Why I Think Cozy Games Will Be the Next Big Thing | Extra Punctuation

[@titan_uranus_0]

"Players are looking for a form of escapism" claims contributer to Escapist Magazine

[@JHawke1]

Power Fantasy Magazine would beg to differ.

[@Tony_YT]

He said the word!

[@willydylly8580]

Paid review, he’s in big Escapist’s pocket!! /s

[@FanOFTrueHeroes]

I don't know why but I feel like there might be a bias

[@johnmorrison8753]

Coincidence? I think not!

[@devdude98]

I think there are two ways AAA can step into the cozy-sphere, firstly with lonely games like Death Stranding and aforementioned Stray. Big lonely empty worlds full of nature offer their own sort of comfort, and this gives AAA sort of a side step from souls-likes which already rely on big lonely worlds. Second is Nintendo, which have been basically training their whole lives for a rise in cozy, relaxing games

[@sakib6258]

STALKER 2 might be a contender, but it's definitely not AAA

[@julesfumery7515]

@@sakib6258 Bloodsuckers jumping at me in a swamp doesn't exactly fit any definition of cozy though.

[@onimaxblade8988]

I think the thing a AAA game can do that an indie can't is scale. And that does apply to things like Visual Novels and cozy games. Instead of making more LAVISH content, make a really good looking game, and then keep making it bigger and more rich in things to do, while being able to cut all those corners that you can with the formats. If you're wondering btw, yes, I am thinking of Tim Roger's review of Tokimeki Memorial while saying all this. Those games are "huge", but in a very different way.

[@jamesruth100]

Honestly I'd love to see games take inspiration from Death Stranding; it tickles a similar sort of vibe that truck sims do for me. Who would've guessed that the ideal form of the walking sim would actually be a game where you have mechanics based around all that walking. Give me a big ass Appalachian hiking sim or some shit. Let me customize a loadout of walking sticks to support me in woodlands vs mountains vs rivers. Make me consider if my footwear is appropriate. Make me consider if I'm up or downwind of a mother bear.

[@deejaytee]

The whole game doesn't have to be cozy, either. People play games the way they want, and lots of people like to just walk/craft/camp around Skyrim, or drive around Los Santos. I used to just park my jeep and watch the sunset in Far Cry 2. There's no reason that AAA studios can't add little tweaks to future versions of those games to enable those modes of gameplay.

[@Milagro_Man]

Isn't Animal Crossing, nominally a AAA game, both an example of, and maybe an inspiration for, modern Cozy games?

[@js2184]

I feel like it being so obvious, he probably ignored the low hanging leaf on purpose

[@monocleenthusiast2381]

@@js2184 the low hanging leaf? what is he, a giraffe?

[@js2184]

@@monocleenthusiast2381 in animal crossing, most items are a leaf. I know not fruit generally, but it was supposed to be an animal crossing joke

[@MrTrombonebandgeek]

I’d definitely consider animal crossing, harvest moon and the sims to be the AAA cozy games

[@gogauze]

I have a suspicion that ACNH, with it's introduction to a massive new audience-due to the early covid lock down release window-really cemented a demand for cozy games, and then the indie sphere delivered.

[@valmurray9632]

if you think about the fact that cozy games are so antithetical to the current AAA setup, it actually makes them quite punk. sticking it to the man by being chill. good stuff

[@BknMoonStudios]

It's the hippies all over again!

[@popcornfilms1]

awesome

[@graalcloud]

The only people making games that could be described as AAA currently are Nintendo

[@binkbonkbones3402]

Fuck yeah brooo, now hit the bowl again, the cartoons are back on

[@mr_indie_fan]

@@graalcloud and fromsoftware

[@moogle6001]

Something I've always found "cozy" but isn't necessarily cozy, are the Yakuza games. The entire reason is the minigames. Setting in for half an hour of karaoke, heading over to the batting cages for a few rounds, and topping it off with some go-kart. I really do think that games that have in depth effort put into side content like this is where AAA studios will best use the cozy aesthetic.

[@serpenttao]

As someone who's going through Yakuza 0 right now, I spent five of the last seven days of free time doing nothing but Pocket Racer. I'm not shy about using guides for stuff like the telephone club, but tinkering with the cars and doing test runs and optimizing times is so ridiculously satisfying, I actually went through it all by myself, no guides used. Just hundreds and hundreds of failed test runs, okay different Frame, go again. Can't get the song out of my head anymore, either. And right after that I found out about the cabaret club, and boy oh boy does that tickle me in ALL the right places.

[@LuvzToLol21]

The game series that the actual real life Japanese yakuza praised for being so realistic

[@moogle6001]

@@LuvzToLol21 Realistically cozy, lol

[@jw1zard606]

I've been going through the yakuza games and after a while it started to feel like comfort food. I can always just run around Kamurocho, beating up street thugs and doing whatever minigames I walk past on my way to do the next substory without ever really getting bored of it

[@Drstrange3000]

Roaming around in Yokohama was the best vacation I had in a while. I wish I was kidding. It felt so nice visiting all the highly detailed shops and meeting all the wacky people. The mini games were fully realized and not half assed. It really felt like getting a taste of Japan. I really loved how the districts were so distinct. I just wish there was a no enemy free roam mode.

[@PhantomOfTheKnight]

I’d argue that Death Standing is the closest a AAA game has recently gotten to being “cozy-adjacent”. Sure, there are big oily monsters and gunfights in the game but the game’s core focus is on delivering packages, how you traverse the various serene landscapes and managing your inventory to make sure you have everything you need for the journey all by your lonesome.

[@nocturem]

Yeah you take the oily monster bits out, a quick palate swap, splice in a chillhop background track and you could have that dead on in cozy game land

[@exyzt9877]

There are honestly only 3 (maybe 4) true AAA cozy games that I can think of. Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon are basically archetypical Cozy Games. No fighting (except in the Rune Factory spinoff because reasons.), No level ups, just take care of a farm/house and get into the locals' good graces. Past that there's the sims, you know, that one series that started out fun and was then completely gutted by EA. the one where you create avatars, place them in a family and just have them live life whilst making sure they don't die too early. Or kill them yourself by removing the pool stairs, you do you. idk if stuff like the princess maker games count, it certainly does feel like cozy game, but the stress of taking care of another being might degrade that a bit for some people.

[@Alix1723]

I found Death Stranding cozy in a very sort of survivalist way, it's about pushing against the horrible and scary conditions of the world to reunite everyone and bring back some kind of connection. I never felt like it was wasting time to slowly walk through the scary parts or crawl up a mountain the long way, knowing the payoff was always satisfying

[@Brandon-kt1qh]

So the next big thing is Strand Type games?

[@noxteryn]

I would add to this, the theme is also very wholesome. It's about uniting people and being nice to others and "liking" them.

[@Cruddyhorse]

After the September 13th Nintendo Direct I'm starting to think Yahtzee is becoming right about all this.

[@רועיכהן-ל1י]

How so?

[@mileskennedy7770]

@@רועיכהן-ל1י nintendo announced about 5,000 stardew valley clones, basically fitting the cozy game mold to a T

[@guguy00]

@@mileskennedy7770 Except Rune Factory 3, which is the best light farming sim in the history of humanity. Well, until Stardew came out.

[@jmiller6066]

​​​@@guguy00still think Rune Factory 4 was much better than 3. I'm still disappointed about how bad 5 was. I get that the studio didn't have that many resources, but that's why I think making it a full 3D environment was a mistake.

[@guguy00]

@@jmiller6066 3 was my childhood though, and my nostalgia trumps your logic. Also RF5 was ok to me. Still disappointing all things considered.

[@zavi3rz]

Animal Crossing is probably the biggest AAA cozy game we have now.

