Cozy gaming has seemingly taken over the world in the past few years and I found myself wondering - why? 5 years ago I hadn't heard the words 'cozy gaming' before, but now it has flooded social media and just about every game store. Before I knew it I was also sitting in an over-sized sweater, drinking a hot tea and playing a game that involved growing carrots and making friends with anthropomorphic animal people (and strangely enough I can think of about 20 games matching that description). So rather than just accepting I found a new way to be happy; I did what any sane person would do - interview a bunch of people, read a dozen articles and watch hours of YouTube to try and get to the bottom of what gave cozy gaming it's rise to power!
So what IS cozy gaming?
The first thing I had to work out is can cozy gaming be defined? 'Cozy' is surely a subjective thing. For example, some people go to the gym and workout to relax; I, on the other hand, go to the gym to walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes then sit in the cafe drinking coffee, reading Batman comics, and thinking about how awful my 5 minutes of mild exercise felt. So can the feeling of 'cozy gaming' be defined? Wikipedia says yes it can! 'A cozy game is a video game genre that emphasizes non-violence and relaxation. Initially derived from the life simulation genre, cozy games commonly include activities such as gathering and growing plants and nurturing other characters. They often have open-ended goals that encourage self-expression.' (Wikipedia). But that felt reductive to me. Cozy gaming is taking over the world, so there has to be more to it then growing a tomato and making friends with a horse lady!
So rather than just accepting that very basic definition and moving on with my life, I once again did what any sane person would do - interview a cozy gamer and a couple of psychologists.
I asked @LadyGamer_411 (a self professed cozy gamer) why she thinks people cozy game, and she said "I think cozy games are a great way to ease into gaming! They are inviting, relaxing, and not too overwhelming. For people who have never gamed but want to, I recommend starting with a cozy game!". I realised that cozy games are the perfect gateway into gaming. I remember when I first picked up a video game controller and played Sonic The Hedgehog on Sega MasterSystem. It was so difficult and stressful! You basically failed a whole bunch until you got slightly better. Now I think it would be a much more pleasant experience if someone gave me a game that wasn't about being made to feel useless; but instead about getting immersed in a different world, whilst learning the mechanics of video gaming. It is the difference between teaching a child how to swim in the shallow end with a safe and supportive teacher; and launching the kid into the middle of the ocean and shouting 'Good luck!'. Cozy games are for anyone and they do not judge or punish you - sounds nice right!?
So if cozy gaming is a way of learning how to game to get you hooked before moving onto the hard stuff like Dark Souls and Cuphead, then why do people continue to cozy game for many years alongside other games? For this answer I went guys over at 'Mind Controllers Podcast', which is a podcast by two gamers with MA Psych degrees, as they seemed like the perfect people to reach out to. I conducted a long interview with them, which you can read Here(or listen Here) and in that interview I asked them why they, as gamers, play cozy games. Joe said " I know that my day is coming to an end or I am taking a break when I boot up Animal Crossing. I'm not like defeating a dragon or anything, you know, I am just checking in, it is kind of my way to decompress." which was followed up soon after by Brandon who said "Like with Animal Crossing and Stardew. You kinda feel like these people depend on you to live in the world and interact with them, helping them out with tasks, paying them back, buying things for them and these are never ending so you are always feeling like you're needed, so it is nice to feel welcome and wanted there." . When I heard that, it started to make more sense to me. It it is about existing in a place where you feel welcome (regardless of how many carrots you have grown!) Life is not always dependable, it can change without warning and (whether we like it or not) we are all competing against others in society. So a world that is dependable, where you feel welcomed and accepted, feels pretty nice.
There have always been cozy games. 'The Sims' and 'Harvest Moon' where particularly popular when I was young. Also remember all the 'Tycoon' games? Like Roller Coaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Pizza Tycoon, even Hospital Tycoon! These kind of games were almost the birth of cozy gaming. Yes there were goals and challenges, but really it was more about existing in a world and playing around. Then Mobile phone gaming became popular and games like Farmville where ways people could play games that didn't require quick decision making or any particular skills, so they could jump in whilst they are in the queue for Starbucks or taking a long toilet break at work, and then jump out again without having to pay much attention. These things helped with the birth of cozy gaming but I have a theory about why it has boomed in the past few years and that is down to something you may remember called COVID-19.
Before I go into it, I am not saying that COVID is the only reason people cozy game, or even that cozy gaming didn't exist before COVID. I am saying that COVID is one of the big reasons why cozy gaming blew up so quickly and people like me heard about it for the first time. I found an article online from Rolling Stone Australia titled Why Cozy Gaming Went From Pandemic Stress Release to Thriving Online Community' . In the article CT Jones (Author) says 'According to Alexander and other experts, the rise in interest first began during the Covid-19 pandemic, when everyone from middle schoolers to adults had plenty of free hours to spend on video games. According to Verizon, video game usage went up 75 percent during 2020. Around the same time, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on Nintendo Switch and sold over 30 million units that year alone, more than all other Animal Crossing releases combined...Alexander points to the ease at which cozy games can be made by developers, the low learning curve for players, and how tailored their premises can be as major factors in their appeal.' (CT Jones, Rolling Stone). So people were inside, bored and desperate for escapism and Nintendo answered everyone's prayers with Animal Crossing: New Horizons!
