A Lawyer's Definitive Cozy Game Tier List (2024 Edition!)

Audie mentioned!! 🎉

Thanks for the video, Moony. Really appreciated that you mention Subnautica as a representative of the genre. The kind of warming-near-campfire-under-harsh-environment cozy games sounds like a theme worth exploring. For some reason they generally feel more comforting.

Female villager erotic 😭😭😭

Out of all the dateable ladies in Stardew, Penny is the only one that is clearly naturally a mother and a wife. That's why I always go with her too.

I have 200hrs+ in Portia, 600hrs+ in Sandrock and 1000hrs+ in Stardew.
After all that I realized I am not a cozy game fan, but rather a minmax crafting fanatic 😂

I wanted to recommend you the German word “gemütlich”. Allthough translated with “cozy” it’s actual meaning comes closer to the Danish term of “hygge”. “Gemütlich” not only refers to a pleasant, cozy atmosphere (“angenehme, behagliche Atmosphäre”) it also refers to an atmosphere that is sociable and informal (“gesellig und ungezwungen”) – as we e.g. say in Germany “jetzt beginnt der gemütliche Teil der Veranstaltung”.
“Gemütlich” comes from the word “Gemüt” (spirit) which, in German, refers to the totality of a person's mental and spiritual faculties – e.g. we like to say that someone has “ein sanftes, trauriges Gemüt” (a gentle, sad disposition).

The only challenge I see is that compared to “hygge” – “gemütlich” is written with an “ü” (or “ue” or “U-Umlaut”). And ü is actually one of the hardest to produce sounds as far as I’m informed. Apart from German, the Ü doesn't exist in too many languages – I only know of Estonian, Finnish, Swedish and Turkish.

I love that you have incorporated “Cozy Grove” into your tier list! I picked up the game after you had briefly mentioned it in your video about “Why Doesn't the Industry Make Good Girls' Games?” – because I wanted to support good girl games with my wallet and not only with my words.
I was surprised how many hours I sunk into this game (compared to Calico that is) and overall I completely agree with your rating of B-tier. However, I’m not dreading to pick it up again since compared to the (very comparable) “Animal Crossing: Wild World” you don’t get a penalty for not playing the game for a long time.
In Cozy Grove the in-game clock moves synchronised with the real-life clock HOWEVER a day only happens on your island if you actually play on that day. Because of that (unlike Animal Crossing: Wild World) your island won’t be overgrown with weeds and the bear-ghosts won’t have left the island if you return back to the game after 1 year.

I send you the warmest hugs and greetings from Germany, Loony. Thank you for your continued effort of soft-powering common sense and wholesomeness into this world. 😉

lol the mlm reference

This is awesome, ur narration made it more then just an end year video

Disneyification is the exact reason I stopped playing Fields of Mistria.

Oh shit, an ideas video on games for my mom, cozy games are her thing

Fields of Mystria is great even in its current state. I would be shocked if it would go lower then S tier once it is feature complete!

Moony, I'm afraid I have to inform you, you might be a little bit of a weeb.

If my lawyer doesn't play "Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town," then I'd rather go to jail.

Volcano Princess is calling to me

I was hoping for Fields of Mistria but the early access thing is super fair and legit. My spouse and I are still obsessed, though, and are vibrating for their next update. XD Thanks for another great tier list. This tier list is top tier.

That said, I wish I could love Animal Crossing as much as you and all my friends do. I just got...super turned off by how the NPCs treat me like I'm two years old and explain to me how to do something over...and over....and over...and over....and over....

I GET IT PELICAN GUY I KNOW HOW TO FLY STOP TALKING AHGHFGHHG

Ever since November, Sniper Elite is my cozy game. Slowly getting to a nice view and sending a short, direct message to those who I feel need to hear it. It's the equivalent to fishing for my soul.

I'm excited for you to try Harvestella. While I feel like it's not the perfect game by any means, the story and settings made it stand out as one of my favorite recent entries.

an interesting possibility for next year, fantasy life:the girl who steals time. the original game was on the ds and it had light cozy aspects on a kind of single player mmo type action jrpg, the various crating and gathering aspects are jobs/classes/"lives" and there are 4 combat themed ones, the rest are gathering and crafting and it had the perfect loop of find a new area, find new challenges that were just above you and grow into them. the sequel looks more leaning into the world building aspect and hits in april...hopefully, its been delayed a few times...

One of my favourite cozy games this year was Wilmot Works It Out, the surprise sequel to Wilmot's Warehouse I didn't know I needed. It's simple, focused, and incredibly homey

Cozy video from my favorite cozy channel :P

Thank you for mentioning Teenage Exocolonist! It sounds like my type of game and i don't think i would have found it otherwise! And i know you didn't really ask for it, but may i recommend you the atelier series (Potionomics reminded me of it) and Core Keeper (if you enjoy the aimless exploration of Terraria)? Atelier has been my cozy go-to for years, and core keeper has been a recent favorite between my friends and I.

