13 Best Cozy Games to Play When You Need to Chill the Heck Out

Want to enjoy the coziness of your local golf course without, you know, putting on uncomfortable clothes and sweating out half your body weight? PGA Tour 2K23 and its lush courses, mellow gameplay, and soothing soundtrack will do the trick.

Obviously, none of us knew that Animal Crossing: New Horizons would debut during the pandemic—but it ended up being the perfect remedy for all of us who were trapped inside. New Horizons gifted gamers a virtual island, where they could start a new life. Your friends could even visit your island from the comfort of their own homes! At the time, we couldn't see my friends in real life, but we could see them every day in Animal Crossing. Seriously, how did we get through pandemic without New Horizons?

Dog people, turn away, and feline lovers, come hither: Stray is the game that lets you play as a cat. There's plenty of action and adventure involved, sure, but don't you just want to mosey around and do cat stuff? Yeah, you do.

Katamari Damacy is as simple as a video game can possibly be: You roll a big ball around and collect items to make the ball larger. Still, there might not be anything more rewarding than playing with said ball. Trust me. When you start out smaller than a peanut and grow so large that you're picking up entire buildings, it feels as rewarding as winning an Elden Ring boss fight.

Toem is a game about—wait for it—taking photos on a hike. You play as this cute guy on the left as he meets other hikers, helps them locate lost items, and finds his way to the top of a mountain for some rad views. Plus, Toem only takes about six hours to enjoy everything it has to offer.

Believe it or not, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the first Pokémon game that actually allows you to aim a Poké Ball and catch the creature as it walks around the map. Arceus also (admirably) takes exploration and cataloguing very seriously. If you're looking to play your first Pokémon title, I couldn't recommend anything better than Arceus.

Stardew Valley is the cozy game to end all cozy games. (And while we're at it, the farming simulator to end all farming simulators.) Inherit your (fictional) grandfather's farm and get to work, folks—relaxation awaits.

Want to cosplay as Tom Cruise's Maverick on a vacation day—just soaring through the skies without a care in the world? Microsoft Flight Simulator—which is so detailed that it teaches you the ins and outs of flight and air traffic control—is your game.

Ooblets combines farming games and collect-a-thons like Pokémon into one seamless experience. Simply put: You grow the monsters yourself. Then, you take them out into the world to compete in dance battles. Sold? Sold.

A Short Hike is true to its title. Gamers can complete a short hike in under four hours, making the journey one of the simplest, coziest, and most relaxing indie titles of the past decade. Plus, you get to play as a cute little bird.

If you're a fiercely competitive Mario Party player, I'm sorry: Mario Party Superstars is not the cozy game for you. If you simply enjoy shuffling around the board and laxly playing minigames? It'll help you unwind after a hellish week.

Have you ever wished that you could redesign all the roads you hate? Get places faster, move efficiently, etcetera? Well, Mini Motorways is your game. The gameplay is simple: draw a road from cars to buildings—and build the high-functioning city of your dreams.

Chants of Sennaar is unlike any game we've ever played before. Dropped into a world of confusing symbols and characters speaking gobbledygook, the player must put together phrases and actions to uncover new languages. Once you're using one new language to decipher another, you'll feel like an absolute genius.