A Lawyer's Cozy Game Tier List (2023)
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
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The start of winter is just around the corner, which means that cozy game season is in full swing. I love myself some cozy games: it's almost a vice for me, indulging in the cozy lands of make believe.
I've played so many of these games that I've developed some rather strong opinions on them! Please enjoy this modest, early Christmas-y special. If you enjoy this kind of video, let me know what you think! It's a great break for me as well, in between the heavier stuff.
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/ moonchannelyt
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:22 - What is a Cozy Game?
03:49 - The Criteria
06:03 - Disney Dreamlight Valley
09:19 - Coral Island
12:44 - Harvest Moon (SNES)
14:18 - Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, Generally
15:33 - Potionomics
17:04 - Sun Haven
19:23 - One Lonely Outpost
20:26 - Cozy Grove
21:55 - Verdent Skies
23:33 - Kynseed
25:03 - Spiritfarer
26:34 - My Time at Portia/Sandrock
28:58 - Rune Factory 4
30:23 - Animal Crossing
32:02 - Stardew Valley
35:25 - Conclusion
36:32 - Credits Gag
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Attributions:
• Kingdom Hearts III (Im...
• Kingdom Hearts III (Im...
(During Dreamlight Valley Section)
• Mii Channel theme but ...
(Intro)
• All I Want For Christm...
(Coral Island)
• Flower Dance - Stardew...
(What is a Cozy Game?)
(Yes, that is the Meatball Song)
• Slider (Festive Mix) -...
(Credit's Gag)
• Dream a Little Harder
(Dream a Little Harder, Twisted)
• The Fading Stories (Qi...
(Verdant Skies Section)
(Did anyone even notice that this was actually Last Christmas?)
• Flying Battery Zone (A...
(Kynseed Section)
• I Love You (Ankha Mix)...
(Animal Crossing) - Hry
Go to buyraycon.com/moonchannel to get 15% off your Raycon
purchase this holiday season! Brought to you by Raycon.
No, I don't think I will.
Bro I legit only know you cuz of the sh** you were saying towards Jobst. Think I'll pass as well.
Thanks for finally taking down that awful video you made about Karl
Full time lawyer, part time CZcamsr, and cozy game connoisseur? How does Moon have time to live!
By listening to his favorite music using today's sponsor, raycon
Because he's not an actual lawyer that's how.
Bc he never actually does any research! Super easy when you just make random stuff up or have no idea what words mean.
Guy has no idea what he's talking about about guys a joke .
Because he's not a lawyer bro, don't believe the internet.
now post the anxiety game list
I might unironically do that for the April Fool's Day episode now. Thank you for the remarkably evil idea.
Stardew wins that too
The song playing for the entire video will just be the Sonic drowning crescendo, ever crescendo-ing…
Potionomics caused me the same level of stress and anxiety as Nioh does, no joke and they are two of my favorite games ever.
I would love this list
This video is a bit of a departure from the usual content! Let me know what you think: if you enjoyed the tier list (or have any complaints about it), I'd love to get your feedback.
this was great, I'd love to see more in this vein
Any vid you make is just awesome so no complaints from me!😁👍
I DID however want to get your take on controversy going on with The Completionist and the charity scandal from an actual lawyer or someone more versed in law.
I love the video, would love to see this every year, Christmas special style
Moony all your videos have been peak
do a depressing game tier list i dare you mr lawyer
As a non alcoholic working in high stress field rampant with alcoholism (dentist), I never expected lawyer like Moony to have similar experiences with me.
I wouldn't trust a drunk dentist to do my tooth work tbh
I'd trust a dentist if *I* was drunk.
"these characters are too cool! i don't feel like i belong" said the youtuber with almost 100k subs, a compassionate heart despite literally working with devils, a wide and pondered worldview, a talent for being highly didactical while maintaining humility, and the angelic voice of a bass singer
My guy's a genuinely progressive Calvinist Christian, I think he's more than cool enough.
I love how often you bring up your sisters and how much you care for them in your videos, it's so wholesome
It's very cute tbh.
* writes notes for paralegal's cozy game list *
Writes notes for legal action on the grounds of plagiarism (the word of the month apparently).
@@SystemBDit’s impressive that Hbomberguy can make a video once a year and set the topic of discussion for the next month
If you don't mind, i wouldn't mind another of these lists. Not only are they fun and informative, they are also deeply calming. Thank you.
Ps. You seem worried at times that you're boring us with legal jargon, definitions, and history. But just like good cozy games take their time, i quite enjoy that you take the time to give those insights. Please continue doing what you do. Listening to you sets me at ease.