[@Gboy86ify]

I’m kind of upset NH was such a success because it’s easily the weakest the series has been

[@rickpgriffin]

Nintendo really seems to be the only major publisher than can pull that kind of thing off

[@BLitzRunner77]

No, it's the biggest cozy game ever, if we don't include Minecraft.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@Gboy86ify It probably signals to Nintendo that they were right in not hiring any writers for any of their games. (Aside from Fire Emblem and Xenoblade which they basically hand to external studios.)

[@joserenteria4604]

@@Gboy86ify I wouldn’t say it’s the weakest game in the series, the game expanded how much you can customize you island and homes, along with clothing. But man I wish villagers had more of a personality than just “nice” and “bothered/slightly upset.” I want Rory to call me out if I make him fall into a pit, I want mean and sassy villagers like the GameCube had!

[@grand_tourist46]

Just to drive home the point Yahtzee makes about the corporate vultures circling, around the time this video went up, Final Fantasy 14 (the MMORPG that has very much become the monster in WoW’s closet in recent years) introduced a farming sim mode that may as well have “cozy” written all over it. And players have been eating it up left, right, and center.

[@dc8836]

FWIW, it's likely that's been in the works for a while. It was probably planned to be part of the Endwalker expansion... while Shadowbringers was still the active content. It doesn't seem like something that they just banged out in 4 months on a whim. So they're probably referencing the popularity of Japanese "cozy games" like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, as well as foreign hits like My Time at Portia (Chinese, I think?) and Stardew Valley (North America.) Also worth noting that they could also just simply be copying WoW - they introduced the "farming life" thing back with Mists of Pandaria, and while it was content that you mostly just spent an hour or two on once a week, it ranks among my favorite content from that expansion, to the point that even when I came back to that game for Legion way back when, hitting up The Tillers and getting my farm started was one of the very first things I did. Honestly, I'd argue the WoD Garrison also slides right into the cozy games thing. I never played WoD when it was active, so when I came across it in Legion, I quite liked it and didn't understand why it received such a negative assessment.

[@grand_tourist46]

@@dc8836 That’s an entirely fair take. And I’m not saying that I disagree with you. If Yoshi-P did take some inspiration from something they tried in WoW (for the record, I wouldn’t know about any of that as I don’t play WoW) it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest given his well-documented love of WoW. But, I would also point out that the timeframe you so graciously laid down DOES coincide with the release and subsequent pandemic-catalyzed success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Are you going to tell me that such success managed to escape the notice of the higher-ups at Square Enix (the ones that aren’t nailing themselves and the company to the NFT cross) and didn’t have SOME influence on decision making at one level or another? 😏

[@potatoboy6094]

It might not always be the “coziest” but I would consider breath of the wild as a kind of cozy game as well, a game where just traversing it can be as fun as fighting an enemy or a boss. I just want more games with systems that let me do cool, unprecedented shit, where cool things happen organically because it’s just a fun world to explore and create personal unique stories

[@MrFelblood]

​@@argentpuck The problem with open worlds is their tendency of late to drift towards the late Ubisoft model. It's not so much a world full of endless possibilities and unexpected combinations, as it is a long check-list of objectives, which happen to be spread out across a very big map. Developers who think "open world"="big world" and get hung up on measuring their world in square miles, rather than possible object interactions. Developers are so busy filling a huge area with massive graphical fidelity, that there is nothing left to fill that huge area with gameplay. These massive worlds have fewer types of interactable objects in them, and the interactable objects have more narrowly defined sets of interactions, so the fidelity of the gameplay is sacrificed like a low quality texture stretched across the side of a large building, in all it's cheap, pixilated obviousness. Think about older open world entries like Hit Man, Dead Rising, GTA, Space Station 13, and Minecraft, which were about filling a world with interactive objects, and letting players make their own choices about how to interact with them. You want to fight the zombies with a nerf gun? Okay. You want to pick up a street walker? Okay. You want to attach your igniter assembly to that kiloliter fuel tank? Okay. You want to build a 60 meter statue of your favorite unicorn? Okay. The games didn't judge you, even if the server admins might. That level of detail in the object interactions was what made open worlds special. That was high resolution of gameplay.

[@jiado6893]

I was actually thinking of Fall Guys. Yes the setting is a giant competition with everybody getting flung about; but it’s so cute, harmless and inviting. Do you suppose we could count the remakes of Spyro and Crash? They’re cartoony, warm, and simple.

[@monk2011]

You are not describing cozy. You are describing open world games packed with so much stuff that anyone can find something to do. With the amount of enemies running around and platforming with limited stamina, it is not the chill experience being discussed in the video.

[@MissMoontree]

Organizing a wedding, dressing up, riding on a horse, exploring, sitting next to a campfire and chatting, cooking. Cozy to me

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Oh. I am new to the idea of cozy games. I am a fan of Breath of the Wild. I have played a lot of that lately. I am currently taking a break from it. There are two sides to the game. One side is the long and peaceful stretches you are describing. The other side is challenging, dangerous and just plain deadly. There are some difficult monsters out there, especially bosses, guardians and silver creatures. There are also lots of environmental hazards that are also tough. There are snowy mountains, scorching deserts, fiery volcanoes, thunderstorms, bottomless pits and so forth. So Breath of the Wild can also be viewed as a challenging game that is brutal to the beginners. Maybe one side is deemed cozy. However the other side shows that the game isn't as cozy as it could be. Breath of the Wild seems more focused on exploration more than anything else. Both sides can fit this idea. It is nice to go to a new place. One can relax and enjoy the scenery. They can also have a thrill of fighting a new foe.

[@LtnCorrsk]

Stray, a cozy game where all humans died of a plague after having to lock themselves up in a giant bunker due to a (probably) global nuclear war. But you are a cat and it's nap time. That's the French vision of Cozy and Escapism: "We are f*cked, but hey, cute cat".

[@MrFelblood]

Ennui

[@Ashannon888]

Only way to make it better would be to have it be a loyal wolf, right raven?

[@LtnCorrsk]

@@Ashannon888 Oddly specific.

[@19Rena96]

Just because you can explore things, doesn't make it cosy. For Stray being that type of game you need to get rid of the spider thingies and the hectic/stressful scenes.

[@NachtKaiser666]

I for one definitely welcomes "cosy games". Call me old, but I already have enough stress in my life, I don't need more in my games. I already manage my stamina meter around trying to stay awake, tolerate chronic pain and keeping a relatively normal sleeping schedule. Hell, I mustn't be alone, I think that's why there are so many Ubisoft-style empty sandbox games in the AAA industry. The idea of just walking in one direction without any particular goal in mind is somewhat cathartic, something many of us can't do on a whim IRL. Losing ourselves in a gigantic world between action sequences is something we can always look forward to in those games.

[@JohnnyThousand605]

Same here. I already have a job, I don't want to work for my entertainment.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

I would add sandbox games to the list of relaxing games such as the excellent _Satisfactory_ great music, the game rewards you for exploring, and the goals are player driven.

[@arthurdurham]

I can't get enough of Yahtzee gushing over the cat in Stray. Good to see it even melts his heart that's congealed in exhaustion and Vegemite.

[@eclipsedarksouls6036]

No man's sky is one of my cozy games. it's a game where mo matter what i get distracted with doing i eventually end up finding or doing something at least mildly useful

[@hazukichanx408]

That's an interesting way to look at it. Myself, being a narrative buff and at the same time kind of obsessive about progress and accomplishment... I found a lot that grated, about NMS. But at the same time, along the way, I think I encountered a lot that was enjoyable while I was travelling through it. Just... more of a journey game than a destination game, so to speak. If I ever get back into it, I'll have to remember to do so with a chill, "smell the flowers" type mindset.

[@Tyler-gg6xt]

I would pay money to watch that theoretically CEO getting his world view crushed like that.

[@gyga100]

Dont give ideas to then

[@samwill7259]

"May you live in interesting times" is one of the most heart rending threats one man can make against another. So now we're all sitting in side letting the pixels fish. If this is what we gotta do, then this is what we gotta do.

