Cozy games are big business. While most cozy games are built by small developers or even individuals, hoping to create the perfect game for them, these games have also exploded in popularity with huge audiences wanting a hit of cozy in this ever-changing world.
Now, with such an array of games to choose from, some with runtimes of up to 100+ hours, sometimes it’s good to find a game that you can complete in the evening. Just like a quick but strong hug from a family member or a cup of tea, these games fill you with coziness without overstaying their welcome.
Note: for the purposes of this list, a short run time is any game with under 12 hours of gameplay on How Long To Beat.
10
The King Is Watching | Ignorance Is Cozy
2025 | Hypnohead | PC
In The King is Watching, you control one of a variety of rulers who has to defend their kingdom against encroaching monsters.
However, your subjects won’t do anything unless you’re watching them, and your gaze only reaches so far. So alongside building barracks, farms etc. you’ve got to manage where you’re looking, to make sure the correct areas are working at the correct time.
This can easily cause you to enter a zen-like trance, with hours disappearing as you arrange your kingdom and order your subjects.
The game also has a rather casual view of choice, with narrative options popping up after each wave, with choices like ‘destroy all mirrors in the kingdom to stop you thinking you’re overweight’.
Every choice is crafted to keep the illusion that your king is a great ruler, which can be quite a cozy thought compared to all these grey areas in games nowadays.
A typical run will last around 1 hour, so you can easily fit in a run in an evening when you need a pick-me-up in these dark nights, and as you can now save during a run, you can always just leave your subjects in limbo for a bit if you’ve got other things to do.
9
LEGO Voyagers | A Nice Little Journey
2025 | Light Brick Studio | Nintendo Switch/2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
LEGO Voyagers is the second LEGO outing from Light Brick Studio after 2021’s LEGO Builder’s Journey, and in it, you play as either a red or blue LEGO brick on a journey to rescue an abandoned spaceship.
What follows is a great 3-4 hour co-op adventure which really makes you feel like a LEGO brick and helps to shows there’s still life in the cubes yet.
You will be solving light puzzles and traversing the environment, sometimes on your own and sometimes needing to stick together (literally) to continue.
With cross-play since being added and the game being on all modern consoles, LEGO Voyagers is a great way to introduce the non-gamer in your life to the world of cozy co-op games, putting them in a false sense of security so you can take the crown in Mario Kart or destroy them in Overcooked. As any friend should.
8
Unpacking | Gently Unpack A Life
2021 | Witch Beam | Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, iOS, Android and PC
In Unpacking, you unpack a woman’s home over the course of eight house moves, getting an inkling into her life by the objects she keeps and the objects she leaves behind.
It’s a very zen game, with no timers or extra objectives, instead focusing on the simple task of unpacking, without the need to turn off the electrics or remove a spider’s web from the downstairs toilet.
The game takes between 3 1/2 to 4 hours to complete and the retro graphics and music really help to offer a cozy feeling throughout. Personally, I’d play a level in-between unpacking my own boxes for uni.
7
Stray | Feline Fine
2022 | BlueTwelve Studio | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
In Stray, you play as a cat.
For the people who need more than that one sentence to be convinced, the game is an atmospheric adventure game set in a cyberpunk world, whereby you play as a stray cat, who needs to solve puzzles and traverse the world in order to find their way home.
There’s plenty of cozy cat action on offer, with the ways you solve puzzles being particularly cat-like – for example, tapping a bucket over the edge of a shelf to stop a fan moving.
Also Read
You can also just run around, rub up to people, slink around etc. anything which you’d think your cat could and would do.
At between 5-6 hours long, it’s a perfect little escape in the dark nights or warm evenings, provided you’re not a dog person (but even if you are, I’d give this a go).
6
Aethermancer | Warm Colours Oozing From Everywhere
2025 | moi rai games | PC
Aethermancer might not be your typical cozy game. A monster-taming roguelite game, you play as Siriux, the eponymous Aethermancer, who is on a quest to stop the void from swallowing up the whole world.
Craft a team of monsters, levelling them up until they finally lose a battle, and take up another monster to continue as far as you can, before, in classic roguelite fashion, restarting to do it all again, just better.
What makes this game cozy, in my opinion, is the art style. Colours pop, dynamic lighting is in place for the torches and Pilgrim’s Rest, the hub area of the game is the epitome of cozy, especially with the limited-time winter redecoration.