Moony, your voice is the definition of cozy.
imo his voice is the definition of "serious lawyer" 😂
A Short Hike has to be hands down the coziest game I have ever interacted with. Also while not "cozy", Katamari never fails to make me smile, even on the worst of days somehow
I was waiting for A Short Hike to get a mention in this video.
A Short Hike felt so joyous and fun. I had a smile on my face pretty much the entire 6 hours of playing.
My teacher's brother helped w/the development of A Short Hike :)))!! That's how I got introduced to A Short Hike in the first place, actually. I was surprised by how good the game, introduced to me a teacher no less, was good! Usually they put me play old, outdated shit.
It's funny, because it's very cozy, but hardly fitting in the Stardew Valley-Animal Crossing sliding scale. I think Moony should create a third category, with cozy exploration as its main element. I can think of Dordogne as another example, and maybe Higland Song (didn't play that, I don't know if it feels as cozy as it looks like).
i have to pipe up because it always bothers the piss out of me when people describe the desert as lifeless - my tribe is southwestern and the desert is definitely a harsher climate than people may be used to but in the US, at least, our deserts are actually really full of beautiful features and plants and flowers and so on. and it snows! and it's teeming with life! and that's why you're right about sandrock :\ everyone builds their deserts based off of like wild west movie stereotypes and has them be boring and barren when someone with a good eye (or a native american designer...) could make a desert setting feel very, very cozy, but folks are so married to the stereotype than the reality that it makes their works WORSE. sandrock felt so empty to me it was like uncanny valley.
edit: love the video btw. i tend to be really picky and not very into cozy games so taking them seriously and laying out good reviews is super useful.
Sandrock being barren and lifeless is pretty much heavily built into the story of the game itself, When you talk with town people about the town history itself they pretty much said the town used to be more pretty filled with greenery and fauna. But something happen which I'll leave it out on what going on and behind since it super spoiler heavy, But player character is pretty much recruit into town to bring restore the town back into it's former glory.
Agreed, I grew up in the Southwest and deserts can be so much more than just sandy and barren! The Sonoran Desert and Colorado Plateau are just two stunning inspirations for any game designer wanting to create a dynamic desert region.
As a fan of 'extreme' climates--often picking the coldest or hottest regions to 'base' in survival games for instance--I'd love to see this trend broken.
kind of in love how you, a lawyer, open the video by defining terms. This is the most lawyer way a video has started ever and it's not even law related haha
My quintessential cozy game series is Atelier. Theyre mostly turn based jrpgs, sometimes have time limits, and have deep crafting systems but the character writing focus, music, and small scope of each game make them the coziest games Ive ever played.
Where do you recommend starting with Atelier? I've been tempted by Sophie 2
@@tristanheron4144
Start with one of the games that are first in a trilogy. The best choices for newcomers are typically Atelier Sophie, Atelier Ryza or Atelier Ayesha. Neither Sophie nor Ryza's games have the Time Limit the games are known for and are more like a traditional JRPG with crafting as the main focus; but Ayesha has a time limit and is one of the easier games to get into of the older ones, to some players. As much as I fucking LOVE the Arland Trilogy (Rorona, Totori, Meruru) they are a lot more stringent with their time limits (and Rorona's ending requirements will require a guide to do without much you have to do for the True Ending....Totori is also the same, but the Time Limit is MUCH more strict.) and have less depth to their combat than later titles. Ryza's games are also the only ones with an Active Time Battle System, while the others are basic turn based. Also the DX versions have all of the overpriced DLC, so get those if you can.
Hope this helped!
I started with atelier back on the ps2 and its been a really nostalgic and cozy series for me! When it comes to just wanting to relax with maximum vibes I'd go with Dusk trilogy (Ayesha). You really can't beat Hidari's art & the stories feel a bit more grounded and mature.
Sophie is probably the best first Atelier game, but my brainrot started with Totori, one of the most challenging (in many ways) entries in the series, period 😭
@@GastricProblemsHaver I also started with Totori, and its still one of my favorites, though I do understand why Arland may not be the best one to start with now a days. I also liked Sophie, but it has a pretty lackluster endgame that had me slogging through it the last 20% or so when I played it. (this was also before the DX versions were released, so maybe those fixed something)
"Lawyers often develop coping mechanisms to deal with the stress of the profession"
Me, thinking of how many friends I lost over their drinking while I afk runescape while playing Roots of Patcha on my switch.
Naaaah who needs coping mechanisms we are all fine just fine
(Finally was able to watch one of your vieeos on launch!!)