[@Erden99]

terry pratchett anyone?

[@AegixDrakan]

@@Erden99 Oh, that's a Pretchett-ism? I can't say I'm surprised! (I only just now started reading the Discword novels and I'm loving 'em so far)

[@Balsiefen]

@@AegixDrakan They're damn fantastic books, and only really get better. You're in for a good time. I don't think Pratchett invented the phrase - it's more a Victorian English idea of a Chinese curse - but he has a Rincewind book set in Discworld China called Interesting Times that uses it to good effect.

[@luketfer]

@@Balsiefen He didn't invent the phrase no, originally it's meant as a good thing but Pratchett had someone point out how it's actually a horrible curse because nobody really wants to live in 'interesting' times.

[@weirdslime262]

@@AegixDrakan It's a translation of an ancient Chinese proverb. It was never meant as a good thing.

[@SkullSnax]

I like to think that anything that involves creativity is reactive and cyclical. Souls games are a response to all the hand holdy action games, “breath of the wild-likes” are a response to all the UI bloated open world games. I don’t think it’s going too far to say that the rise of chillout, “cozy” games is a response to the overwhelming soulsification of gaming. I find these days I play easier difficulties whenever it’s possible because why stress in my relaxation time. And if I can find something that I can play while listening to a podcast or half watching a TV show, that’s what I’ll play. Pokémon, Civ, FIFA, those have all done it quite well for me. Cult of the lamb has got me going recently because I can do the rogue-lite combat on easy and it’s still vaguely challenging and different every time without being too challenging, and the cult management gives me lots of down time to balance it out.

[@crazydude9991]

You're probably right. In the last few years there's just been way too many games that try to mimic the difficulty of the Souls games, whether that's indie games, AA games, or even some AAA games. I think it's fair to say that a fair few people will have become tired of having to struggle in most of the new games they buy. I think there's still a place for the hardcore challenging games but the amount that was releasing around the late 2010s was just ridiculous.

[@christophero3869]

Spiritfarer opened my eyes to cozy games, Stardew Valley further opened them, and I want more. MOAR

[@Jakespeed207]

MOAR MOTHER OF ALL RELAXATION

[@Killbauer]

"Because AAA is incapable of cosy." From this point on, I was nodding my head like an old boomer who's watching an anchorman ranting about young people. Great job as always, Yahtzee.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

I'd agree their infrastructure are finely tuned to one type of experience. But that was the case of all of gaming since basically the 90's with rare exception. But we just saw the recent announcement of a AAA farming sim from Square Enix. And that is probably where most of them will go. Rune Factory but better graphics.

[@vaasmontenegro3993]

rdr2 was pretty cozy. i can think of more aswell

[@thrownstair]

A real cozy game is like the living room of an English country cottage with ceiling beams and a wood fireplace. An AAA cozy game will be an architecture firm trying to approximate the same thing purely with flatpack furniture.

[@nathanjereb9944]

@@thrownstair a cosey game would have you live far from the nearest sign of human activity, in a cottage with a warm fire, and the only neighbors being a wolf pack you befriended A AAA 'cosey' game would be in the middle of a bustling city, in a very small and very overpriced hotel room with rent due last week, and always being 5 feet from a shootout or a crime scene

[@mastersKaaP]

I want the next "big thing" to be complete games sold at full price. No "early access", no "season pass", no "day one DLC", no "loot boxes" or "cosmetic microtransactions", no "silver, gold, platinum, deluxe or ultimate editions". You pay whatever the full price is and you get the full game in a complete and playable state. Maybe that would bring my enthusiasm for this industry back.

[@jmurray1110]

In this economy are you insane that’s not profitable season passes on episodic games with full DLC, horse armour and a battle pass exclusively Also it’s live service and streamed to you so you can’t steal the source code and bring it back once the servers get shut down

[@naranciagaming]

Damn, I've never heard that before in the comment section of a Yahtzee video! How brave.

[@marverickmercer1968]

Bruh that's like the future you are talking about. Human civilization may not even live long enough to see that day.

[@raph2550]

That will never happen, but man do I agree

[@joshy-noha]

The cat's out of the box, there's no going back now. Profit is profit, the bastards with the money want more money, all of it actually, so you do whatever is most profitable. Games have experimented with monetization for a while now and everyone is using the same tricks to make that line go up up up. Gotta love capitalism.

[@ItsmeInternetStranger]

I've always found turn based RPGs especially cozy. How did Yahtzee put it? "Gameplay usually leaning more on task management than on reflex skill challenge, a gentler understated tone, and a general air of niceness and friendship."

[@NDRogueElf]

I would also add House Flipper to this genre. They’ve now put out expansions including doing your garden, pets, doomsday prepping…if that’s not catering to all kinds of people burrowing into a comfort zone, I’m not sure what is

[@hazukichanx408]

Plus you can load a bunch of hentai images into the game as wall art and decorate your dream house with them! ...At least, that's what some person I barely know once told me, though I never checked of course... *_coughs, adjusts monocle_*

[@NightcrawlerZERO]

Yahtzee's looking like Nostradamus after today's Nintendo Direct with 47 farming games.

[@JusticeForPottsvilleMaroons]

Nintendo already has a pretty good grasp on cozy games, with series like Animal Crossing, Yoshi, and Kirby.

[@Hysteria98]

Lmao, you have not played Kirby if you think that shit is 'Cosy'. Easy maybe, but not Cosy.

[@karakamen]

"Yoshi's world" can be brutal tho haha.

[@Alexandre-rt7xk]

Most of Nintendo games are cozy and colorful. Even the hardest ones have some element of coziness. I was surprised Nintendo wasn't mentioned in the video since it is one of the big three.

[@darthgamer9861]

@@Alexandre-rt7xk its kind of frustrating since it feels like a lot of youtubers who make this kinds of videos only talk about Nintendo when its to piss and whine about a business decision a small amount didnt like

[@cubicuboctahedron]

There's a type of system from across the pond I would nominate for your consideration. Japan had a particular type of training sim game that started back in the early visual novel era where you had limited time to raise stats towards some end goal gated by a hard stat check. It transitioned to a type of visual novel where the player trained other characters (Princess Maker and subsequently the Idolm@ster series are probably the earliest of these) and combined them with some other minigames to raise stats or as the story-critical challenge. You may remember some of these systems from minigames in Yakuza games you have reviewed. The most successful iteration of this is probably the gacha mobile game "Uma Musume" franchise whose mobile game has had at least $990mil in gross revenue as of 02/2021 according to Sensor Tower. The use of gender-swapped real world named race horses turned into cute anime girls with horse ears who run in races and perform jpop concerts may or not have contributed to this success. This type of game offers that type of waffy comfort through voice acting from both typecast and well-rounded voice talent; ridiculously specific Japanese anime/manga/game character archetypes; and other methods that would certainly run afoul of non-otaku sensibilities. These are probably the "AAA" elements of this type of more user-exploitative cozy game that will cross polinate with the crop of games you brought up in your video.

[@RustoKomuska]

Western triple A studios will fully devote themselves to gachashit and mobile will have finally killed console gaming lmfao

[@notknightly9828]

This is super interesting my guy.

[@luketfer]

Didn't it also get an anime series...I vaguely remember an anime about something about girls with horse ears doing races in the back of my mind. Mind you it wouldn't be the first Gacha game to get an anime spin off both Azur Lane and Kancolle got anime series.

[@cubicuboctahedron]

@@luketfer Yeah, the game was in some sort of development hell for a few years and missed the multimedia blitz Cygames planned out by almost three years. It still did stupidly well for a game released in Japanese only and is region locked.

[@MrFelblood]

Counderpoint, the mobile market has been devouring the VN/level grinding space and the intersection thereof for over a decade. To take the gameplay style into a AAA space, you would need to use something like Amazing Cultivation Simulator as a model. Which takes that stat grinding against the clock gameplay and marries it to more graphically intensive systems, which might justify a larger sound of graphics budget.

