Cozy gameshave a knack for gameplay variety—it goes as hand in hand with them as pastel colors and lo-fi music do, and plenty of them vary things up with a bunch of cool mini-games to cure boredom.
Whether they’re fun little time-wasters or integrated, important parts of the gameplay loop, these games just love throwing in something completely different from the norm just as a side thing.
8 AAA Games That Need A Cozy Spinoff
Cozy games are rarely celebrated outside the indie sphere, so here’s some Triple-A’s that could be doing it better.
I think all of these games can be incredibly cozy and comforting, and offer little things on the side purely to have fun with. Whether that gives you something to help with progression doesn’t matter.
From arcade games to constant mini-games meshed with the main game, all of these are significantly different from the norm and are really fun, Plus, they all contribute to the comforting atmosphere of these games.
8Magical Delicacy
You’re Cooked
Magical Delicacy
While I’mnot the biggest fan of Magical Delicacyas a whole, I do need to give it props and say the best part about the game is that almost every action you can do has a mini-game behind it.
Cooking and chopping and boiling can all become monotonous if they’re the same every time, but this game adds little timing challenges and button prompts to keep ingredient preparation enjoyable.
On top of that, I genuinely enjoy the process more than the platforming and exploration in the game, and given preparing your ingredients and making meals is a core aspect of Magical Delicacy, I was left pretty satisfied.
If you’re interested in a Metroidvania platformer with cooking mini-games, don’t let me stop you just because I’m incredibly critical of those aspects. This is absolutely a game you’re able to enjoy because of the mini-games, even despite its flaws.
7MySims Kingdom
Built To Scale
MySims Kingdom
Maybe I’m just biased from growing up with the series, but even nowadays I can enjoy the MySims series for being pretty laid-back and quirky little adventure sandbox games, especially MySims Kingdom.
Despite the shreds of respect this series gets, it’s a great time, letting you solve problems for people by making structures through a really fun building game that is reminiscent of Minecraft creative mode.
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Cozy games where side quests steal the show.
The entire game is just cruising around a kingdom, visiting a bunch of islands that are all depicted in unique styles, and helping people out mainly through some enjoyable mini-games and fun puzzles.
Is it just a weirdSimsspinoff made for kids? Sure. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it and appreciate the ways the game manages to keep my attention and leave me fond of this curated, enjoyable experience.
6The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Kinda Cozy, At Least
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I was hesitant to includeBreath of the Wilddespite the fact I thought of it immediately, but inherently a ton of people consider it a cozy game, and it’s got a boatload of awesome mini-games. So, here we are.
For one, the paragliding mini-game is a great challenge that I’ve logged far too many attempts in just trying to go the slightest bit further than last time, and the shield surfing mini-game on a mountain is even better.
The entire game is just messing around and doing whatever you can see ahead of you, so it should be no surprise that you can have quite a cozy, lovely time while getting sidetracked by every fun thing around.
Plenty of the shrines have little mini-games, and the dedicated replayable mini-games in the overworld are somethingI come back to this gamefor frequently, even more so thanTears of the Kingdom.
5Button City
Button City
For a cozy, adorable game that takes place entirely inside an arcade, it’s no big shocker that Button City has a bunch of fun mini-games that can be more engaging than some full games out there.
You get to hop on a weirdly in-depth and well-designed MOBA, an arcade racer that absolutely nails the feeling of driving and drifting, and a rhythm game that is just alright, to be honest.
This game feels just as attention-deficit as I am, going from emotional story moments to a full-on visual novel just for the hell of it, and I can’t help but respect and adore the chaos in such a cute game.
If you like arcades and want a way to be constantly distracted in a good way, this game has that in spades on top of having great characters, a lovely cel-shaded style, and a story that’s a little heart-wrenching.
4Stardew Valley
Endless Content
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valleyis a game focused on letting you do a couple dozen things whenever you want, and it’s got quite a selection of mini-games, both ones that are integrated into main quests and fun, optional side things.
For one, you’ve got stuff like playing Simon Says with a funky stone statue, gaming with Abigail, and the various games strewn about the fair that all pale in comparison to gambling, but there’s even more.
Namely, forthe hardest achievement in the game, you need to play the arcade game Journey of the Prairie King, a shoot-em-up with way too much content that is far too hard to complete without dying.
Then there’s its far less torturous counterpart, Junimo Kart, which is a lovely little auto-runner that can get pretty tough, but feels incredibly satisfying to complete once you lock in enough.
3A Short Hike
Constant Distraction
A Short Hike
I absolutely adore A Short Hike. It’s a game you can beat in a couple of minutes, but you’re heavily encouraged to get distracted off the main path as much as possible with a dozen mini-games.
You can run off to go play volleyball, drive a boat around and gun for checkpoints, collect seashells by the sea shores, compete in races with an overenthusiastic creature, and that’s just scratching the surface.
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Cozy games are great, but cozy games with endless things to collect? Even better. From feathers to fish, these are the ultimate collection-heavy games
This game is essentially just a hundred side quests packed into a 5-minute-long main story, and that leads to one of the biggest varieties of mini-games I’ve ever seen, even if most are pretty simple.
I just adore getting distracted, heading to collect golden feathers before popping by the dock to fish for a while, driving the boat around for no reason, and forgetting entirely about my main objective.
2Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Chock Full
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
WhileNew Horizonswas pretty disappointing on the mini-game side of things,Animal Crossing: New Leafhas such a huge variety of stuff to do that it’s a bit overwhelming to try and get it all done.
Just on the main island, you can take part in a little escape room, play Panel De Pon, and the process of trying to decorate your home just so your stupid HOA actually likes you is kind of a mini-game in itself.
But then, you gain travel to Tortimer’s Island, where you and your buddies can play 12 different Tours, such as Hide And Seek, a fishing competition, an item matching game, and way more.
On top of the huge variety of stuff to do, every tour has some difficulty options depending on your previous performance. Sometimes they have 14 different difficulties, and that’s just a bit much.
1Melatonin
Sleep To The Beat
Of course, a game that is entirely mini-games and has incredible vibes is sure to climb the ranks of this list, and Melatonin absolutely nails this, a sleepy butsatisfying Rhythm Heaven-like game.
Each game has you tapping buttons and doing actions on the beat, and each of them all offers quite a bit of visual variety, from dreaming of shopping to dreaming of eating massive slices of pizza.
This is such a great rhythm game and a great time, even if you’re awful at it, as no matter what, the vibes remain immaculate, and I can’t help but keep replaying the remix levels whenever I boot it up.
Sure, I may constantly go off-beat, but at least I’m listening to incredibly chill and catchy tunes while watching a dude shoot at a hologram for several minutes, and that’s all that really matters.