For me, with a high stress time sensitive job, cozy games aren't usually the typical "farming" sims, but visual novels. A level of escapism and fantastical plots that can whisk me away from the stresses and responsibilities of real life. They might have tense and "stressful" moments, but I never feel like I'm hindered by grinding or purposefully bloated out game concepts. I do love jrpgs and farming sims, but if I had to choose a "cozy" genre, VNs would be it. Hence why the Ace Attorney series is top tier cozy for me.
Potionomics was a life changing game for me. After starting the game, instead of playing it, I spent an entire weekend creating an excel spreadsheet that optimizes the potion making for me. That game made me learn VBA. It was almost as much fun as playing the game itself.
There is a class of games where making a spreadsheet is actually the main fun of the game, at least for some people. You know what I did when I played Stardew? I wrote a program to calculate different combinations of crops. And that's not getting into games like EVE Online.
Moonie i have an illness of some sort and i must say that this video feels cozy in and of itself. This is so comforting. I would watch you talk about decorating your towns and who you wanna romance for hours given the opportunity
I highly agree with this idea!
i played the demo of spiritfarer on my switch and was blown away with how much i wanted to keep playing and i ended up buying the full thing for xbox. i dont really cry easily but i got around 75% done with it and just couldnt take the heartbreak anymore. though it's such an amazing game i ended up recommending it to my friend without realize how soft and mushy she is lol she hasnt played it but i cant imagine the reaction the events will get out of her when they tore me to pieces
I can't believe that you casually dropped that you were a top 200 StarCraft 2 player in a cozy game tierlist.
(Thank you for the tierlist I've been absolutely itching to play a new cozy game this past week)
Also, please keep making these, I have a bad habit of playing these in very early access and then not knowing which games are worth coming back to when they're finished!
One thing I have noticed among white collar friends is that they all enjoy crafting or farming based games in order to relax. I can only hypothesize that when your work is exclusively theoretical where you have no material thing to point to as the product of your labor you kinda go look for that material actualization somewhere else. Multiple of them have even asked me if I could teach them basic craftsmanship or do projects together. Personally I like playing similar games cause as a mechanic working in a system which forces me to work monotonously with little change or innovation I enjoy the planning and expansion side of the same games, meanwhile a teen with excess energy might find a highly stimulating shooter to be their comfort game. What's cozzy may be dependent on where you are in life
I would 100% watch that video on the differences between Stardew Valley-like and Harvest Moon-like games. Agreed that Stardew Valley is pretty amazing and I’ve been enjoying the wave of knock offs in its wake. Some of them have been really creative.
I realized I haven't really seen much discussion about cozy games (with the exception of animal crossing and stardew valley). It feels as though cozy games are usually not taken as seriously as games in which you mainly murder your way to victory. Now I'm a big fan of both, but variety being the spice of life, I would be happy to see more thoughtful videos and reviews on cozy games :)
Today we learnt Moony likes redheads :P No but, really, another great video! I would say, this is a cozy video about cozy games. Thanks, Moony!
My daughter just learned how to say cozy the other day. What great timing.
I would absolutely love to see this become a yearly thing! Also, I would absolutely recommend playing both Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life as well as Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin!
I'm not actually sure you've played them, since I didn't see them mentioned, but the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life/Another Wonderful Life hold a special place in my heart, and I feel those are the best example for Harvest Moon in general. So if you haven't, please consider giving them a shot! Sakuna is also fantastic and cozy, and has a very simple story executed very well.
Sakuna! I love that game. I should go back to it. It's just so cute and the sheer depth is still wild to me.
The opening of this video reminded me of something that I thought I'd share, both because I find it kind of funny and it works as a comment on drinking in the law profession. Back when my sister was in law school she got pulled over for a D.U.I this caused her a great amount of distress and she called my mom saying she was worried she'd never get a job because of this. My mother who has been a lawyer for many years decided to calm her down by telling her that every lawyer has had at least one D.U.I.
as a court reporter and a gamer, I appreciate you.
I love that your example of fantastical supernatural in Stardew is Emily's psychadelic trip instead of ... the wizard, the shadow creature, or the dwarf.
The teirlists are great, I think an annual release would be great for cozy games.
In college ATM, autism makes it painful sometimes, so a list of good cosy games is something I really appreciate, especially given that I've mostly been into very desktop-oriented strategy games. Will definitely being buying at least some of the games on this list
I would absolutely love this to be a series
I hereby declare this video to be officially cozy.
Law student here - also no slouch as far as what scares me (nothing to a fault), basically never a crier - and yet WAS BAWLING HYSTERICALLY at Spiritfarer. It’s a magnificent, beautiful game, but it will wreck anyone with a soul.
neko atsume is the mobile cozy game for me. i have so many fond memories of when the neko atsume craze started. it was so special to have everybody sharing their rare cats or faves on social media
also, if i can say, its so heartwarming to see your friendship with your sisters, you guys are really cute!