This led to video games not just being for gamers, but for everyone, similar to when every family bought a Nintendo Wii, people were now playing games who had always felt video gaming was a world they couldn't get into. For example, gaming was traditionally a male dominated industry; however, there was a rise in female and non-binary gamers between 2019 and 2022. The Quantic Foundation found that 69% of Family/Farm Sim (aka cozy games) players are female. It also showed a rise from 1% to 5% of gamers being non-binary in the past 7 years. So more new people are being welcomed into the gaming community and as @LadyGamer_411 said earlier 'cozy games are a great way to ease into gaming'. People are are new to the community and cozy games are the most welcoming and accessible, so it makes sense that they become super popular.
Cozy Gaming Is More Than Just A Genre, It's A Way Of Life!
There is more to cozy gaming than just playing games that are cozy. It is about creating a cozy environment as well. Wearing your comfiest clothes, sitting in your comfiest chair, eating your favourite snacks and sipping your favourite drink. It is a vibe and an aesthetic, therefore...it is SUPER Instagram-able! I would attribute a large part of the success of cozy game sales to social media. There has been a huge rise in cozy game influencers over the past few years, because life is stressful and when we see a cozy looking room, with a big comfy chair, 10,000 pillows and a relaxing game we think 'I wish I was there, instead of here, working my crappy job'. Cozy gaming is more than just having a game console and a couple of games. It is about creating a full atmosphere where you feel relaxed and safe.
I asked several gamers what their ideal cozy gaming environment looks like, and here are some of their responses:
There's nothing better than gaming in comfortable clothes while sipping on my chai tea - @LadyGamer_411
'A free morning spent on the sofa laptop gaming with a blanket, coffee and my dog asleep next to me' - @ahungryghostie
'I like winding down with a big cozy blanket and something warm to drink' - @swanky_honeybee
'Gloomy, rainy day, in my pjs' - @thrashingxdeath
So as you can see, it is not just about the games, but a full therapeutic experience that is about self care and having a comfortable place to relax. People are looking after their mental health now more than ever. Perhaps cozy gaming is more about looking after mental well being, than collecting carrots and befriending a horse lady (Why doesn't the horse lady want to be my friend?). So this led me to think about whether there are actual psychological benefits to gaming and in order to find that out, once again, I went to the pros over at 'Mind Controller' podcast and asked them.
Brandon said that :
From a psychological stand point, there was a recent study that found 88% of participants in his cross-sectional survey had experienced emotional and psychological benefits of gaming'.
Joe gave even more detail, saying:
'I actually did a research paper on a study back in 2017 during my undergraduate years and discovered a CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) study by the name of SPARX (smart, positive, active, realistic, x-factor thoughts) is a seven-session CCBT program specifically developed for young people with depressive symptoms and has been shown to be appealing to and effective for adolescents seeking help for depression. SPARX is a computerized self-help program for the treatment of depressive symptoms and uses the medium of a fantasy world, where the user’s avatar is faced with a series of challenges to rid a virtual world of gloom and negativity. So you are travelling the land trying to fix the world and on the way you are learning tools to help your own depression, to alleviate it and to reduce symptoms.' He also said that there are Minecraft and Animal Crossing groups dedicated to helping people with their mental health.'
Again, full interview
Here
So not only is there proof that gaming has mental health benefits, but it is actually being taken one step further and has been used to actively help combat mental health issues! Regardless of what your experience has been over the past few years, I think that we can all agree that the world has been unforgiving and unpredictable, so it makes sense we are finding new ways to look after our stressed out brains!
Some people would say that a cozy game is like pornography, hard to define but you know it when you see it. I have a theory though that any game can be described as cozy, if it gives you that safe and welcome feeling. I, for example, view Pokemon Silver, The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker and (believe it or not) Red Dead Redemption II as games that make me feel comfortable, relaxed and safe. Now, none of these were made with the intention of being cozy games. But there is a cozy element to grinding and leveling up a Pokemon, sailing the seas in Windwaker or playing poker in a saloon in Red Dead. In fact my first experience with 'cozy gaming' was probably the Chao Garden in Sonic Adventure II: Battle (remember how random that game mode was!?). I don't find Animal Crossing cozy at all personally, in fact I get easily flustered and feel Tom Nook's greedy little paws closing in on my throat. So I went to Instagram to see if other people had 'non-traditional' cozy games:
Bethesda RPG's - @Scratchlingthunderbutt
It Takes Two - @alishomeil
Phasmophobia, Luigi's Mansion 3, Cult of the Lamb and Dredge - @swanky_honeybee
So perhaps the final reason why cozy gaming is on the rise is actually because so many games can be described as cozy games without even trying to be cozy!
Summery
So, to summarise this deep dive into cozy games. I believe the reasons cozy gaming has become so big is for the following 5 reasons:
- New people being introduced to gaming looking for a welcoming way in.
- The lifestyle and vibe being so instagram-able!
- COVID forcing people to look for alternative forms of escapism.
- Our increased understanding of the importance of mental healthcare.
- The subjective definition of what a cozy game is.
I hope you have enjoyed this deep dive! Let me know in the comments below! Now if you don't mind, I am going to grab a blanket, pour a Chai Latte, get my pajamas on and destroy some cowboys at poker!
Comment below if you agree/disagree, I love having discussions!
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Thank you to these people on Instagram!
@mindcontrollerpod
@ladygamer_411
@swanky_honeybee
@hungryghostie
@scratchlingthunderbutt
@alishomeil
@thrashingxdeath
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