For the rest, happy holidays to you and sisters, and thank you for another year of great videos! Looking forward to what 2025 will bring ^^

Wonderful tierlist

You have a way with words, I teared up. I love video games and media, the way they give hope for a better world

Moony, i would love if you played gaucho and the grasslands when that comes out, for the trailers and description, its a cozy game based around rio grande do sul and only that

have some nice holydays moony

Moony, please play Mutazione!

Too bad I live in Brazil and nothing ever gets to be shipped here cause of our crazy taxes on imported goods. Maybe in the future. Great list, though.

Graveyard Keeper mentioned! Yay!

I’m speaking in defense of Cozy Grove, which is the only game on this list (except Spirit Farer which is fantastic) that I finished as well as the DLC. It is the perfect kind of game for me. It’s short with definable goals and not open world or open ended. I don’t have to romance anyone or give gifts, only hugs. There are nice back stories to all the bears you rescue. I’d play hours a day just gathering stuff and selling it so I could purchase everything in the game. I’m also not big on actually decorating but want all the clothes and furniture. I’m ok with games where you need to talk to town folks to build relationships but I don’t want to have to talk to someone every day. Now I’m playing the Netflix version of Cozy Grove and loving it. Also replaying the Steamworld Dig games. I feel guilty as I have a 900 game backlog but there you go. Well I’m also playing Honkai Star Rail. Speaking of mobile games, it’s deeper and more interesting than many of the non mobile games I’ve played. I don’t have to give anyone gifts or marry them either!

Every time Moony talks about his sisters with love and respect (which is every time he talks about them) my trust in him grows 10%. Thanks for all the awesome video essays and game suggestions!

Exchange friendship code, my island has pear and peach, code:4618-3048-2505

I love it when someone can talk about a piece of media like Animal Crossing in a way that really makes me appreciate it, even if I didn't enjoy it myself.

My Animal Crossing room is almost always a tech-laced aquarium theme if I can put it together. Still, and cool, and shadowed like the deep sea. I find it very soothing.

The fact that Potionomics added both an easy and a hard mode makes it SO MUCH BETTER. The game has so little hidden information and so little randomization that, if you're good at optimizing, you can break normal mode to the point you can stop playing ages before the last "boss". But I know plenty of people found the sheer amount of options and information overwhelming, and the game will run you over if you can't parse it. Neither of which is very fun, so a difficulty setting was the main thing missing from the game.

Also, the addition of voice acting to go with those GORGEOUS character animations makes it totally worth replaying for anyone who didn't care about the difficulty.

Thanks for all the recommendations here! I'll share one with you in turn: The Atelier series - in particular I recommend the first Atelier Ryza game as a starting point. It's part JRPG, part collecting and crafting with its alchemy system. The plot is simple and light, though can't resist getting a bit serious towards the end (kind of like Rune Factory).

Thank you for this video, and for all of your videos this year Moony! I appreciate what you do here so much. Here's hoping Mistria will be finished next year I really wanna play it, it looks so cute!

dons tin foil hat

I am now on board with the idea that Nintendo causes international crises to sell Animal Crossing.

What does that say about japanese economy? ❤

I am curious if you have thought about doing a "Witch" game video of some kind?
A lot of these lists have included games where you play as a Witch or try to enjoy the Witch fantasy.

oh my god my grandmother suggested that book because the writing was so immersive

Hi Moony, thank you so much for talking about Teenage Exocolonist! I've been eyeing this game for a while, but your review made me finally try it and... WHAT THE HELL, IT'S AMAZING?! I seriously love it. The story, the imaginative setting, the characters... Which are quirky, yes, but for me, as a queer and neurodivergent person, they feel more real than many a down-to-earth human. An enthusiastic dog boy that just loves everyone and gives out hugs and kisses left and right? I mean... RELATABLE. So, yea. A perfect game for me (even though a little tedious at times). Thank you so much for the recomendation!
And the amount of variety in outcomes too! (I don't mean the endings, haven't seen those just yet). Like, damn, I already want to start a new playthrough to see other paths even tho I haven't even finished the first one yet!
Man, there're so many spoilers in your screenshots tho, whyyyy T-T

"Danish concept of hygge"

Irritated norwagian noise

I am not a fan of cozy games, but I have Sakuna, Harvestella und Dredge in my backlog. The demos of Harvestella and Dredge are fun.

I know I’m probably in the minority, but Spiritfarer was by far my favorite game on this list. Deep and meaningful in a way that most cozy games lack.

Legit am gonna reinstall potionomics because of this video. Dropped it cus the timed management coupled with having social interactions consume management resources (day time) kinda killed the vibe for me, but now thanks to Moony I now know of these great new modes!
Also I thought Pearly was Moony's niece and found it super wholesome how close they were xD Funny to find out she's his sister, but no less wholesome <3

Imagine the Stardew Valley clock giving you so much anxiety you can't play the game. You'd have to be shocking mentally ill for that to be the case.

As a Dane, it is always a treat to hear people say "hygge", or as we would say "det er altid hyggeligt at høre folk sige 'hygge'". 😁

Speaking of Danish, I just realized that LEGO, as far as I remember, has never tried to make a cozy game. That is such a missed opportunity and I hope they do one day, and do it well.