[@casteri]

Since Stardew Valley was mentioned, I guess it's relevant to say that it's probably my favorite of the "cozy games" because underneath that surface level cutesie relaxation farming/life sim is a town whose residents are incredibly not that at all. And I don't mean Shane, Sebastian, or Pam either. SPOILER WARNING (I mean I guess?) For example it's strongly suggested that Abigail is actually the bastard child of the Wizard. Gaining enough levels of "friendship points" with Pierre has him ask whether or not Abigail actually looks like him. Caroline claims that Abigail's hair is dyed, but if you have a high enough "friendship points" with Abigail she says that she never recalls actually dying her hair. The Wizard, who lives outside outside of town and never enters town says that he can sense that one of the residents is his child. This comes from a guy who can communicate with the local nature spirits and accurately predict future events, so he's probably right (though some also think that it might be Jas). Sticking with Pierre, that fiend takes the crops you sell him and claims that he grew them, even going to the length of putting them on display at the annual harvest festival and has a massive, unstable ego. This deeply contrasts how he's initially presented as local business can't keep up with big box store in town who temporarily sells at losses to kick out any competition that rural America is all too familiar with. Mayor Lewis is someone who lets any small amount of power go to his head has embezzled public funds to have a massive golden statue of himself commissioned that if you place anywhere in the world you get a quest from a letter in the mail from Lewis that pays hush money if you take it down. All the while Penny, the only teacher in town (and best girl fight me) doesn't even have a schoolhouse to teacher her students in and has to use the library/museum as a classroom. Also said library/museum has mysteriously had all its artifacts go missing at the start of a save, but lets be honest they were probably sold to the highest bidder by Lewis. Also, he's run for mayor completely uncontested for at least 20 years though that's probably because of intimidation tactics from any possible competition. We know this because any slight chance that something that he thinks might undermine his position of power is met with bribery (probably from embezzled tax money). If you place his underwear in any public space (with a sign or during several in game events) he pays you hush money with a letter basically saying "you better never do that again or else". This is all because of his affair with Marnie, but both of them are single so there's not even much cause for him to be so overly protective of keeping it secret. Clint is an incel who will attempt to make advances on Emily that she rejects while being clearly uncomfortable with the situation even if she's your wife right in your face. That's just messed up. edit: A few spelling errors

[@AegixDrakan]

Not to mention there's a major war happening in the background of the setting and one of the characters was a war prisoner for a while, which is why he's not there at the start of the game. Stardew Valley may be super cozy, but there's a LOT of dark stuff going on in the background. And I find that I REALLY appreciate that!

[@maverickdarkrath4780]

That last one is just game limitations, the game dosen't take into account your martial statues for surten events and Emily wasn't originally a candidate in the first place which is why the flirting is still present. Also Emily isn't unfortable i dont remember a single interaction that does unless you go out of your way to give him bad advice, if anything she just unaware of his feelings and it just the awkwardness of clint fumbling on his words

[@mattdamutt5681]

Add the fact that there is a witch flying around the countryside who happens to be the Wizard's ex - she got REALLY ticked at him. Now what could possibly set that off? Probably her discovering he had an affair - maybe even walked in on it.

[@thegodforger923]

Didn't bring up best boy Shane? His attempt at suicide was actually heart wrenching, not to mention it hit a little too close to home for me.

[@AegixDrakan]

@@mattdamutt5681 ...Now I picture Wizard looking out of his affair's Second floor Window mid-act and seeing the Witch just looking in at him before flying off with her broom. XD

[@tarekmoneimsaid]

Oh god, I was going to say "how would the AAA industry desoul the cozy genre and monetize it to death", but since many involve harvesting, gathering and crafting, they definitely can and will, the Sims series being a prime example... Anyway, regarding the next big thing, there's also a lot a space games being developed. Although it's not a specific genre per se, it's definitely a trend. It started with Eve Online, Elite:Dangerous, No Man's Sky and Star Citizen, but there are more and more now, with Hardspace:Shipbreakers, Homeworld 3, Starfield and so much more shown at Gamescom...

[@Matt_the_pirate]

The most ironic thing is that the Sims at its heart was a parody of consumerism and capitalism, the creator said so himself.

[@octochan]

I'd like to posit that Outer Wilds is a space game with some of those cosy vibes.

[@SterlingDeklin]

At Gamescom not too long ago they had a representative from ESA aboard the International Space Station talk about how space games help shape humanity’s future of traveling to the stars. That couldn’t be a more indicative moment if it tried.

[@TheDemocrab]

@@Matt_the_pirate The really ironic thing is when Sims 2 came around Will Wright was saying stuff like he'd rather have the sales and review scores of TS2 than HL2, in other words implying he'd rather sell ridiculous amounts of a great game than still sell ridiculous but not quite as big amounts of a legendary game that changed the way FPS' were made. (And also helped Valve launch Steam) Not quite as greedy as some things other execs have said over the years but still showing ultimately his priories went to money.

[@Matt_the_pirate]

@@TheDemocrab another example of how easily one becomes corrupted by money

[@angiki9988]

I mean, I'd love an action-packed spectacle filled shooter game with genuine human characters and emotions in it, quiet scenes that explore deep interpersonal connections in between the explosions. But I guess we can't have everything.

[@JaneViolet_]

Ever tried The Last of Us?

[@danielmaxson4287]

In Metro: Exodus there's a lot of between-mission interaction with your character's wife about the future they want, and the story largely revolves around that.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

Hideo Kojima

[@guidedexplosiveprojectileg9943]

@@tvsonicserbia5140 I think Death Stranding is quite cosy.

[@gunpuncher3817]

Funnily enough, you should probably play Gears of War if you want that.

[@mattbronzell2512]

I can see this being 100% true. Actually disney and Pixar already have games like this out too. You were mentioning a second gen of the Disney park being made.

[@SuccubiPie]

Kingdom Hearts 4 is starting in Fantasy Tokyo with Sora living in a real apartment. I can absolutely see a cozy "gotta pay that million yen rent" minigame to rival Roxas' post delivery.

[@hazukichanx408]

I never thought I'd see the day would Yahtzee explain that people just want to play an adorable cat and watch themselves curl up and have a little shleepy, but I'm glad I did. =)

[@andrewhickinbottom1051]

Brilliant stuff Yahtzee! I'm all for cozy games! I grew tired of samey AAA game rehashes with increasingly more detailed and visceral graphics year after year and now find myself playing quiet or 'dull' games Like American Truck Simulator a lot more for engagement, relaxation, satisfaction and immersion. The new Microsoft Flight Simulator is a fantastic example of what a 'dull' and cozy game can be with AAA first party money being pumped into it. Its 2 years old today, and is still the most next gen game ive ever played. Its flippin' witchcraft how they manage to get it to look so good, while simultaneously having the ENTIRE EARTH as a map. I can only hope more AAA studios spend time on the slower, quieter and more niche type of games instead of just doing stuff that always sells cos people like the same rehashed stuff every year, but as you said, you wouldnt get a huge AAA studio of talented artists working on the realistic physics based deformations the hoe / soil interaction mechanics in a farming game. Stray is a great recent example to bring up as you did - short sweet, memorable and very polished. The devs could have easily given it a plethora of collectibles, upgrades, crafting mechanics, skill trees and side quests demanding a 60 hour play time til you're absolutely sick of the setting and all its characters but nope, it whisks you through nice and quick, which is quite different to other games that have that much AAA-esque visual fidelity these days. Plus, i found the most engaging parts were the quieter parts where you just walk around the world and enjoy the environmental storytelling and nice cat animation. Sorry about the wall of text - jeez, i really rambled on there. I blame Nick for changing the schedules so i cant type so much in my favourite stream chatboxes while theyre live. Anyhoo, this has probably been my favourite, and most relatable and 'needed' Extra Punctuation yet! Well done, sir.