The scope you have to these games, the coping mechanism part, brings an interesting and unique point of view.
Loving your channel in general! Keep on!
i love the way you open a video completely deadpan, it always give me a good giggle even if it's not meant to be a joke lol
RUNE FACTORY MENTION LET'S GO!!!
I hugely agree on RF4 being the best game of the series! personally my heart lies with RF1, but i do love almost all the characters in these games so much.
it's a shame that RF5 was only okay though.
you are the embodiment of cozy!
The only complaint I would have is that this is focused on a specific genre of fantasy agrarian farming.
By whatever name we call it, it's rather precise, when there are other games in other genres that cab be cozy as well.
Certain jrpgs, and even a platformer or 2 can be cozy, and many others in many other genres.
It tends to be more of an aesthetic to me, rather than it always needing to be about the mechanics, but, those are important too. As you said, YMMV.
I usually don't like tier list videos, but there's something about this one, from the premise to the execution, that made it incredibly enjoyable regardless! I think it might be because the tier list feels more like a framing device to do a discussion on a variety of games, rather than on strictly ranking them. Either way, I liked it!
The most shocking thing about this video is that you were able to remember most of the words to "the missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn't" video in the outtakes.
I know the devs say it is a cozy game and yes it has cozy elements, but I wouldn't classify Spiritfarer as cozy myself. It's not very cozy weeping uncontrollably every time another character leaves... but it is a learning experience, an important one at that. Most cultures tend to shy away from death but I think avoiding it can only make it more difficult when you inevitably experience it.
When I played the game I had just given my best friend and closest companion the gift of humane euthanasia (yes he was a cat) so Spiritfarer was a particularly raw experience for me. But it was also giving me a lot - showing me that death was more than about loss, and helping me to accept the inevitability and inherent naturalness of death. It's also a hella beautiful game and really enjoyable to play. So if anyone feels a little scared off playing it, I encourage you to be brave and dive in, because you will get a lot out of it.
Moony, you seem like such a great brother. As a younger sister I wish that my older brothers would play cozy games with me sometimes. It's really sweet hearing you talk about your sisters and this was a fantastic video :)
I absolutely *adore* Cozy Grove, and I'm still playing it 500 hours later. The limited number of things to do each day was frustrating at times, but ultimately I'm glad it's there because it limits my obsessive tendencies. I don't think I ever spent more than three days on a single quest, and while completionism is getting grindy, the game doesn't incentivize that completionism, it's just a thing I want to do, so I can't hold that against it.
i get the intended high quality rip experience every time with your channel moony, you’ll have me invested in a certain point and then i’ll ponder on it before realizing ‘that’s not the wii shop channel music in the background!!’
10:00 "Coral Island feels like a tech influencer Resort in Bali which might be heaven for some people but is a little closer to hell for someone like me." LOL, that is quite accurate. For me, though, the game itself is a bit of a heaven, but again, may be I like it because I'm Asian and it has a bit of that Southeast Asian theme. I will say even though Coral Island has come out of early access last month. The game is not complete yet. Two out of the four altar rewards are only working right now in the game - the Dig site and the Savannah do not exist yet in-game.
Most of the core stuff like festivals, mining, farming and what not are in-game. You will get many hours playing from this game, but keep in mind that the mainline quests and some endgame stuff are not in yet. It will give off the feeling of "not complete." However, the devs are still working on the game post-launch including bug fixes.
The correct use of the singular word "criterion" sets this channel apart as a cut above.
FWIW, My Time At Sandrock was my Game of the Year this year.
2:29 totally feel that. I play Castlevania 1 to relax as I am good at the game and it feels good to play it well. Although I wouldn’t call it cozy.
not all that weird of a thing to be honest, like moony said in the video cozy games are mostly about comfort and familiarity and if you've played castlevania 1 that many times it's probably going to fit that criteria, the difference is in the amount of investment required to get to that point
The most cozy game I've played is 'A short hike'. The scope is somewhat short, but it is called a Short hike after all
imo the short playtime works to its advantage. While lot of traditional cosy games take a long time to play properly, A Short Hike is a few hours of pure fun and joy. It's a tiny open world where your character hikes up a mountain, with Breath of the Wild style climbing and gliding mechanics. I had so much fun exploring every nook and cranny of the mountain, secrets and charming characters everywhere. Not repetitive, no tedious roaming around, and even if you do roam around trying to find all 22 feathers the flying makes traversal really enjoyable. 1-2 hours to reach credits if you hurry, 4-6 hours to do everything.
You perfectly expressed how I feel about DDLV. I wanted to love it, it had all the factors that SHOULD make me love it, I was obsessed with it for about 3 months and then it just... got stale.
