I've been trying to figure out when "cozy" went from a vague description (which it still is, to varying degrees) and into the commercial juggernaut it is today. When it comes to indie game releases specifically. And it really is one of the bigger booms in mainstream gaming of the last decade, looking at it in retrospect, and one of the rare genres that has no set of mechanics it must have, but is based entirely on mood… on“vibes”

Do we have Corona to thank or blame for this? It’s really hard to look past 2020 and not see how Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched almost exactly as everyone got stuck in lockdown, and then went on to sell how many - 50 million copies, more or less? I know for a fact it was the fastest-selling Switch game at launch. That timing wasn't a coincidence in effect, even if it was the intent. A frightened, isolated audience reached for the softest coziest world they could find, and "cozy gaming" went from a word a few people used to a mainstream category over the next few years, culminating in where we are now.

However, the pandemic only explains that early spike but not why it’s lasted so long and expanded so more since Corona ended . Plenty of other pandemic trends evaporated once life went back to normal. But cozy games just positively EXPLODED. Stardew Valley had already spent years proving there was a huge demand for farming games. The Wholesome Direct showcases gave the movement an identity and a shopfront, turning a loose vibe into something with a clear scene to congregate around. And more broadly, a lot of people who grew up on adrenaline and difficulty simply got older and busier and more worn down, and wanted games that gave without demanding. As life got tougher, games got cozier - is that the case?

Also worth being clear that "cozy" isn't one genre by any stretch of the definition,  which is part of why it's so slippery to talk about. There are the farm and life sims, the Stardew lineage. You've got the pure decoration and organisation games like Unpacking and Hosy. Short one shot vignette games like A Short Hike, cafe management and visual novels like Coffee Talk, survival sims (but cozy ofc) like Solarpunk… even creepy cozy games like the upcoming Grave Seasons or Cult of the Lamb (which I surprisingly often hear called “dark cozy”)

And that’s all without mentioning the various “-ias” starting with Palia, then there was Heartopia I think it was called? And the one I’m personally looking forward to with my girlfriend - Loftia! (yes, I am not above these games, that is not what the post is about) which surprised me quite a lot in the beta with how hi fidelity it was, and the sheer amount of discrete customization features it had. Probably the only game ever where I could choose DIFFERENT, like 10 different types of vitiligo for my skin. And that’s one of the unifying themes, I think - freedom, customizability, chillness, low pressure, and pleasant coloring and light, some of the same things about 90% of these games have in common.

What’s also interesting is how much this cozy sensibility has penetrated other games and almost forcibly coziefied them. Big RPGs get fishing minigames and house decoration (nothing new but it’s interesting that ALL major MMOs now have it including WoW), survival games including peaceful PvE modes or. Almost like it’s become a set of features that can work anywhere, even if they don’t have to be added everywhere.

Whatever the case might be, cozy games alongside survival and base-builders, are arguably the genre with the most momentum behind it right now. Where would you say this boom happened and more importantly, where do you see it leading… and when will it run out of steam?

Every so often I go hunting for a platformer that gives me what Celeste gave me.

Every time I come back empty-handed. It's been years now and nothing has properly matched it, not the difficulty and not the elegance, and I don't think that's just nostalgia talking at this point.

It still amazes me how much it does with how little. 

It's a game about a girl climbing a mountain with essentially one extra move, a dash (ok, a dash AND a climb button). Out of that single mechanic it builds a staggering range of challenges, all the way up to the C-sides. Those remain some of the most diabolcal, precisely tuned platforming I've ever suffered through and loved. There's a lesson in that. It started simple and then demanded more and more of you without EVER adding any padding/clutter. And it runs on a modest C# setup that still somehow looks and feels better than games with fifty times the budget. Simplicity done with that much care ages beautifully.

Of course there’s games that get me into the same mood, and are also 10/10 in every technical way. Super Meat Boy for one! The End is Night also impressed me, and I didn’t even know that McMillen even made this (guess it never became as popular, shame). And the next thing on my sights if obviously Croak, which is like the perfect mix of Celeste style platforming with some of that rubber hose charm that Cuphead brought to the fore. Also, come on, in Croak you’re a frog and that’s just adorable, besides the fact we’re sorely missing games with frogs as main characters (not a ONE since Forgger methinks)

Plenty of games get partway there, or got the whole way as do some of these above.

