June: I Think I'm Overly Pedantic About Cozy Games

Pals, this might be a long one.

I got a bit excited, and by that I mean I wrote a >2000 word essay. In fact, substack is telling me off for writing too much, as some of your email programs might not show the whole thing, but who am I to deny you all pretty pretty pictures? If it does get cut off, you can still read the full thing on the substack website, so let’s dive right in to it!

The Latest

WIPs Galore

Work on various projects continues, but a lot are still in the middling stages. I put out a simple version of my new adventure, Electric Oasis, for the Eco Mofos Jam, but I want to do more cool weirdhope artwork to go with it!

Look at my pretty map! Anyway, here’s Electric Wonderwall…

I’m also working away on two more adventures. The first is a Mausritter one for the Summer Bird Game Jam about a Shrike, also known as the Butcher Bird due to its brutal feeding methods. The second is another Brindlewood Bay mystery about a murder at a chef’s private holiday home. This one is inspired by Glass Onion, and I think I shall call it The Perspex Shallot.

Random DMs

The chaotic actual play Random DMs is continuing over on D8 Dungeon. I took a turn as DM which included a flirtation with a sexy bugbear and accidentally making the players fight an Grick Alpha (CR 7) rather than a Grick (CR2) because they are on the same page of the Monster Manual and I got confused. They survived and we levelled up, sooooo all good I guess? Tune in for more silliness every other Thursday at 8pm BST (next one is on the 6th July!)

GM’s Notebook

What even are cozy games?

A week or so ago I noticed the usual chatter on twitter had turned to discussing the place of ‘cozy horror’ in writing (alongside a similar discussion on the use of ‘hopepunk’). The term had only just been coined, but discussion on it quickly picked up speed and spread to discussions on the ‘cozy’ genre as a whole.

The gist of the initial argument was that ‘cozy horror’ denatures horror and removes the uncanny and uncomfortable elements that make horror as a genre. Allowing the creep of the ‘cozy’ could lead to the over-sanitisation of media designed to be uncomfortable and make you think. Perhaps all this ‘cozy’ talk is a sign of the ‘puritanical backlash’ slowly turning all the media we consume into beige sludge?

Now I don’t necessarily disagree – just look at the rise of AI art creating endless spiralling recreations of the same ideas and corporations pushing out movies with just enough edge to appease viewers, whilst carefully curating scenes with LGBTQ and BIPOC representation so they can be cut out for different audiences. I think there is a real concern that much of the pop culture we consume is overly similar and sanitised. And similarly, I think it is fair to worry at the backlash games and creators have seen from some avid fans who want everything just so.¹

But here’s the thing. I don’t think the ‘cozy’ label is the problem here. In fact, I think it’s a red herring. Because a lot of things labelled as cozy are not cozy!

The very cozy pedantic pug has arrived! (once again, why am I allowed access to photoshop??)

This might be a shock coming from someone who has written several games TTRPGs that could very much be described as ‘cozy’, but I think a large amount of games – both video games and especially TTRPGs – get labelled as ‘cozy’ when they are not.

There are lots of ways to define cozy, most of which stem from the video game industry attempting to define a growing sub-genre of indie games. Games journalist Yahtzee Croshaw describes them as:

Games with low narrative stakes; gameplay usually leaning more on completionism and task management than on reflex skill challenge, a gentler, understated tone, a general air of niceness and friendship, often with a pleasing, cartoonish art style.

This stems from the relaxing and repetitive nature of games like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Stardew Valley, and has indeed led to the creation of newer games chasing that ‘cozy’ tag, such as Mail Time, Ooblets, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and Coffee Talk, to name but a few.²

But the categorisation of ‘cozy games’ also often goes off the ‘vibe’ or the ‘aethestic’ of a game, which seems to be how Polygon came to the conclusion that ‘Dredge’ – a fishing game in the style of Shadow over Innsmouth – was a ‘cozy’ game.³

Doubt.

In contrast, Eurogamer says Dredge is ‘for the goths and for the goths only’ as ‘death haunts you and your boat.’ So which is it? A cozy fishing sim, or a fishing game filled with dread? In focusing on mechanical gameplay and vibe, lots of games are, in my opinion, getting miscategorised as ‘cozy’, when they would really sit better in a different sub-genre.

