{"id":81839,"date":"2025-09-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=81839"},"modified":"2025-09-23T08:22:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:22:17","slug":"cozy-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/cozy-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Cozy games: A slower pace, and a place to belong\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This essay was originally published on The Sidebar, Mozilla\u2019s Substack<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a moment Wiandi Vreeswijk knows well. After tending virtual crops in \u201cStardew Valley\u201d and chatting with other players on Discord, he types: \u201cI can\u2019t anymore. I have to go lay in bed.\u201d It\u2019s the fatigue from long COVID setting in \u2014 and almost always, the replies roll in: \u201cOh yeah, me too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cozy games like \u201cStardew Valley,\u201d where players complete simple-yet-satisfying tasks like running a farm, have become a safe space for Wiandi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A video game developer in the Netherlands, Wiandi led an active lifestyle until he got COVID-19 in 2023. He\u2019s had long COVID since then, which makes it difficult for him to go out with friends and family, or to play some of the more intense video games he once enjoyed. That shift led him to explore a different kind of play, one that emphasizes comfort and connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For players like Wiandi who are seeking a slower-paced environment, cozy games offer an easy and welcoming entry point. The genre has seen a 57% increase<\/a> in online mentions in just one year, as more people seek out calm and connection online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A space to gather<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wiandi recently started a community<\/a> on the gaming platform Steam where players with chronic conditions can congregate. Since then, he\u2019s set up a public \u201cStardew Valley\u201d server where people can drop into a shared game, \u201cfarm\u201d and chat as they please. The group currently has 56 members, while a corresponding Discord chat has hundreds of participants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s been bigger than I expected,\u201d says Wiandi, who initially started with a Dutch community before expanding internationally. \u201cI noticed that a lot of people wanted to join.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Wiandi, the best part of building this online community is connecting with others who can relate to what he\u2019s going through. The virtual world allows him to meet people he otherwise wouldn\u2019t have. He can simply fire off a message on Discord.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Bonding over shared comfort<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laura Dale<\/a>, an accessibility consultant for video games and the author of \u201cUncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman,\u201d often plays cozy games to connect with her neurodivergent friends. She says they\u2019ll regularly chat online while building towns in \u201cAnimal Crossing\u201d on their respective Nintendo Switches, a group activity that began during COVID lockdowns but is still going strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who sometimes finds social chatter challenging, especially when there\u2019s no obvious topic to discuss (like a video game), playing cozy games gave Laura a relaxing way to maintain and build her relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found a lot of solace in playing \u2018Animal Crossing\u2019 with friends online,\u201d Laura says. \u201cHaving this shared activity gave us a safe topic of conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each person doesn\u2019t even need to be playing the same game, as long as they share the same cozy vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re all doing different cozy game activities, but we’re doing them together,\u201d Laura adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appeal of low-pressure play<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From \u201cTetris\u201d to \u201cElden Ring,\u201d there\u2019s a video game out there for everyone. So what is it about cozy games that attracts players like Laura and Wiandi?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Wiandi, the answer is obvious: Cozy games have a low barrier to entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven my mom could learn it in like a day,\u201d he says of \u201cStardew Valley.\u201d \u201cThat’s the charm of a cozy game. When you start, even if you have no experience, you don’t feel overwhelmed by any of the mechanics or the visuals. Everything has to be super easy and minimal \u2014 the user experience, the music, the sound effects, even the gameplay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the defining characteristics of cozy games, like their leisurely pace, mean they\u2019re more accessible to a wider range of gamers. There\u2019s less pressure to press buttons quickly or get the timing of an attack perfectly right. Titles like \u201cStardew Valley\u201d and \u201cAnimal Crossing\u201d also offer a fixed top-down camera angle, which makes them a better option for some gamers who experience motion sickness, compared to the disorienting camera movement of a first-person shooter. In general, cozy games are also less likely to feature the kind of visual overstimulation that\u2019s common in other genres and can be an issue for players with epilepsy or autism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some players with conditions that affect memory or focus, like ADHD, these games are also designed to quickly remind you what task you were in the middle of during your last session. In \u201cAnimal Crossing,\u201d for example, there\u2019s almost always a non-player character nearby ready to explain (or re-explain) what you need to do next if you need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of these things lend themselves to a wide range of neurodiverse players being able to more safely assume that a cozy game is going to be accessible in a way that you can’t assume as easily with other genres,\u201d Laura says.
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility beyond cozy labels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy games aren\u2019t a perfect fit for every type of disability \u2014 there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all solution for such a wide and disparate community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Grant Stoner, a games journalist who primarily covers physical accessibility in the industry, cozy games aren\u2019t necessarily more or less accessible than any other genre. Stoner was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy type II at 13 months old, and his muscles have weakened over time as a result; he relies on customizable settings and hardware to play most games. There are still some limitations to the types of games he can play, however, including some titles that fall under the cozy genre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDepending on what your disability is, cozy games can be either very overwhelming or very secure safe spaces,\u201d Grant says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds that one of the benefits of a cozy game is the \u201croutines that keep people grounded.\u201d He played an earlier version of \u201cAnimal Crossing\u201d for the Nintendo DS handheld, but found that some of the tasks in the latest iteration, for the Nintendo Switch, were too exhausting<\/a> for him. And anyway, it\u2019s not his video game genre of choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t really like cozy games,\u201d Stoner says. \u201cNot that I think there’s anything wrong with them, it’s just not my genre.\u201d He prefers \u201cintense action games\u201d but still sees the value of titles like \u201cStardew Valley.\u201d <\/em>\u201cThey have a purpose in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making room for more players<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laura praises the cozy game genre for the many ways it caters to neurodivergent players, but she also recognizes that there\u2019s plenty of room for improvement. One easy fix is in the way these games direct your attention. For plenty of video games, audio cues are a crucial way to convey information, but Laura often plays with the sound off to avoid overstimulation. She\u2019s noticed that some titles are starting to use other methods to achieve the same result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI appreciate when cozy games offer visual flashes on screen to communicate information you otherwise need to hear,\u201d Laura says. \u201cLittle details like that aren’t always designed for autistic players, but can still be useful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Grant, the most important thing is that the video game industry doesn\u2019t try to shoehorn certain players into a specific type of game or focus its accessibility efforts on just one genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe disabled experience is so individualistic and so vast,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s not fair to the disabled community to say definitively that one [genre] is more accessible than the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a video game developer himself, Wiandi has plenty of opinions on how to make cozy games better. But for now, he\u2019s just happy to have this new community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small \u201cStardew Valley\u201d server Wiandi built continues to show how simple interactions in calm digital spaces can create genuine bonds. Players come and go as they please, planting virtual seeds, raising pixelated animals and sharing small triumphs in a chat filled with mutual understanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Wiandi, the ability to play a game like \u201cStardew Valley\u201d with other people who are experiencing something similar to him has been empowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt makes me feel good,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This essay was originally published on The Sidebar, Mozilla\u2019s Substack. There\u2019s a moment Wiandi Vreeswijk knows well. After tending virtual crops in \u201cStardew Valley\u201d and chatting with other players on Discord, he types: \u201cI can\u2019t anymore. I have to go lay in bed.\u201d It\u2019s the fatigue from long COVID setting in \u2014 and almost always, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1889,"featured_media":81667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461998,464326],"tags":[4708],"coauthors":[464355],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCozy games: A slower pace, and a place to belong\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Small digital rituals in cozy games can feel grounding for players with chronic conditions and disabilities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/cozy-games\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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