We asked our community what their favorite cozy games for the Switch and what we got are 25 great recommendations.
1. No Man’s Sky
The boundless universe of No Man’s Sky is a perfect setup for laid-back exploration. There are so many things to see and do. You can ride your starship and explore the stars, or find an Earth-like planet as your sanctuary. You can even invite your friends to join you!
2. Spiritfarer
Our final moments should be something special. That's what Spiritfarer teaches us. We get to play a version of the "grim reaper" that helps lost souls achieve closure, as they're ferried off to the other side. Even with the heavy topic, there's a real tenderness to how they handle it. Talking with the souls and learning about their lives might just leave you a little teary-eyed.
3. Mini Motorways
How would you fix a transportation problem? Finding solutions for Mini Motorways’ traffic problems feels like ASMR. Watch how cars zoom in and out of their stations and find optimal routes for them. The colors and minimalist presentation make the challenge more rewarding.
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
An unconventional island getaway. Sure, you’ll have to manage the town’s landscape, AND pay your residential debts. But you also get to fill it with your favorite animal neighbors, and do all sorts of island activities. Like diving, going bug hunting, or collecting shells. And even when you go away for months, it never fails to give us a warm welcome.
5. Minecraft Switch Edition
Minecraft’s cubic paradise is home to many experiences that are fun to play alone or with friends. You’d be zoning for an hour or two crafting that dream house, or exploring its endless world. It’s a limitless playground where you can build anything you want.
6. Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition
Slime Rancher is made even better with the Switch’s portability. Now, you can tend to your cute blobs on-the-go. It’s really more like a space colony than a farm. You catch slimes on your home away from Earth and take care of their many, peculiar needs. They’re no Kirbys, but they’re not bad!
7. New Pokemon Snap
New Pokemon Snap is a completely different Pokemon experience. There’s no grinding to be world champion. All you have to do is take the cutest shots of all the Pokemon you can find. It’s like a nature documentary, but with Pikachus and Bidoofs.
8. Gris
Gris has all the makings of a soothing adventure. The watercolor artstyle. The relaxing soundtrack. But that’s not all it has going for it. Taken from the french for “gray,” Gris starts out in a world of black and white, and it’s your quest to bring color back into the world. For all it’s comforts, its undercurrents of melancholy become a welcome surprise.
9. Coffee Talk
There’s nothing more cozy than talks over coffee. This is what this game is all about. You become a barista for a coffee shop and you listen to your patrons pour their hearts out. After you brew their cups of coffee, it’s easy to just sit back and see how each of their lives unfold.
10. Unpacking
The simplicity is what makes this next game great. You have one job: to unpack. But it’s not just clothes. As you rummage through boxes and find places for every knickknack, you’ll notice the changes in the characters life. What they keep and what they hide tells its own unique story.
11. Melatonin
If you had a list of what makes a game cozy, Melatonin would check all the boxes. It’s a rhythm game taking place in dreams. It’s not as stressful as other rhythm games, though. Instead, the chill visuals and the rhythmic repetitions could actually lull you to sleep. It’s especially likely if you’re playing on the Switch.
12. Abzu
Abzu’s underwater world is a paradise worth diving into. There are no horrors here. Only the endless beauty of an alien abyss. Everything under this big blue ocean is a friendly place to swim around. You can befriend fishes and appreciate marine life like never before.
13. Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley’s quaint rural setting is a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of real life. Make friends, grow crops, or find the love of your life in this relaxing farm sim. If you’re ready to commit your time in this place, it will essentially turn into your second home.
14. Ooblets
In Ooblets, there’s no need for violence. You can make new friends just by beating them in dance battles. A weird but honestly refreshing experience…if you’re a fan of monster collecting. On top of that, it’s also a life sim where you can garden and make homes for your cuddly creatures.
15. My Time At Portia
If you enjoy the coziness of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, My Time At Portia lets you have your life-sims…in 3D. Plus, there’s so much to lay your eyes on and play with. Build your own farmstead, race horses, and cook your favorite meals. You have all the time in the world in Portia.
16. A Little To The Left
A Little to the Left takes OC-ness to a different level. It’s an organizing game where you simply stack, organize and adjust items in a single frame. It’s like Unpacking, but you have to place them in areas that don’t ruin your own version of perfection.
17. Untitled Goose Game
There’s not a lot to expect in a videogame where you play as a goose. Mostly, you mess around with unsuspecting neighbors and ruin their days with your endless honks. There’s order to this game’s chaos though. Your to-do list of mischievous deeds are little puzzles that will get you from chapter to chapter. Who knew being bad could be sooo fun.
18. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Open-worlds can be too intimidating to be relaxing. Not so much in Arceus, where you can spend as much of your time strolling around the region. It’s especially great for Pokemon fans. Not only can you take in the scenery filled with Pokemon, there’s also the satisfaction of filling up your Pokédex!
19. A Short Hike
A Short Hike’s serene atmosphere is a great escape from the stress of daily life. Within this small island, there are many NPCs with their own story to tell. Listen to their ramblings about life as you explore this unbothered wilderness. It’s not a long game so you can finish this in one sitting if you wanted to.
20. Florence
Florence is a love story and what better way to get cozy than a game about tugging our heartstrings? There’s no need to press many buttons. All you have to do is follow the story and interact with the objects shown on screen. Don’t worry, the puzzle sections are simple enough to get you lost into its emotional tale.
21. Gorogoa
Like Florence, Gorogoa isn’t a game where you need to press many buttons. It’s a simple point and click puzzler set in a bizarre world. There’s a lot of emotional layers hidden within each of its stories and you’d be scratching your head at its mind-boggling puzzles.
22. The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Let’s face it, Zelda is comfy. Breath of the Wild gave us a taste of open-world Zelda and now with Tears of the Kingdom, we have the power to build. Crafting machinery and gizmos eases the exploration. And Soaring from the sky and exploring Hyrule has never been this fun.
23. Don’t Starve
What’s weird about Don’t Starve is that it’s never meant to be a cozy game. But once you understand how the game works, it’ll all make sense. Like building safe havens, machines, and resources. It’s like you’re making your little sanctuary in this hellish nightmare.
24. Persona 5 Royal
The Persona series is a fantastic example of a cozy JRPG. There’s a nice balance between dating sim, visual novel and turn-based combat. All of them don’t require much effort and you just sit down on your couch and see where its lengthy story goes. Not only that, its acid jazz soundtrack is soothing to the ears.
25. Firewatch
We end this list with Firewatch. It isn't the kind of game where we fight big bosses, do objectives or whatever. It’s just about a man and a woman using walking-talkies and looking for company in a lonely forest. It’s definitely cozy, but you need to be in the right headspace to appreciate its writing and performances!