I think a lot of people agree with me on Minecraft being cozy, but some might not because of how prevalent combat is outside of Peaceful Mode. I personally find Minecraft cozy even off of Peaceful Mode, but this also might have to do with the fact that I usually play it with friends indoors, and I’ve done so on a rainy day with some hot cocoa and/or tea or something.
I’m quite torn about Dorfromantik (a tile placement game) in this regard. The relaxing music and ambience, the beautiful graphics and the minimal interface and lack of time pressure all point to a relaxing game.
Getting a high score however – one of the game’s principal extrinsic goals – puts my brains into a bit of a stress modus because I’m mentally rotating pieces, moving around the board, evaluating probabilities and hedging against the luck of the draw. To play optimally actually takes a lot of focus.
You can build your landscape solely based on aesthetics but unfortunately most of the game’s unlockable content is gated behind milestones that can only be reached by a min-max playstyle. This is a conflict in the game’s design imo.
It’s worth mentioning however that the game also comes with a map editor in which you can place arbitrary tiles to create your dream landscape. You are completely free of any pressures but also can’t unlock additional content in this mode.
Celeste, despite the difficulty, the game’s artstyle and storytelling was so well executed that my motivation to continue and improve crushed any frustration there possible could’ve been, even in the most difficult levels.
Normally I’m normally not that patient with games, so yeah, Celeste cozy af.
Counter Strike was my cozy game when i still played.
For me it’s civ (every iteration since III) and crusader kings 2 (3 isn’t quite there yet). Any game I can pause at any time, really.
But those two, man, they’re contenders for my lonely island game.
