Cozy Games May Help Improve Players' Mental Health, Researchers Say

[filthyhands@sh.itjust.works]

I, too, blame animal crossing.

[ionaddis@lemmy.world]

As a writer, this is why I'll never condemn cozy books with happy endings. This type of media, whether it's games or books or music, helps real people get through crappy times intact, even if elitists sneer that overly happy stuff isn't this or that. Usually people who are going through the worst times irl are the ones who need avenues of escape most. If you're already living through crap, you don't need media to remind you of the crap, you already know good and well that crappy things exist.

[bossdj@lemm.ee]

The animal crossing thumbnail alone gave me a little boost. But I'm sure I'll just scroll on to yet another article about *****

[prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

Anyone who's looking for a great new(ish) cozy game, check out Natsu-Mon.

It would probably help to watch the Action Button review of Boku no Natsuyasumi for some context (yes, I know it is 6 hours long lol... but it's a really good video).

[daddy32@lemmy.world]

As a reader, that's definitely why I do condemn overly negative books and other media. Even after reading all horror books available in the library as a teenager. Life's complicated enough by itself.

[buboscandiacus@mander.xyz]

Are there any cosy games (that are not stardew or animal crossing) with an actual good artstyle ?

[tokeneffort@sh.itjust.works]

Rune Factory 4 looked really good on 3DS. The port on pc and switch looks... pretty bad honestly but it's still the same great game.

[dark_arc@social.packetloss.gg]

Arguably Brighter Shores is a cozy game and it's got an appealing art style to my eyes

[zahille7@lemmy.world]

I like Paleo Pines myself. It's like Stardew and Animal Crossing had a baby about dinosaurs. It's absolutely adorable.

Chao Resort Island. A fan game that's basically a 2D/3D Chao Garden from SA2. It uses some sprites from the old Sonic Advance games, but it's just a fun little virtual caregiver thing.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: Chao Garden. The "true" Chao Garden experience according to fans online. I have the steam version so I have the popular Extended Chao World mods to make it better/easier to raise Chao.

A lot of survival crafting games (base building and decorating and such) can be cozy too, if you want them to be.

[zahille7@lemmy.world]

Thank Goodness You're Here was the last cozy game I played and I can't recommend it enough to literally everyone.

[codilingus@sh.itjust.works]

Gods I need to replay it and go around slapping the English, again.

[adalast@lemmy.world]

That first paragraph put me off from the article because it positioned the research on gaming violence as if there were a positive correlation instead of reporting that it is actually negatively correlated. It also did not mention the positive research that came from the studies on game playing and eye hand coordination and the many other benefits video games have been proven to have. The author made it sound like this was the first positive thing about video games.

[elevator7009salt@ani.social]

As a reader, I say "not for me" and leave overly negative things there for others to enjoy. The way I feel better is not reexposing myself to a reflection of all the ills in this world that I'm constantly being shown can be awful. But some people find catharsis in it! One man's trash is another man's treasure, after all. I am sure some people would dismiss some things I like as too saccharine and not realistic aka gritty enough.

[douchebagmcswag@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

Matt fucking Berry makes it

[kandoh@reddthat.com]

Unpacked is pretty great.

[mayonnaise@lemm.ee]

A Short Hike - Super cute and chill.

[buboscandiacus@mander.xyz]

Already played it and absolutely loved it

Everything was peefect

[gaael@lemmy.world]

G.R.I.S is short and not replayable but it's beatiful and deep from start to end. Cried a few times during the playthrough and felt relieved afterwards

[zahille7@lemmy.world]

So does the soundtrack imo. Idk why, but a lot of the songs are incredibly moving to me. Especially the track March, which plays a couple times in the game but most notably during the scene when you float up in the sky with a bubble.

[venator@lemmy.nz]

Can someone explain what is a "cozy" game?