Yet nothing comes all the way to Celeste, because Celeste is doing five hard things at once and making it look 100% effortless. A watershed moment in gaming that doesn't get nearly the credit it desrves. But I’m hoping to be proven slightly wrong, so which modern platformers got the closest for you personally - and any that might mark another turning point for the genre a la Celeste? Or are we just no there yet x)

PS I did not mention Hollow Knight/ Silksong simply because they’re way too obvious. And in Silksong specifically, it’s more just that a couple of platforming sections are difficult (and the game is beautiful) but I don’t think they would work as pure precision platformers (not sure if this is a hot take or not?)

I read a fella on r/ARPG say it reminds them of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and I'm agreeing with this sentiment more and more. Game has decent, fairly unique ideas going for it and an interesting setting. Perhaps the only ARPG within this "weird western" setting (about time some would say) and baseline feels like a solid action game with a focus on ranged combat and strafing. Needs more polish, but I'm not entirely unsatisfied with what's here at present, since it's just the demo.

I have been in a desolate patch with books ever since I finished all the ASOIAF novels on kindle, with pretty much nothing being able to grab my attention. It's strange because I never had this problem before and reading before going to sleep has always been one of those no brainer things I did if I'm feeling tired but not tired enough to snooze off at once.

Now, I've always been skeptical about visual novels (even though I read books). Boatloads of them on Steam are just H-games and there's too many of these flips to sort out what's decent from what is not at a glance, and I always associated them with a certain category of players that I thought I wasn't a part of (even if half my childhood was spent watching anime and reading manga)...

But it turns out they're awesome before bed reads (plays?)! practically no different from reading books except that my imagination can't let loose as much imagining how the characters look. It's all there and I just click and read, click and read until I snooze off... and I know I'm ready to sleep if the game has some actual gameplay, and I can't be bothered with it. That's why I prefer the chill sort like Coffee Talk Tokyo, when I'm dead tired, and those with some actual gameplay (puzzles/mini games) when I want to tire myself out even more. For example High Times, which has some really hectic parts that including choosing what kind of stuff you want to cook up, that then affects the dialogue, and also having to manage your stock of ingredients (it's pretty challenging ngl, more so than I thought visual novels typically are!)

The next one I'm planning to get is Vall 11 Hall A, before I try exploring this subgenre deeper on the deck. So far as I'm aware, visual novels are way more popular on the deck, but I'm on a journey now to see if the Deck can be a valid substitute.

Guess this is one genre I finally got around to that I probably wouldn't otherwise... Is there any kind of game that YOU happened to gain an appreciation for through playin it on the Deck?

How do I explain this - I do enjoy good narrative games where decisions follow decisions that follow decisions, and the ending is more about individual character destinies. And when it all leads to different discrete endings. I loved Telltale and Dispatch last year which felt like a revival.

But - this is not what I'm looking for, but something where the way you play and the "gameplay" (do you take this item, do you give it... combined with dialogue) produce vastly different results, where the agency comes from both story decisions but also how you actually "play", right.

Pathologic does this the best perhaps, but also This War of Mine is a good survival game example. I also liked how it was done in some games like Disco Elysium and I also really like how Hollow Home is doing it in the demo they have up (basically Disco Elysium but during an actual war instead of after La Revolution as in Disco).

If I can put it in one word, it's that "denseness" of plot where every decision feels like it feeds into other aspects of the game and can substantially change it. Without being advertised as - press this button for this outcome, that button for the other outcome.

What am I missing out on? I'm not attached to a particular genre, it can be any combination of survival/RPG/choices driven or whatever tags they use on Steam these days (most of them useless tbh hence why I'm asking here)

Thankee in advance everyone!

⁠Previously Enjoyed Games - Super Meat Boy, Celeste (I also loved C-Side), Geometry Dash and Cuphead are my favorites. The last game I played and enjoyed overall was the demo for Croak

⁠Preferred Genres - 2D precision platformers (3D is also okay but these are rarer nowadays)

Budget: $100 (salary was yesterday!)