Each run takes around an hour, depending on how far you get, although given it’s in Early Access at the moment, this might increase as the game updates. And then, you’ve got all the monsters to collect and runs to perfect, so the game can be a great palette cleanser between other games.
5
New Pokemon Snap | A Triple-A Cozy Experience
2021 | Bandai Namco Studios | Nintendo Switch
In New Pokémon Snap, you play as an unnamed Pokémon photographer (I like to pretend it’s Todd from the first game) and are tasked with, well, taking photos of Pokémon via an on-rails track.
The benefit of this on-rails approach is that the game can showcase the world of Pokemon and its inhabitants in better quality than ever before (or since).
Also Read
Animations pop, textures are clear and the colours, especially on the OLED are something to behold. So jump on board, load up your camera and be prepared to snap ‘em all.
The longest game on this list, New Pokemon Snap takes 10 1/2 hours to complete, however, if you find yourself wanting more Pokemon goodness, to 100% the game takes 66 hours.
4
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game | Enjoy Working Out Life’s Little Problem’s
2025 | Posh Cat Studios | PC
In Little Problems, the puzzles aren’t about life and death or cults or magic rings.
Instead, you need to figure out whose books need to be returned. Or who’s at the concert. Or what the pets at the vet are saying. You know, life’s Little Problems.
Similar to games like Return of the Obra Dinn or The Case of the Golden Idol, each mission follows the same basic premise – you find clues dotted around the location and then use a bit of intuition to solve the puzzles.
Not many games have the word cozy directly in the name of the game, but it certainly fits the brief here, with warm autumnal colours and a gentle story. Except for one use of a ghost jumpscare.
Little Problems takes between 2 1/2 to 6 hours to complete depending on if you use hints, but either way, it’s a nice little brain teaser to have on in the dark evenings.
3
Strange Horticulture | Who Said Cozy Can’t Be Spooky?
2022 | Bad Viking | Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC
Strange Horticulture is a point-and-click puzzle game which is in equal parts spooky as it is cozy.
You play as the apprentice to the horticulturist in charge of the eponymous shop, and are in charge of working out what each customer wants in terms of plants and what each plant looks like, with only a book of clues for help and your own intuition.
Things start to go wrong in the town of Undermere, and you’re soon pushed into helping to solve the mystery as plants, mysteriously, are at the centre of it. Go figure.
Alongside your cat, Hellebore, can you solve the mystery while maintaining your sanity? Or will you just listen to the rain sounds forever?
The game takes between 5 1/2 to 9 hours depending on if you go for the multiple endings or how often you use hints. And how long you spend petting the cat, of course.
2
Astro’s Playroom | A Demo Which Sucks You In
2020 | Japan Studio | PS5
Released as a PS5 launch title and tech demo, Astro’s Playroom accidentally became a game of the moment, as alongside Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it helped many of us get through the pandemic. Well, for the few of us that could get a PS5 during that time, of course.
In it, you control Astro as he explores a variety of 3D platforming areas filled with PlayStation characters of the past and present.
It was a fantastic little game, with inventive showcases of the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback of the DualSense, and even a theme song which I’ve only just gotten out of my head.
At 3 hours long, it was a perfect size for a tech demo, and had speed-running courses added for people, including myself, who just wanted to live in the world a bit longer. Of course, we now have a fully-fledged sequel in 2024’s GOTY Astro Bot, for even more time with the expressive little robot.
1
A Short Hike | The Ultimate Short And Cozy Experience
2019 | Adam Robinson-Yu | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC
A Short Hike is probably the go-to example for a short but cozy experience, and for good reason. You play as Claire, an anthropomorphic bird who is tasked with completing ‘a short hike’ to the top of the mountain in the national park she’s staying in to try and get mobile service.
Now, you could make a beeline to the top of the mountain, only stopping to unlock enough feathers to gain the ability to fly enough to get to the top.
This will take roughly 1 1/2 hours, and is certainly an acceptable way to play, as you’ll still encounter many sweet and wholesome characters and explore most of the park.
However, there are also many other sidequests, from races to treasure hunts and even a volleyball game, which are all filled with vibrant life and continue the story of the other campers, showcasing even more ‘aww’ moments.
Even with the extras, the game only takes 4 1/2 hours to beat, so still plenty of time to call your family after getting to the ending.