[@starmaker75]

Yeah that something that I kinda yatzee to do a extra prunction how game go over board with completist and padding

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

The Wholesome Direct has easily become my go-to channel to find new games that are interesting. And my wishlist is at over 50% upcoming games because all the creative & cosy stuff is on the horizon rather than already out.

[@Drstrange3000]

This is definitely my kind of "genre". Even thinking back, I would play a lot of JRPGs because they were really cozy and less stressful. I also grew up with NES and SEGA Genesis difficulty, but always gravitated towards games that weren't super stressful. I think the first time I caught on "cozy games" was when I was playing Abzu. I noticed my stress levels were going down and I was relaxing. I have a really hard time relaxing. There wasn't much "game", but the audiovisual flair really pulled me in. Playing stuff like Stray lately was really enjoyable. I think as I age, I enjoy cozy more. Life has been really stressful.

[@Comicbooker]

I hope you're right! My tastes have veered heavily towards cozy games lately, and I'd love more beyond Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, et al. I think Breath of the Wild is another AAA cozy-adjacent game, and Minecraft is a good one to point out. Anything that gives me the comfort of crafting a secure homestead with light conflict, wiki-able solutions, an economic system I can min-max, and reliable bucolic vibes...all so I can take shelter from the hot steaming apocalypse headline pile-up threatening my mental stability.

[@Guy4318]

There's a strain of apocalyptic acceptance throughout a lot of these games. Not in terms of giving up or that there is nothing to be done. But there's an idea that, maybe, we can at least reverse course enough on our own self-destruction that the things we love can still find a space of meaningful existence even after we're gone. Having just finished Stray, the broad strokes of that end is particularly pointed in accepting what's happened and making the decision to move on. Melancholy, without becoming hopeless.

[@ultgamercw6759]

Animal Crossing, the sims and harvest moon already covered the cosy game in the AAA area. I think there will be a good amount of them but I wouldn't say I expect cosy games to take over the world. At least not in this way. My expectation for where the games industry is going actually revolves around shockingly former Minecraft fans building there own titles. No I don't just mean blocky games with building and monsters in them. I'm talking about people who grew up playing with mods, fan challenge levels, mini games and more which will expand and adapt into there own titles. There are already multiple titles I would point to as reminding me of Minecraft content from years past. Raft that survival game set on a raft feels heavily inspired by the Skyblock maps you'd see youtuber's playing. Satisfactory is Minecraft's Technic mod pack but with shiny new graphics, Hytale is literally being developed by server owners who run Hypixel, a famous server that countless players have played on for years. These are all big titles that I would argue are ether inspired by X Minecraft projects or are aimed at the fans who enjoyed them as kids. With those kids now turning into adults many will become developers and many will make there own titles based on a nesh they have.

[@georginatoland]

My fave cozy is Lake. Literally a U.S. Postal Office truck driving sim. It’s set in the mid-80s in the Pacific Northwest. You play as an uptight, overworked employee that is on vacation, doing her dad’s postal route. You listen to a fake country-western radio station and watch the season change from Summer to Fall. I love it. ❤

[@shaydystheshadowqueen9584]

I'll say this about the Disney game; I'm actually partly curious about how that is going to go not because they never did it before, but because they literally did the exact same game less than a decade ago for the 3DS AND gave it a sequel AND did a remastered version of the sequel for the Switch LAST YEAR. Disney, on occasion, has been ahead of the market in video games on several occasions and it shows

[@silllyfun]

My favourite cozy game by far is A Short Hike. Hell, I even named myself after the main character, Claire. It's not hard, not super deep mechanically, just... nice. The dialogue is cute, the visuals are cute, and... god it's just my favourite cosy game by far.

[@jakubpuawski3875]

I mentioned above that I find cozy games extremely boring, but I remembered that I actually liked A Short Hike, mainly because it had a very interesting core gameplay look (as opposed to repeatedly clicking on plants and cows ad infinitum)

[@FMGHarlequin]

My spouse and I call these "Zen Games" with Stardew and Animal Crossing being our favorites. Games that provide you the exact amount of sensory stimulation to clear your mind of stress. We often Zen out to these games together, we can talk over the game and the person with the controller is able to hold a conversation that isn't game related. Games where the "Game play loop" isn't set in stone, more of a game play uncarved block. On more than one occasion, I've heard Animal crossing booting up in the other room, 5-10 minutes of that silly language, then turned off. Like taking a 10 minute meditation to clear your mind for the day.

[@thecountbassy_]

I can attest I just started playing Stardew Valley last week after platinum’ing Elden Ring, and it has already stolen 30 hours of my life away… screw the horrors of the outside world, I have crops to water.

[@DrKritter]

I think a perfect mix of a cozy game and an AAA game is my dream for RD2. I want a game like RD2, graphics, gameplay, everything BUT where you can have a farm, ranch or a mix of both. Where you could have sheep, pigs, horses, drive cattle across the land like that one mission. I wish I had millions of dollars to make that game. I probably wouldn't play anything else.

[@corylong5808]

Does this mean Yahtzee will start reviewing more management and sim games, because I'd love to hear him talk about Factorio, Oxygen Not Included, Crusdaer Kings, and other games that don't get much game reviewer attention in general.

[@Matt_the_pirate]

Games with deep and complex systems like these take too long to review, the only way to rate them fairly is via the dedicated community experience. I've recently watched a revisit-review of Rain World, a survival game where you play as a slugcat creature in a chaotic post apocalyptic world with deep ecosystem simulation, and the KZbinr makes an excellent point. This game was harshly judged by reviewers simply because it takes a long time to master it or even get comfortable with base mechanics, which means that a payroll journalist will not be able to really experience the thing properly.

[@Ghorda9]

@@Matt_the_pirate the animal you're looking for is a ferret.

[@aidancox5481]

@@Ghorda9 I'm now imagining Ferrets as slug-cat hybrids.

[@lordanonimmo7699]

Games like factorio imo are too complex to be considered cozy for most people.

[@Matt_the_pirate]

@@Ghorda9 no, the animal in the game is literally called a slugcat.

[@Arkhavist_S]

I'd add that the escapism of cozy games is, itself, often a power fantasy as well. Growing plants, building a home, low-stakes exploration etc. - knowing what your modest goal is and making small but tangible steps toward it is very much a fantasy of having control over your environment and path ahead. If you've spent your life more or less at the mercy of others and the world around you due to family obligations, health problems, wealth problems, housing, and so on, the idea of wanting something, even mundane, and then attaining it through your own effort, is a more potent power fantasy than being a rage-fueled immortal demigod bifurcating demons with a railgun. It feels relatable and grounded instead of purely abstract, something you might have a point of reference for.

[@Kamdrimar]

Pretty much! Cozy games are the ultimate power fantasy for people who just want to live their lives in peace and do things they can feel proud of without the ever-looming presence of late stage capitalism breathing down their necks and making things far more complicated and difficult than they need to be.

[@AHeroWith1000Names]

Damn, that's a very sharp observation

[@mujtabaellari2597]

Last year I had a pretty heavy break up with a girl I was very serious with. I was scrolling through PSN not really searching for something and I stumbled on Haven. When I read it was about a love dovey couple trying to make it I insta bought it. It was nice seeing how cute and content their relationship was and a gave me a little comfort. So yeah I can certainly see the appeal for cozy games.

[@nintendoentersoft]

Well that new Nintendo Direct certainly seems to support this hypothesis.

[@pupcornnerd]

Holy shit I foresee Yahtzee being like 'yup, I called it!' in a future video. Farming simulators! Farming simulators as far as the eye can see!