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Other notes:

Everyone is always talking about how great roguelites are on the Deck and that’s an undeniable fact. But my main Deck love thus far has been classic style platformers. I never had a Switch (broke college student life, need I say more) so the Deck has been my console and these games feel like they were MADE for it. They just feel so much better than on regular flatscreen :)

I just discovered I love the challenge oriented nature of these games and I want to fill my library to the brim with them so some of them are left over for my eventual vacation.

Thank you all in advance!

This is something I've been wrestling with for years across every ARPG I've ever played seriously and I still don't have a clean answer for it. I get my character to the point where they're around 95% subjectively done - gear is basically maxed and the build is to my specifications (that is, runs as well as a homebrew build can + some refinement and cues from guides).Then you enter this liminal space where every single upgrade is a such a minor improvement that takes exponentially longer to find than the last one, not as satisfying. Is that the point you ought to just call it quits and reroll?

But there's always that one slot itching where you know a better affix exists, so the chase keeps on and on for another 10, 20, 50 hours in this zombie mode where you're not really having fun anymore but you can't bring yourself to stop because having the character be that powerful feels like the reward in itself. So it feels almost a shame to let them go.

I've been doing this dance in Grim Dawn for years (every Ritualist eventually makes me want to try a Purifier, and every Purifier makes me want to go back to something with pets even though I know pet builds aren’t viable), and Last Epoch makes it even worse because the per skill specialization trees constantly have me coming up with new stupid ideas to try. Every character I make inspires some new idea to try something along the way while I level it. Playing my Paladin makes me want to play a Void Knight, and VK makes me want to roll a shaman, the loop goes on and on.  It takes a lot of willpower to not just reroll at that point for me sometimes, even though by design Grim Dawn and Last Epoch specifically are almost perfect for just constantly making new chars.

When does a character cross that line from an active project to something you retire and just leave as a reminder of past glories in the menu?

One of my top most looked forward to tactics RPGs just got a public demo out

Courtesy call for all my ARPG people out there.

Or the release announcement, in any case.

I'm just glad to see all the new indie strategies coming out have a drm-free options right from the start (cf Olden Era and Heroes of Science and Fiction just from the last 2 months)

Instead of satisfying me, I think the remake (which I did not know existed until a while ago) just rejuvenated my love for this kind of culturally grounded and specifically Asian horror. Which is the best kind of horror in my opinion, because of la ack of good vs evil tropes that most Western horror falls into, seemingly even without wanting to, or else it’s the exaggerated splattery kind that falls flat because of lack of subtlety.

I might be overly harsh here, there’s really good indie horror games in recent years… but I have this game to blame for that, for how high a standard it’s (re)set for me mentally and moreover, because of the wave of nostalgia it washed me over with.

Brings me back to the days when I would cover myself in blankets in the dead of night as a kid and play Siren and TRY to play Kuon - if anyone remembers it, it’s an exorcist type horror set in Heian period Japan (probably the only horror game ever in this time period). I say TRY because the CD was messed up and it would launch maybe on the 5th try - when it launched at all!

Needless to say but I’m all kinds of pumped up now, so much so I bought an old flea-market grade PS2 just to relive those experiences and play the original FFrame games the way they were on release oh so many years ago. Nostalgia plus thrills, what’s better than that I ask you? 

And what’s more, what else in recent horror gaming do you recommend to continue this inner spree I feel oncoming? I’ve been out of the loop a long time as you can see, so besides replaying the golden oldies I only have Silent Hill F on my wishlist and another Korean mythology based horror called The Alley, demo of which also impressed me because it has the same unearthly, cursed vibes that I seem to crave in these games (just realized all the games I mentioned in this post deal with some sort of “curse” in that Asian folk context)

What else can I say, think of this as a love letter from a returning player who’s been so invested in the recent Resident Evil revival that I forgot … about this rather more elegant, eerie, subdued, but so much more BEAUTIFUL kind of horror, that does not rely on campiness (eh not as much as RE anyways)