Great video! It's so interesting to hear other people's opinions on Stardew. I personally don't enjoy it as much as Rune Factory 4 or Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns because, I feel, Stardew can be somewhat lacking in character depth. Which feels weird to say-considering most people's opinions online-but I just couldn't get attached to any of the characters. It is a great game, though!
i remember once when my friend recommended stardew valley to me, i gave it a try and after just one play session i came out with such a strong feeling of unfulfillment that i couldn't bring myself to play it again. to this day i'm not quite sure what happened considering it's never happened to me before or since (well, it did, but when it'd happen again i'd know exactly why). it was a pretty strange thing to experience but i guess it's not for me
subnautica is my all time favorite video game and it is easily a cozy game for me. yeah it scares the piss out of me, but its something where i can just sit down, do the same tasks ive done hundreds of times, and progress. its a beautiful game with a fantastic soundtrack. never thought to call it cozy until you brought it up but thats a damn fine way of putting it. one of the few games i play without listening to spotify
"which is perhaps a topic for yet another video" has become my favorite sentence to hear. love the videos
Id like to also recommend Bear & Breakfast where you play as a bear who puts on pants and runs a bed and breakfast.
new moon channel video released. my back, no longer aching; the wind and sunlight, refreshing again; vision returned to 20/20; truly a blessed day
I absolutely loved how you described a cozy game as not necessarily evoking coziness, but instead hygge, that it’s more of a satisfying completing feeling, it makes so much more sense!! 🙏🏻
If you are insane enough, Factorio eventually becomes a cozy game. Running around putting out low intensity fires and fixing random bottlenecks is really relaxing once you stop having to think about HOW to fix stuff...
That cozy feeling starts at about 2000 hours.
Kynseed is like if the fae (the scary, tricky ones) made a farming game. The quality of the products you get can vary based on normal things like weather and fertilizer, but also things like the day of the week and what effect you currently have. It's impossible to remember everything, and frustrating when you just want one 5 star tomato what do you MEAN I have to wait specifically until the first week of summer and have the flatulence effect while harvesting!?
Despite this, the generational mechanics are nice and I enjoy seeing people grow and new villagers being born and introduced. I always get this uncanny valley feeling when I play a game for many in game years and yet no one ever ages.
My #1 cozy game is Meadow. Unlike all of the games listed here it's mainly a social game which sets itself apart by not having any definitive form of communication outside of a few emotes.
Trying to communicate within such a limited scope turns out to be really fun, it's almost like a puzzle, and it makes all the social aspects very approachable even for people who generally aren't that social such as myself.
It does have a gameplay loop around collecting stuff but to me that's just a sort of icebreaker to get things moving. Interacting with others and goofing off is where most of the fun is for me.
Oh my god the "Dream a Little Harder" bit made me laugh out loud. Always happy to see a Twisted fan in the wild.
I feel like the reason i stick around moon channel in general IS your use of legal terms and controlled definitions and it makes me want to listen to you speak on the topic the video is about. Even if normally I dont care about the topic being spoken about, hearing you clarify and allowing me to understand these terms better has actually given me some interest in topics that i had previously been either avoiding or indifferent to. Also i wishlisted several games from this video and hope others have found some new things to like also! Thanks moony! You are carving your niche very well! :)
That "the missile knows where it is" joke really wouldn't have fit in with the script, but I'm so happy you kept it in at the end there.
I'm Asian myself and i think you're right about Coral Island, when I first played it I felt a sense of disconnect I couldn't quite explain. Old harvest moon and games like Plum Grove feels more relatable to me
It might sound strange, but my cozy game was Talos Principle 2. I just find solving puzzles and philosophy to be relaxing.
the fact you call your younger sister "pearly" is so sweet
Rune Factory deserves so much more attention than it gets. I have hundreds if not thousands of hours in Rune Factory 4.