[@anone.mousse674]

Though to be fair, a lot of them like FaeFarm and Harvestella are still blended with RPG elements

[@AxleEnterprisesLLC]

Although it's been forever since I played a game in the Sims series, the love of building and customising spaces has never gone away...kind of a mixture of it being satisfying to make a place look aesthetically pleasing and also it being a power fantasy of sorts to create a dream living space. I'd love to see someone step up the scope at some point, though; imagine if you were given something insanely huge like a medieval castle that you could customise the interior of (and I mean actually pick where stuff gets placed in each room, not just customise the colour scheme for what's already there), or a luxury liner, or even an iconic vehicle from Star Trek or Star Wars (tell me that wouldn't sell out in seconds)!

[@claytonweaver7335]

I think the future of cozy games is somewhere halfway between video games and board games. Board games have been successful doing more with less and also becoming more digital and more accepting of solo play.

[@erakfishfishfish]

I could see that. Deckbuilders have already made a nice little niche for themselves in video games.

[@claytonweaver7335]

@@erakfishfishfish Yeah, there are definitely already card games that have been popular. Certainly I've put more than my fair share of time into Slay the Spire. Many board games have 'cozy' themes recently and they often come in large boxes so they have a large footprint like a Vinyl collection.

[@JadenLingerfelt]

Haven is my favorite cozy game. Playing as a couple exploring their new home and mostly leveling up from trying new food, camping, and having fun interactions instead of combat

[@glassworktrophic8465]

It'll happen at the publisher level where they build entire stables of "indie" studios to churn out games like what you're describing. Embracer group is already on this, I think because they're making a similar estimation about gaming's more immediate future.

[@twocalicocats5511]

I believe this trend is already underway, but publishers are churning them out on mobile/facebook gaming, which Yahtzee is already soured on

[@civishamburgum1234]

I'm just gonna hand out a free idea for a cosy game here, just becaue I am never gonna make it: Canalmania. It's a transport-tycoon-alike but with a focus on water. And thusly really slowed down, with a focus on hdrodynamics. It should be 3D, but the graphic style should be pixel art emulating oil paintings. I just wanna look at the little guy riding his horse alongside the canal to pull a barge.

[@isaiah1516]

Sometimes I want to turn my brain off and just have fun. Stray was great because I was "playing" while just walking around a city and seeing how the environment was built.

[@GallowglassVT]

Honestly, as said in the video, the entire nature of the triple A industry is antethetical to the concept of a cozy game which is why, even if they did start trying to emulate them, the indiesphere would still be the best place to look with one or two exceptions like Stray or Animal Crossing. Like, just seeing clips of that Disney game was kicking off my anxiety because they assume that cozy and what can be equal parts serotonin high for some and existential nightmare for others are the same thing.

[@price8346]

*I think Cozy games is the next big thing* Nintendo Direct: *Have four farming games*

[@abyssaljam441]

Depending on how you play them strategy games are sort of cozy. Set the level slightly lower and basicaly play them like a city builder, spent basicaly all my childhood doing it, but could never get into city builders.

[@kazy8029]

Picross has become my relaxing game for me. Just something easy to play and not at all stressful.

[@andrewrobillard7192]

Shoot, Final Fantasy XIV, one of the big 5 MMOs, just added "cozy game" content in the form of Island Sanctuary that's completely detached from the rest of the game inspired by Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley as a stress-free break from the normal content. Gathering resources, upgrading an island, collecting animals with bonus shiny hunting, farming, etc. It's all the cozy game tropes and it's addicting as hell

[@LittleHombrito]

Right now in shooters the big trend right now is JUST about to be Extraction Royales made famous by Escape From Tarkov, but that's all I'm certain of

[@joemurray2523]

In the movie "Her", set in however near a future in take for Siri to become Sentient, the protagonist is shown playing a "cosy" game - its even normalised to the point he tells a story about what happens to him in the game and its treated like good conversation

[@gimrongaming8496]

Despite the primary intention of the game to be an action-adventure, I think Breath of the Wild contains many well represented elements of cozy gameplay. Amidst the action are long stretches of time traveling through beautiful landscapes, gathering resources, cooking, etc. that I found very relaxing and enticing.

[@chacecampbell2697]

Super huge fan of this genre despite not having played many of the games. The content that people like Gab Smolders make while playing these games is just so damn cozy and makes for fantastic stuff to wind down and fall asleep to.

[@kinjour]

One type of game I feel applies here is Factory games (E.G. Factorio, Satisfactory, etc). Could they be classed as cozy games too?

[@TheJupiteL]

Idk about other factory games, but Satisfactory lets you do whatever you want in your own time (at least until you get coal power). I think that checks cozy games criteria.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

I definitely would classify _Satisfactory_ as cozy for me. It is SO relaxing to play. Great music, progress at your own pace, and you are rewarded for exploring the map.

[@kailomonkey]

Twitch seems to call them cozy games too. I've taken an extra step recently into watching twitch to watch Stardew Valley when not playing it myself, and largely their titles include the word cozy (referring to their stream and mood, but the game is integral). Another reason you might see this genre picking up popularity is that they're just that bit more accessible to novice gamers and the gaming hobby has had a huge influx of new players since the whole lock yourself inside thing.

[@TheGreatSoda]

With this recent Nintendo direct, how painful is it to be right?

[@SiroBenju]

Gotta mention Harvestella, which is absolutely another AAA vulture just starting to pick at the cozy carcass (it's also my most anticipated upcoming release after God of War). One can imagine the rest of the vultures watching closely to see how well these first few can eat off the carcass...

[@Superboologan1]

I'd say cozy games have already *been* the next big thing for a while now. Admittedly to their detriment I believe, it just feels like there're a bit too many of them

[@sirrliv]

For Cozy-Adjacent games, I would even add games like Railroads Online, where you and your friends can get together (after much swearing at how to get the client lobby to work) and build and run a little narrow gauge railway, delivering goods across a big but not too big map though challenging mountainous terrain, all while trying to keep your trains from flying off the physics-based track. Sadly, it's been marred by recent behind-the-scenes upsets among the development team, but there is still some hope of turning around and, pardon the pun, getting back on track. And really, there are few things more chill than hopping in the cab, loading up a train of lumber, and just sitting back as you chug your way up the mountain like the little engine that could, with only the slight niggling dread of the pants-shitting terror you'll experience going back down again, with all that weight suddenly working against you and only barely enough braking power to control it all.

[@All_Beef_Hotdog]

Love me some Cozy Games. That’s why I’m so hyped for Haunted Chocolateer

[@wyrduncleradio9157]

I think you 110% hit on it. I actually have an anecdotal story of my and my girlfriend feeling this very way. We were playing the game It takes two, which I believe you reviewed and when we got to the winter wonderland town, we absolutely fell into it. An assemblage of feel good cooperative freeing and uplifting moments as we explore and play together was this very great feeling... honestly the best part of the game, and not because any of the things in that town were uniquely amazing but the interaction she and I got to do together and explore together and relate over and have cheeky competition with was deeply nice. It was engaging and comfortable. I actually got excited because I thought the rest of the game was going to do that, unveil a series of these hub playgrounds with different themes and events and I was like "omg, this is the game that is needed, cooperative and light and fun" and was then dissappointed lol. If someone could make a game that is just that winter towns ludo-narrative of kids in a sandbox with different fun themes and spaces and cooperative adventure and discovery.... That would be it. In fact I would say that even breath of the wild has some of these very incentivising elements. It is the feeling of openness and agency and ease and connection in a world of closed walls, dis-empowerment, stress, and alienation.

[@Anonymos185]

2:38 That may well be the *least* aggressive sounding vowels to ever leave Yahtzee's mouth *schleeeepyyy*

[@erakfishfishfish]

I want Yahtzee to talk about Stray in every video. Everything he says is hilarious and true (and I liked the game).

