The Case For Cozy Games On A Busy Phone

Between the strategy and defense games we usually cover, there's room for the opposite: games with no fail state and no pressure. I used to dismiss them. I don't anymore.

After a long day I don't always want to optimize a kill zone. Tiny Harbor Town, which we reviewed in the catalog, became my default decompression game precisely because it asks nothing of me. I grow a village, watch boats arrive, and nothing punishes me for logging off.

The trick with cozy games is managing expectations. If you go in wanting challenge, you'll call them shallow. If you go in wanting calm, they deliver something the tense games can't.

My advice: keep one on your phone alongside your main game. Having a low-stakes option prevents burnout on the stuff that actually tests you. The two genres make each other better.