Last year, in trying to find a new cozy game for my MIL to play after Animal Crossing, I stumbled upon a trailer for an iOS-game ported to the Switch called "Wylde Flowers". It is closer to Stardew than Animal Crossing when it comes to the setting, story, and relationships with the other island inhabitants, but much closer to Animal Crossing in terms of aesthetic and approach to farming/collecting. I think most of all though, I was blown away by two things: first was how polished everything was and how perfectly the mechanics gelled with the narrative, and second was the incredible production values for everything. The character models and animations, the island and environments, and all the menus and UI are just so nicely done and look so "cozy", but the voice acting is what really blew me away. So many cozy games have these awesome narratives woven into their townsfolk, but it's almost never voice-acted. Wylde Flowers is not only fully voiced, but it sounds so professional and all the characters will stay in my mind's eye forever. Now, the game does have some sadness in it with the loss of a main character, but even through that the game continues being cozy and I think you would really enjoy it. My MIL did, which I expected, but I did not expect to also count it as one of my own personal favourites. Just my two cents though. Amazing video, as per usual, thank you for uploading it. :)
I don’t play too many cozy games but there is one game I play a lot and am a big fan of that you might be interested in. It’s called Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya and it’s a restaurant simulator game, a game I can think of that is close enough for comparison is Dave the Diver in the sense of the general gameplay loop of collecting ingredients then opening business for the night as well as doing certain quests for characters. I can’t say for certain if you’ll enjoy the characters as it’s a fan game so it’s going to appeal more to people who are already familiar with the original source material but it’s well designed enough that even if you know nothing about the original material it’s still enjoyable
I was exactly gonna suggest this game, thank you, I will not need to do so because you already did for me :)
Also not sure if he is going to enjoy the characters either, as in one hand their charm and how relatable they are is one of the main things that makes Touhou so popular, but on the other one, the setting being so different (with bunch of things on the line of magic and fantasy) might cause a Scope problem
Long time listener first time commenter. What a great video! Earlier this year I was getting the cozy game itch really bad. My ACNH file, with many many hours on it, started having frame drops, and so I looked for alternatives and watched a ton of videos. I am annoyingly picky when it comes to these games, and your parameters are a great way to put exactly what I look for into words. “Hygge” (what a great word), Scope, and character design/art style are paramount to me, and unfortunately Stardew Valley just didn’t hit any of those for me. SoS:PoOT (heh) held me over for a bit, then the loop got stale really fast, with not a lot in the other parameters to keep it going. Also, those terrible """crafting station""" TV box things just really destroys the land's aesthetic.
So, after much agonizing, I broke my “no early access crafting games” rule and picked up Sandrock in March, and what a time I’ve had. I’m excited to see if you play it more, and what thoughts you might have on it with more time. It takes a bit, but the whole concept of “why the hell are these people making a town in a wasteland desert?!” gets answered in some very satisfying ways, and in different ways per character. Many of the characters themselves are great, and I like how the romance system has more to it than just giving people a gift every day. I mean, it has that as well, but at least there’s other options like cute dates.
As for stressors, there are settings that basically allow you to extend the day cycles to get more done, which is a godsend. I don’t want deadline stress in my cozy games, at least not a lot of it. I was pretty well off before the year was even over, but it’s not required to play like that. “Optimization makes brain go brrr”, though taking it easy is completely fine. I appreciate the flexibility.
The post-post-post apocalyptic setting is intriguing. As a huge fan of the Numenera setting itself, particularly the TTRPG, this ticks a lot of boxes for me, just with a more grounded flavor. There are a lot of notes you can find from the previous inhabitants that are scarily accurate to how we handle doomsday devices today, just presented in a funny or amusing way. The story goes places with some big turns and even some political intrigue, but without getting too heavy. I kinda wish it did, though others might really appreciate that aspect, and it’s not a deal breaker. The combat follows that trend, being fairly easy with some light options. Just entertaining enough without being anywhere near overwhelming.
Sandrock did have a full release recently, which I’ll probably get to once this semester is done… Which is tomorrow… (oh gods I have so many assignments to do today). Hopefully they ironed out some of the jank, since that was a bit of an issue when I played. No where close enough to be a deal breaker, thankfully. Maybe watching a lot of ThorHighHeels's videos has helped me actually kind of like jank in video games, especially ones with a lot of save files so it's never game-breaking.
On a side note, I’ve also played some Palia and it’s pretty okay. Might be worth a look, especially after some more updates.
Anyway, thanks again for the great videos, and sorry for the lengthy comment!
I enjoy your videos, as I like content that dives deeper into video games as a whole. But as a gal who largely only plays cozy games, I was ecstatic to see this one from you! Thank you so much for taking the time to cover cozy games, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this genre in the future. I also very much appreciated the way you described the necessity for cozy games in terms of "the celebration of mindfulness, contentment, and belonging." I thought that was a beautiful way to put it.
This video makes me realize that criteria for coziness vary by person. I get bored by core gameplay loops quickly, and get stressed by uncompleted games or those that cant be taken in defined chunks. A short hike and dustforce are a little more cozy for me, probably because horsing around and exploring is more relaxing to me than farming and grinding.
I hear ya. I don't want to do menial tasks and tick off a list when playing games. I may as well just do my own housework.
+1 for the original HM.... But as time pass my favorite game related to the genre is Rune Factory Frontier who let you choose if you play cosy or more adventurous.
Yoh, who was team Maria back in time...