[@exyzt9877]

I feel like the only way most AAA studios would get into the whole cozy game shit is by hybridizing it with something more spectacular. You know the kind of thing I'm talking about. Pair city-building with dungeon crawling. Pair life-sim visual novel with JRPG. Pair house decoration shtick with a fucking shooter or something idk. And in case you didn't already notice, the first 2 are referring to actual games, and I'm pretty sure half of you know which ones specifically too.

[@_decaysea]

*Yahtzee 2020:* What on earth is this Animal Crossing thing?? This Harvest Moon thing?? This Stardew Valley thing???? They've been around for decades and the players still aren't allowed to decapitate anyone! *Yahtzee now:* wait i think i get it

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

Oh boy, 1 AAA, 1AA, & 1 Indie example. Really setting a trend in the industry there like boomer shooters, cover shooters, ubisoft-style open worlds, or souls-likes.

[@twocalicocats5511]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 perhaps the trend that is in indie games stems from not only these very mentioned games, but others of its ilk, like the sims, story of seasons, tomodachi life, the pikachu games, tamagotchis, or even the beloved chao raising part of sonic adventure 2. Those are games i think qualify as “cozy” despite clearly being very money’d. Plus, there’s been lot more money’d games of this genre in mobile gaming and facebook gaming, where it is easier to consume and be filled with microtransactions

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@randomguy9777 With that logic every game ever released on Nintendo hardware is AA or indie rather than AAA.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@randomguy9777 People don't mean graphical fidelity by whether something is AAA or indie. They mean: 1. Who produced it 2. Graphics 3. Polish 4. Scale Nintendo produces animal crossing and it has exceptional graphics while having basically no glitches or hiccups in performance while the only games in its genre that compete with it for scale are games like MySims which is also produced by a AAA company. By all metrics Animal Crossing is a thoroughly AAA series.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@randomguy9777 Compared to the indie market? Yeah, it does. It doesn't go for photorealism but it doesn't have to rely on some weird anime cell-shading, hand drawn, or pixel art to look good like Indie games tend to on their constricted budgets. Yes, I would take stuff like Ori and the Blind Forest over it any day of the week but currently only AAA studios tend to use that art style and it not look cheap & like crap.

[@williambell3304]

It plays on the same impulse as that type of avoidance behaviour when you focus on a small, pleasant or nonessential task to avoid the big, scary essential ones.

[@bloopboop9320]

As fun as cozy games are, I feel like there is an issue of a lot of them feeling "copy and pasted" in the indie crowd and that (like all video games) can be used as a means of complete escapism from doing real things in real life. Power Washing Simulator is one of those weird ones where I've worked a job where I was power-washing for 5-8 hours a day and all of the people who like the game could just be... well... they could just get a power-washing job. Or the home management games could be spent by actually managing your own apartment/house/dorm/etc.. It's like a replacement for the chores that one should already be doing but without the hassle of having to get up and do it. I don't have any issues with cozy games in general, but I also find the fact that the "sim games" or "management games" are so engrossing to some people a bit concerning because those are mostly all things that are fairly easily accessible to do in real life and you can get paid to do it but instead people choose an easier and tamer form of that same thing. I guess one could use that same argument about first person shooters, "If you like the concept so much, just go join the army or a terrorist organization. Why choose the easy and tame route of it?" so maybe it all stems from the ability to control and environment that won't do anything too unpredictable, unlike real life, which is largely unpredictable.

[@checker297]

i mean the big downside with an fps would be dying and no save feature.

[@stevenglowacki8576]

I really enjoyed playing Eve Online as an industrialist while I was working a low skill job and then going to business school. Once I got a job as an accountant, the game seemed too much like work to play.

[@ryanhenderson225]

Surprised non of the Katamari games were brought up in this video. "We Love Katamari" on the Ps2 was the coziest thing sitting next to Battlefront 2 and that gritty remake of the classic arcade game Defender. The Katamri series, in my opinion, captures cozy while also kinda venturing into cosmic... Not sure if it is comedy or horror if I'm being honest. BUT, in short, Katamari = cozy, mildly skill intensive, semi-open world, and down right weird in ways that still make me feel good. Wouldn't mind more games like that

[@Switchell2]

I'd argue that we're already in this phase, and we have been for quite a long time. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the top-selling Switch game by a wide margin. I think if anything, we're actually already headed towards the tail-end of this trend, though we're not quite there yet. IMO the next big thing is UGC-focused social media-like games. Games focused around content creation with a massive focus on sharing and social experiences.

[@Tuss36]

Thought we already had that with stuff like Mario Maker, Little Big Planet, Trials, etc.? I just remember user generated content being the thing in vogue at one point with frequent complaints about all the bad stuff you gotta sift through to get the good stuff. The recent thing taking advantage of social media is Photo Modes like Spiderman, but that's not really a style of game and more a bonus feature.

[@Switchell2]

@@Tuss36 We had UGC-focused games sure, but not to the degree we're seeing lately. Fortnite and even Animal Crossing are thriving off of shared social experiences.

[@avataraarow]

The fact that new horizons has outsold smash by over 10 million copies will never cease to amaze me. One slight caveat is that technically Mario kart 8 deluxe is the best selling “switch game”, but given that it’s a port of a Wii U game I can understand why one might exclude it. Still, animal crossing selling 40 million is insanity. The fact more big studios haven’t tried to capitalize on it in the last 2 years blows my mind

[@boiledelephant]

The brony phenomenon was similar in spirit: a deliberately twee, harmless, warm, fuzzy kids show embraced by adults as a "fuck that" to all the dreary misanthropic post-9/11 misery porn being crammed into TV and cinemas. If they make a licensed MLP cozy game there'll probably be some sort of singularity event.

[@lastaeon174]

Nintendo direct had like 4 farming games lmfao

[@maggie6152]

I don't know if there's AAA examples, but I always found the shop creating/managing games relaxing.

[@mesektet5776]

Now there is a Cosy Game I want to play. A game where you play as The Algorithm and your job is to find something to appeal to the masses ever fickle sense of contentment - ahead of anything your rival, AAA, can concoct; And if your score gets far ahead of AAA you see some executive throwing their pie-chart to the ground and stamp, and stamp and stamp it.

[@kairo3201]

Are you suggesting to let a normal person wear the shoes of a modern era god? That sounds like torture, and something I would play.

[@AussieBoyLloyd]

Honestly i think this is indeed spot on... since i've grown up with games getting better and better and now not really improving in story and intrigue but only in graphic quality and sound quality i find myself either seeking the ps2 era kind of games i grew up with or hunting indie games as they have the level of effort put in that is needed... or just general quirkiness to be different & intriguing.. The other side of this coin is after a hard day where my brain is the consistency of a marshmallow in the sun i cant get behind fast paced shoot em ups ... bout as far as i go into shooty shooty is rts's like tortuga ... i still have to think, but i have time to think ... i play something i can take at whatever pace i want... calm, relaxing, something i can wind down too... More so for the past few hard slogged days i come here and watch you talk about games cause i'm way too tired and mentally drained to pour hours into the damn things only to walk away going well that was some time i'm not going to get back.. Guess i'm showing my age when i say the last thing i want to do is come home and get spawn killed in a game that cost over $110 and is kinda buggy for a AAA title by 12 year olds or someone with 420 in their name from the other side of the world using profanity you wouldn't dare say to someone's face and mis pronouncing "get good" while t bagging you... when i have day off energy yeah bring it but after a long day completely drained me no thanks i'll take the "cosy games" thanks

[@dyldragon1]

As a fad, I think the time kind of passed on "cozy games" already. This is probably super cliche in game writing world, but 2020's lonely lockdowns coincided with Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley perfectly.

[@BladeLigerV]

If I were to think what a AAA Cozy game would be, I would think: similar simple art style like sprite based because nothing is wrong with that, and make the game incomprehensibly massive. No longer burdened by small teams and budgets, the world can be huge and intricate with lots of people, creatures, and goals. The simple sprite style can learn to lots of variants be them re-skins or new things.