Ritchie, the developer of Dredge, says:

I think it boils down to this: You need proper contrast to make any experience meaningful. You can’t make something seem loud if it’s never been quiet, and like in art, ‘complementary’ colors are the ones that contrast the most. A cozy game where you know it’s not always cozy makes the comfortable parts even more meaningful.”

And I think this can be true to an extent – much of what makes something cozy is not the absence of fear or discomfort, but being in a safe space away from these things. For example, sitting in front of a warm fire while a winter storm rages outside or escaping to a countryside farm away from your stressful job in the city. And I think what does link the games mentioned is that element of escapism.

These ‘darker cozy games’ – or maybe just horror games??? – have a similar element of escapism placed within safe boundaries with breaks from the scares. When answering questions about the creation of the Magnus Archives, a horror podcast, Jonny Sims noted that his aim when writing was to write ‘escapist horror’ as opposed to literary horror. Literary horror uses fear as a textual tool to say something about the real world (think Get Out, The Yellow Wallpaper, etc), while Jonny says that escapist horror is a way of indulging in fear and spookiness in a controlled, safe way, when it won’t ‘suddenly turn deeply unpleasant and traumatic’.⁴

This divide, between the literary and the escapist, is apparent also in this bundle of games and media we have taken to calling cozy. Aethetics and vibes are being mixed in with games that have a real desire to offer respite and rest from the chaos of the real world.

And so, I can see where the critique of the cozy comes from. If we were to only engage in escapist works, retire entirely into the soft and cozy, perhaps we would close ourselves off to real world troubles. But at the same time, we all need to rest sometimes. And it’s ok to play games for fun and relaxation and for that cozy escapism – even if not all of them tell a cozy story.

The effect on TTRPGs

So I’ve waffled on a fair bit, but what does this all have to do with TTRPGs? I think the indie TTRPG space is much like the indie video games space: often misunderstood or only looked at fleetingly, and therefore many games are dismissively labelled as ‘cozy’ as a short hand for ‘cute vibes, no combat’ without taking in the actual design of the play experience.

This has led to the unfortunate trend of wonderful indie games being suggested to potential players under the ‘cozy’ label which very much are not, often because word of mouth has dubbed them cozy based on vibes alone, and not based on how they actually play.

The biggest culprit by far is Wanderhome.

Look, Wanderhome has anthropomorphic creatures travelling on a never ending journey and meeting people on the way. Wanderhome is cozy and wholesome if played in a certain way. However, only calling it cozy misses a huge part of the game play.

ah yes, so cozy

Wanderhome is about a world that used to be at war but is no longer. There is no combat anymore. A lot of the prompts and lore of Wanderhome focuses on how the land and the kith within it are healing from and dealing with the grief and fallout of a long conflict. Even choosing not to use the traumatised traits or the final three sets of natures, most groups will not escape the backstories steeped in conflict.

Wanderhome has a melancholy note that runs throughout, brought out beautifully by Jay Dragon’s lyrical writing style. In my opinion, offering it as only a cozy game does it a huge disservice and doesn’t prepare the reader/player for the gut punches within. If you don’t believe me, just read what the Veteran can always do.

Another game I have seen suggested several times to people as a ‘cozy game’ is The Quiet Year.

I get it. The gameplay in The Quiet Year is relaxed and GMless, creating a feel of cozy collaboration. There is drawing and you make a pretty map. But this game is SAD! You make a community struggling to survive and then THEY ALL DIE AT THE END!

Stop looking whimsical, I’m trying to make a point here!

I think perhaps because The Quiet Year, like Wanderhome, uses a collaborative GMless system, that this might be where some of these claims of coziness are coming from.

Sitting together, weaving a story as a group and coming away with a huge world shared between you all is a magical experience that I still love ten years into playing roleplaying games. Pretty much any TTRPG can be played in a cozy way and there is nothing wrong with that!

For example, I saw a post asking for cozy games met with the semi-joking suggestion to play Call of Cthulhu, because — between all the eldritch horror — spending your time researching things in libraries with your close-knit group of investigator buddies can feel pretty cozy. Now I know you can buy a cute Cthulhu plushie, but when one signs up to play Call of Cthulhu one generally goes in expecting mounting dread and far too many limbs. This sounds more like a cozy play style rather than a ‘cozy game’.

fear me uwu

But, I think if we are arguing that feeling cozy playing a TTRPG makes the game itself cozy, then we’re going to end up with two things:

1. We’re going to end up with games that have certain aesthetics, vibes, or just craft an alternate storyline to ‘kill monster, take loot’ all being dumped into one category, which makes them easier to forget and dismiss for players who might otherwise really like them.