Kamelåså reference acknowledged! (Such a good skit!)
This was a very sweet little video. Reminding me of Spiritfarer made me cry, and I'd love for this to be an annual thing.
I'd also love a video on why they're Stardew likes and not Harvest Moon likes, that sounds like fun to ne
35:37 Sakuna is SUPER good if you can really dig into the rice-growing. I couldn't, and the game makes one wonder how the hell did like 60% of all people ever subsist on the most finicky god damn crop imaginable.
Honestly this has become one of my "cozy channels", especially after your christian videogames video made me feel a bit better about being religious myself. Keep up the good work!
Hey Moony, not sure if it'd count as a "cozy game", since it doesn't really fit alongside the games featured here, but Here Comes Niko is a super wholesome game that gives mad cozy vibes. It's a 3D platformer, but it's a very chill game that never really puts you in danger (or has like, any failure states). It's also got a super adorable art style, and super charming writing and characters. I'd recommend checking it out!
I'm most cozy when I sell an item at 200% in Recettear
I am frankly astonished that this video was ad-libbed, it was easily on par with your more researched videos in terms of presentation and entertainment (maybe not scope, but that's not a bad thing as you showed here 😊).
Would love to see more of this "cozy Moonie" content, on this or entirely different topics.
Btw the missile bit was great. Keep up the good work 👍
6:27 Maaaan I do NOT AGREE AT ALL about calling it "Stardew Valley-like" instead of "Harvest Moon-like", but I imagine where you're coming from and I'd be hard to argue against it.
I was waiting for Factorio to be mentioned on a list, but I didn't expect it to be described as not cozy(
Guess the cozyness is in the vibes of the beholder.
Love me to chill in the factorio, nothing more cozy than plotting another assembly line, opens up my latent coder and architect chakras
I just wish Sun Haven and Coral Island were actually finished on release
I've been in a cozy game mood recently so this video feels very timely for me! Would definitely vote ye for an annual cozy game video.
So happy to hear mention of Garden Paws! It’s pretty simple, but the change from dumping all your items onto a shopkeeper to having your own shop to stock with everything you want to sell is really nice. Cattails and Cattails Wildwood Story are other great games to try and Ranch of Rivershine once it’s had more time in development
People often forget that a cozy game can be anything- not just a derivative of Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley or a game that is adjacent to them.
It can be games like Zelda, Pokémon, Runescape, Minecraft, Civilization, Persona, or The Sims. It can be games that others might find absolutely NOT cozy in any way- like DOOM or The Binding of Isaac. For any of the above games, I have met at least one person who would say that it brings them that cozy feeling of peace and contentment.
All that matters in the end is how the game makes you feel.
I was never into any of these cozy games ever since they were announced but I'm thinking about getting them for myself to try them out.
The fact you are capable of putting both Potionomics and Subnautica under the cozy section of gaming explains a lot for some reason. They are amazing games, but they stress the hell out of me lol.
If you are taking suggestions, I highly recommend giving Outer Wilds a try. It might not be like any of the games on this list, but I think you might have some fun with it :)
Outer Wilds has some extremely cozy moments. But also [you know what] is an anxiety factory. And all sorts of other not-so-cozy things but I don't want to describe too much of the game because it's best enjoyed with minimal knowledge.
@@SnakebitSTI yeah Outer Wilds is brilliant, but imo it has too many heavy moments and requires too much brainspace to count as a cosy game for me. When I reach for a cosy game, I'm probably not in the mood for existential angst
@@SnakebitSTI Yeah, fair enough. I mostly recommended Outer Wilds because of the Subnautica as a cozy game mention tbh. I will still stand by my opinion that Outer Wilds is cozy, with the exception of [REDACTED] of course.
@@thebluest_blue1145 All cozy games should be capable of making you ponder the intrinsic meaning of your mortality and the fickleness of human life. Like stardew valley.
@@BushWizard [REDACTED] is the obvious one everyone thinks of, but [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] also come to mind as especially uncozy, for obvious reasons. I mean, finding all those [REDACTED] around [REDACTED]? And also [REDACTED], though that one is very much a matter of personal taste. And of course some people find [REDACTED] very stressful, because of the way you can get [REDACTED] in a [REDACTED] if you time things wrong.
Subnautica meanwhile just has hostile megafauna. And hostile regular fauna. And the crushing depths of the ocean between you and the oxygen you so desperately need. But no existential dread.
Please play the original Harvest Moon so you can know the pain of throwing your carefully curated gift on the ground and watch it disappear. Become like me
This was so endearing.
