Hello Kitty Island Adventure is taking up Animal Crossing's mantle, but that's tougher than you'd think: "we've almost gotten to the point where cozy games are overused"

Hello Kitty Island Adventure screenshot showing Hello Kitty, a chibi-style cat character with white fur and a pink bow, smiling while waving.

"In some ways we've grown what it means to be a cozy game with our audience." Chelsea Howe, chief product officer on Hello Kitty Island Adventure, is keen to emphasize that there's more to this game than just Animal Crossing with Sanrio characters. Players looking for an alternative to New Horizons should find they "get their needs met," but a licensed, open-world twist on the life sim formula, with all the jumping, climbing, and exploration that includes means that new players are finding their way in too. And that could have a substantial impact on the entire cosy games trend.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ ahead of the announcement that Hello Kitty Island Adventure would be freed from its Apple Arcade exclusivity and make the multiplatform jump to PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, Howe acknowledges how this part of the industry has changed in just a few years: "It's really interesting. We've almost gotten to the point where cozy is overused." For Howe, that's a positive - "as a woman in game development, what I read from that is that traditionally feminine motivations are so acknowledged that it's just a given in half the games that are coming out now."