2. We’re going to miss out on a lot of games actually designed to develop a cozy story!

I feel I’m fighting a losing battle with this. It’s pretty hard to find a clear definition of a cozy game, and most people recommend games based on vibes. While categories are necessary to help us find games, labels can’t capture everything about a single game. I think the problem is we are missing sub-genres and additional categories to account for games that give some of that cozy feel while still allowing mechanics and storylines for other elements like mystery, whimsy, and the feeling of a ‘beautiful’ world, sometimes tinged with sadness and fear that can be solved just for a little while (looking at you again Wanderhome).

We’re missing a genre for the melancholy! If cozy is the gaming result of snuggly hygge feels and cottagecore whimsy, then melancholy games are dark academia, and goblincore, and ladies running through castles at night. And sometimes – dare I say often times in TTRPGs – we get a bit of both!

So, I have coined an absolutely terrible portmanteau to add as a new sub-genre: Melan-cozy

It’s awfully twee but I do think it gets the job done.

And does this all matter in the grand scheme of things? Probably not, but I like to think about these things because when I’m recommending games to people, especially to potential new players, I want to be able to match the right person with the right game, and part of that is describing it as well as possible.

What do you think? Am I just being overly pedantic here or could my awful pun catch on? Maybe I should do a melan-cozy game jam? Let me know your thoughts!

Actual Cozy Games:

For all these mislabelled games, there are so many that do hit the mark when it comes to hitting all the cozy criteria. They are gentle and have chill gameplay that allows for an escape from the real world for a little while.

Here are a few that I would recommend the next time someone asks me for a cozy TTRPG:

Cozy Town - Rae Nedjadi

It’s the Quiet Year engine but actually cozy! Play through a year in a cozy little town and build up a map of the places, people, and events there. The art is super cute and colourful, and I especially love the changing seasons.

Under Hill, By Water - Rise Up Comus

Your’re a hobbit… sorry a Halfling! Live in a village you build together and complete fun quests like finding a lost pig, preparing for a pie eating contest, or ‘borrowing’ veggies from the farmers field. If you go all Bilbo Baggins and go ‘Beyond the Hedge’ for a big adventure, you stop playing and pick up a different OSR game.

Iron Valley - M. Kirin

It’s Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing using the Ironsworn system! It’s all about starting a new life in a small community, farming, restoring your family farm, and romancing a villager or two.

Bumbling - Button Kin Games

An adorable solo game where you play as a bee adventuring out from the hive to collect honey. You chart a hex map, noting where you found flowers or where you flew away from noisy humans, and then dance out the route to your fellow bees. I’d recommend playing while munching on some honey on toast!

Tiny Home Terrarium - me!

A quick rep of one of my own games that is designed to be gentle and cozy: in Tiny Home Terrarium you play as a little borrower moving into a new garden. You want to collect rocks for your tiny home terrarium, so you venture out into the garden, meet new neighbours, help them solve their problems and map out where the best rock spots are along the way.

I’m still very pleased with this one :)

Till next time

I promise not all of my newsletters are as long as this (unless you want them to be ;P), but I really enjoyed getting the space to dig into discussions about TTRPGs. I hope you enjoyed it too!

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1. See the fan reaction to the character of Eric in Boyfriend Dungeon boiling over into harassment of the voice actor: https://screenrant.com/boyfriend-dungeon-eric-voice-actor-harassed/

2. See more in this excellent article which aims to define cozy games and talks about how femme aesthetics merge with the cozy in indie games:
https://www.image.ie/living/the-soft-power-of-the-female-gamer-725214

3. https://www.polygon.com/23692974/dark-cozy-games-genre-dredge-strange-horticulture

4. https://centaurianthropology.tumblr.com/post/179638265365/the-magnus-archives-season-3-qa-what-we for an overview of the Q&A, and https://play.acast.com/s/themagnusarchives/mag120.1-season3q-a for the podcast episode.