Re: the fiddliness of the Animal Crossing formula, New Leaf pushed the grind too far for my tastes. For example, in early AC games you got a golden shovel by burying a shovel in a glowing spot, then growing a _shovel tree._ This is such surreal, 'my dad works at Nintendo, trust me bro, there's a Mew in the trash can' Easter egg logic, and I loved that. By New Leaf though, it became an Achievement reward for performing certain tasks dozens of times.
New Leaf also had _so many items to collect,_ and an interconnected storage system. This was a double-edged sword, because it meant you could never get _more_ storage when your home and storage was inevitably maxed out by Nintendo memorabilia. I was surprised how suffocating I found the experience.
30:29 BRAZIL MENTIONED (in the music choice/na escolha musical) Ty Moony.
Hey, thank you for the clear and descriptive overview of the big pillars of the genre - I've seen them talked about, but never explained very well.
Oooh, Moonlighter! I'm happy to see it referenced, even if not included. I found the game organically while browsing steam, and bought it on super-sale at like 80% off. I kinda wish I had paid closer to full price for the dev team made a LOVELY experience! It doesn't have any friendship or social events, the gameplay loop is all combat and selling, and doesn't do a great job tutorializing its many sub-systems, but the art is PURE cozy vibe! I did get tired of it by the end of the first NG cycle, and the achievement-hunting put me off because it included NG+ content, as well as no-damage beating all bosses, which would definitely require save-scumming. I feel like the game would have benefitted from having actual friendships with the townsfolk to beef up the worldbuildling. And no NG-plus cycles, which put more focus on perfect-execution combat, which is more souls-like than cozy, imo.
In that vein, I just GOTTA recommend the stellar Cozy Rouge-like "Dreamscaper." It's a kickstarter-funded 3-person-team project, been out of beta for a year now, and it does SUCH a good job at the emotional depth and friendships in town. If you can get past the odd art style choice of no one having facial features, it is SUPER cozy and satisfying but it does go deep into themes of grief and depression. So if Spiritfarer was too much, Dreamscaper probably would be too.
just boy stuff 💅
but seriously it's cool that you and your sister just vibe with something together, whether it's her liking "boy stuff" or you liking "girl stuff".
Almost skipped the ad read.. but then I realized we need to watch the ads on this channel because it helps charity’s. 😅 my good deed for the day.
My ranking:
1. Spiritfarer (10/10 and in top 5 fav games ever (out of 635 I've played))
2. Disney Dreamlight Valley (9)
3. Dave the Diver (9)
4. Coral Island (7)
5. Sun Haven (5)
Really want to play Stardew and Potionomics
What I like the most about Dreamlight Valley is that it's in 3D and camera movement is free and not top-down like in Coral Island so dressing up your character and decorating your valley is really fun. Need more stuff like that
If anybody who's played Stardew Valley feels like theres a specific issue they don't like or thinks that it needs a bit more, the modding scene is insane, although obviously its for PC players only, and apparently is going to be overhauled or worked on for the better within the upcoming 1.6 update which also apparently is adding more stuff including a new farm type and a new festival. But here's some mods (from description not name because i don't know mod names off the top of my head) that i use and would recommend:
(Slight spoilers ahead!!!!! This is assuming you've at least completed the community Center/Joja Membership)
The Modular expansion, I mainly like the changes to skills and the ability to restart a skill so you can gain every perk from every perk tree (so all 6), but theres a lot more it can add/modify.
Theres a mod that allows you to see the fish in the water you can fish up.
Theres an EXP Bar mod for your skills, something i actually wish base Stardew had the option to have in its basis.
Theres a mod that adds an elevator to the Skull Caverns
Theres a mod that adds Fish Nets, a counterpart to Crab Pots that grabs fish instead of Crab Pot drops.
This is nowhere near all of them, but is a good chunk of the ones i use and will use until i decide to update and essentially start over yet again when 1.6 comes out. My only issue with Stardew Valley is that because of how long it is, by the time i finish the community center or even just reach year 2, im almost finsihed with that playthrough. Ive currently played multiple playthroughs that have ended near the end of year 1 all the way to the first few days of year 3, and currently dont think i can commit to a save for long enough to ever experience Ginger Island. But someday I'll do it, probably will wait until 1.6 drops
Spiritfarer was a beautifully unpleasant experience for me and a game I wouldn't hesitate a moment to insist everyone play. It was beautiful, moving, and felt profound in all the right ways.
me seeing sun haven in A-tier knowing that we're getting a fourth major city in an upcoming update. like, the game deserves it, and it has active mechanics that let you afk or "abandon" your farms as you please with little consequence, but i don't think pixel sprout is going to scale it back any time soon, mostly because i think they love the game too much and keep wanting to add more and better ideas
I love that you keep using the intro to Twisted.