This year, I did a bit of personal respeccing of my gaming habits and focused hard on cozy games. Like so many of us, I still love games like Stardew Valley and have given plenty of other farm sims or life sims or "casual" games a try in between Stardew sessions. But the label "cozy" really took off this year—video content creators are using it in their recommendation videos, players are using it amongst ourselves to search for new games to try, and marketing teams are starting to catch on too. So I planted myself in the cozy corner more officially than I had in the past.
There were dozens of self-styled cozy games this year, big and small, packing this new catchall vibes genre with new choices. I tried more than 30 throughout the year and I've narrowed it down to the four I really don't think you should miss if you too are in your cozy era.