[@brooklyngray1527]

I love how yhatzee always manages to bring up societal collapse in these videos

[@XH1927]

It's not hard, society is collapsing.

[@Loopy1330]

Another reason in the cozy game's favor for popularity (and you did touch on this) is hardware limitations. A lot of these cozy games aren't hardware demanding and don't require an brand spanking new Nvidia 4000 series RTX graphics card (excuse me *brick*) to run. Many of these cozy games could run on lower end systems, even on PCs with just integrated graphics which many people have struggled with in the past several years including myself. I hear the GPU market is supposed to be getting better but for people like me living through a recession and gasoline prices being the highest they've ever been, a high end graphics card to finish my PC isn't financially ideal. People will turn to cozy games because they'll be a different change of pace and they'll be affordable, thus making for a larger playerbase.

[@getnohappy]

Yahtzee is definitely right, I did a lot of planet zoo during the lockdowns. Definitely on the cosy end of "... tycoon" games; not a very in depth business SIM, very few random disaster events, and mainly about making cute animals happy.

[@MrFelblood]

I think you may have hit several nails perfectly square here. Looking at a lot of what my circles have been playing lately, I've been seeing a lot of Amazing Cultivation Simulator, Barotrauma Campaign mode, and Skyrim modded into a camping simulator. In a lot of ways, these are cozy building sims and games for hanging out with the homies online, that have some sort of power fantasy woven into them, to give the game some pacing and variety, without really intruding on vibe. The Skyrim camper does not intend to freeze to death in the wilderness while contemplating the inevitable end of all things, as imitators like The Long Dark tried to capture. Rather, the possibility of freezing exists to give context to the fact that they are snug in their troll fur sleeping bag, next to a warm fire. Barotrauma is a great way to hang out with your pals on a virtual boat and hunt for treasure. Sometimes that treasure will be guarded by eldritch horrors, or will carry a terrible curse of doom or madness, but that's all part of the fun. The fact that fire-breathing panda kaiju occasionally attack your city and threaten to spoil your meticulously arranged feng shui, in Amazing Cultivation Simulator, brings some tension to the game, but they are mainly there to make you feel awesome when your sect leader and his dog turn the giant monster into kebabs, and then pull a mountain out of the ground to provide stone for the rebuilding process. It's this last one where I think AAA has it's best chance of finding a model they can actually emulate. City builders and character growth focused RPGs have mainly been abandoned by AAA, to the indies and the over-monetized, mobile spinoffs, but there was a time when they understood how to spin a flagship title out of these genres, and the lost arts may yet be rediscovered.

[@combosloth1677]

In my experience, when a multimillion dollar company shows signs of copying a genre of indie game, it's time to move on to something else

[@Poctyk]

Eh, Paradox releasing Stellaris was mostly a good thing to happen to space 4X games. Mostly because it was a new blood in fans of genre, which don't compare everything to MOO2 (They compare it to Stellaris instead, lol) Allowing genre to become more acceptible to new ideas.

[@markopodoreski6840]

I was just thinking yesterday how I would like a game where I just wander through the forests, mountains, by the rivers, through the caves... Just exploring. (You know, without going outside where it's dangerous.) I didn't think about it as escapism until now, but I guess it's just that.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

BOTW

[@jeschoofs]

I used to disagree with this video, then i saw the new nintendo direct

[@badmanjones179]

really good animation there at the end, fits the soft cut outro better, and the joke was better fit for it. last few times you guys tried to do an outro stinger joke here it didnt work because there was no hard cut transition, this is much gentler and makes me less uncomfortable.

[@reeyees50]

Nintendo direct

[@Captain_Indecisive]

With the recent Nintendo Direct announcing 5 or 6 farming-related games, I think Yahtzee hit the nail on the head.

[@ElementalNimbus]

I actually disagree on Stray, at least to a point. Being a cat is certainly part of it, however there are plenty of failed games that gave you that. I'd argue the larger part is people are not great at explaining or even knowing WHY they like things that they like. If Stray existed with worse mechanics, forced platform challenges, and a generic or stupid story I imagine it would have done only ok. As it is people play - enjoy being a cat - enjoy the setting - enjoy the emotions - enjoy the heart and innovation on display.... then review that they love cat game. Any game that does as well as Stray is doing bears a little digging to understand every reason it is doing so well. On the other hand I can imagine Stray but where the protagonist is generic gruff soldier man and it would be only ok at absolute best. It also wouldn't fit because they didn't make it to be interchangeable. Stray allowed the unique draw to also dictate its world and the player's perspective on that world. Being a cat certainly helped, I just think it deserves credit for all the other work they clearly put in as well.

[@PrivatelyPurple]

“Stop flinching at news headlines and come and water some fucking flowers” is oddly comforting coming from Yahtzee.

[@Jerorawr_XD]

I went back and started playing Roller Coaster Tycoon recently. Extremely comfy game full of people laughing and things moving and bright colors that also gives you a total sense of control and power over the game. Charge for restrooms, build death coasters, drown your guests. Or just play a comfy game where you build a fun park. Perfect comfy game and it's not a surprise that it's begun rising in popularity again in recent years.

[@juicedgoose]

"Stop flinching at news headlines and water the fucking flowers" is the best life advice you will ever receive.

[@toobigtofail4232]

Man, Animal Crossing honestly saved my sanity during the quarantine. Cozy games have absolutely become one of the favorite genres.

[@Zarkonem]

If it's anything like what happened to me then it makes sense. I was late to the souls like thing, didn't play any dark souls games out of fear that i wouldn't like them. And i'm no casual either, I get no less than 5 hours of gameplay a day every day for the past 33 years. But after immense pressure from people i know, i went ahead and got Elden Ring. I knew it was going to be hard and frustrating, and at first, i loved it. It wasn't until i was around level 200 and got to the fire giant and threw myself at it for 3 weeks straight, trying every strategy under the sun and breaking my computer chair in rage that i finally quit that game for good. After being so stressed out and pissed off for so long, i moved to something soothing. I wanted something that would be calming. It's been a couple months now and i'm still not ready for something more challenging yet.

[@masterplusmargarita]

I think AAA's gateway into cozy games is through live service games and MMOs, anything that accomplishes the task of having players do daily login quests. These typically have been action oriented, but they can easily be made cozy with a simple coat of paint, while still being part of a larger game with all the bombast AAA wants. There's a daily questline in Final Fantasy XIV where you're helping a tribe of bird people build an airship, and the daily quests involve going around the world talking to specific people and collecting ingredients to craft components with. There's also non-daily questlines for each of the crafting professions, where the quests involve preparing specific complex items, which the cheapest way of doing is often to travel all around the world collecting ingredients for with a very relaxing shopping-list type vibe. These questlines are usually about silly low stakes things - the Culinarian questline is about getting an infamously mean food critic to give you a good review, and the Weaver questline is about teaching a poor, uneducated miner how to dress well so he can woo the rich heiress he's in love with, for example. It's completely different in tone and stakes from the main quest, where that same mean food critic actually turns out to be a hyper-wealthy industrialist lobbying the kindly Sultana to not let sympathetic refugees of a war with the evil empire into the country while planning to coup her in the near future. Those daily quests and crafting questlines are my current source of comfy, sleepy escapism, and I think they fit really well into bloated, large live service things. I have friends for whom Destiny became that sort of escapism, and the only thing that doesn't make it fit into cozy game is the aesthetic. You could have those daily dungeons be something like a training ground or some sort of friendly, relaxed sporting match and I think they'd fit really well into the general vibe here. The trick is that this way AAA games still get to sell themselves with their old "bigger, better, more intense" formula - because that's where the main game is - but now they have side content that taps into the cozy game feeling.

[@doccon8]

Pretty impressive how after this, the very next Nintendo direct was a jillion different farm games, including those from AAA devs.