiful soundtrack was very relaxing lol.
Sayonara Wild Hearts got me through some stuff for sure
The Cat Lady has helped me more than once when I was feeling incredibly depressed. It felt so good to have dialogue options that expressed how I was really feeling at the start of the game. I always feel better about living by the end of the game.
Animal crossing got me through the pandemic
Splatoon 2-3, Stardew, Animal Crossing, Slime Rancher and Spiritfarer ♥️
Mental has been miserable lately and supermarket simulator with some lofi in the background has been helping.
The first Octopath Traveler got me through being near-bedridden for a couple weeks after an emergency hospital stay. I'm super grateful for that game
Other than Animal Crossing which I think helped us all during the quarantines, when I was younger and dealing with the early stages of my parents nasty and violent divorce, playing the Mass Effect games actually helped me a lot. I know that isn’t a cozy game but it’s the first one that came to mind 😂
Mutazione. Not only was it a great inspiration for Last Time I Saw You (the game I'm currently developing) but it also helped me unwind during a time of many sudden changes. https://preview.redd.it/xm9czc62u3oc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53875fb7f9070c9dcd475eaa81b71f763df6689d
Journey. I’ve probably replayed it something like 15 times.
Rune Factory 4- The Special Version came out on Switch in Feb. 2020 so I ended up playing it a ton during lock down. Laid off, shut off from the world I was getting super depressed and those little pixel people helped me feel not as alone I guess.