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As the cozy game genre grows, it remains one of the most challenging to define.
We've undeniably arrived in a boom era for cute, casual, creative games. The numerous descendants of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are joined by pastel puzzlers, chill city builders, and adorable adventures. Now that their fans have started seeking out more than farm life sims, they've become known collectively as cozy games to dozens of content creators, their hundreds of thousands of cozy gaming followers, and developers working on the next crop of cozy games.
Except nobody can agree on what "cozy" means.
It's been a point of discussion on social media for months as creators deploy the label but dance around the task of defining it. On both TikTok and YouTube, recommendation videos and "upcoming cozy games" lists dominate the space, but cozy isn't as tidy a genre as "platformer" or even the more contentious "roguelike," where most people can agree on a list of game mechanics that the label implies.
Cozy is a vibe. There's a loose consensus that farm sims typically are cozy, but what about crafting games? And though Cult of the Lamb is cute, does the roguelike design disqualify it?
www.pcgamer.com
We've undeniably arrived in a boom era for cute, casual, creative games. The numerous descendants of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are joined by pastel puzzlers, chill city builders, and adorable adventures. Now that their fans have started seeking out more than farm life sims, they've become known collectively as cozy games to dozens of content creators, their hundreds of thousands of cozy gaming followers, and developers working on the next crop of cozy games.
Except nobody can agree on what "cozy" means.
It's been a point of discussion on social media for months as creators deploy the label but dance around the task of defining it. On both TikTok and YouTube, recommendation videos and "upcoming cozy games" lists dominate the space, but cozy isn't as tidy a genre as "platformer" or even the more contentious "roguelike," where most people can agree on a list of game mechanics that the label implies.
Cozy is a vibe. There's a loose consensus that farm sims typically are cozy, but what about crafting games? And though Cult of the Lamb is cute, does the roguelike design disqualify it?
Even 'cozy' gaming's biggest fans can't decide on its definition, but they aren't worried: 'There's a whole lot of grey area, and that's what makes it interesting'
As the cozy game genre grows, it remains one of the most challenging to define.
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