There are several main entry points to the cozy games space: Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing being the biggest and Disney Dreamlight Valley being one of the newest. (And if you do specifically want more farm life sims, check out our list of games like Stardew Valley.)

If you need a new row to hoe after exhausting those mainstays, oodles of cozy games abound on PC. “Cozy games” is a non-genre distinction that winds up meaning different things to lots of people, but I think we can agree on an appreciation for soft visuals and gameplay that isn’t too demanding or fast-paced.

Some of the best cozy games keep to the farming and friendship themes of the big two, but others are short adventures, laid back RPGs, and even the occasional cozy horror game. We’ve cherry-picked a fresh list of cute and chill games to play if the old favorites are no longer bearing fruit for you. These are the best cozy games on PC that you should try after you’ve exhausted all your usual village getaways.

Jusant

Release Date: 2023 | Developer: Don’t Nod |Steam

Jusant is all about climbing to the top of a world that was once underwater with your tiny magical companion. It’s hyper-focused on the rock-climbing system that Don’t Nod developed but it’s not nearly as intense as that makes it sound. This is akin to a puzzle platformer where you’re always trying to figure out how to access the next area by combining the maneuvers you’ve been taught: belay climbing, swinging, using magical plants or wind to your advantage, and more. This is one that just feels so physical as you grip the left and right triggers on your controller (which Don’t Nod recommends, as do I) to move your left and right hands steadily up to each new handhold.

Chants of Sennaar

Release Date: 2023 | Developer: Rundisc | Steam

Chants of Sennaar is an adventure game about learning languages and it was my personal favorite game of 2024. Each area of the tower you’re ascending is occupied by a different group of people with their own language. By talking to people around you, examining murals and shop signs, and all the other clues hidden in the environment, you begin to piece together the meanings of each word. Taking notes in your sketchbook is a great record of how your thought process changes as you puzzle each language out while you uncover the truth about the tower and how all these people stopped communicating.

Journey

Release Date: 2012 (2020 on PC) | Developer: Thatgamecompany |Steam

Journey is an old classic that predates the cozy game trend but it holds up incredibly well after getting ported to PC. It’s a wordless adventure from a desert up to the top of a mountain accompanied by an incredible soundtrack that was the first from a videogame to ever be nominated for a Grammy Award. Journey will make you experience the full spectrum of emotions with a silent protagonist as you sand surf through ruins, fly with magic carpet whales, and eventually brave the snowy peaks.

Toem

Release Date: 2021 | Developer: Something We Made | Steam

For a game all in black and white, Toem has so much personality. This is an adventure game where you solve puzzles and riddles by using your camera to photograph things around you. The stamp book challenges are really nice classic adventure game stuff that force you to pay attention to all the world’s surroundings. It’s also a pretty short game which you can complete in three or four hours.

Book of Travels

Release date: 2021 (early access) | Developer: Might and Delight | Steam

This super beautiful RPG is actually the tiny version of an MMO with servers of just seven players. You’ll create a character sheet and begin exploring the Braided Shore where magic is done by brewing teas and tying knots. Spend your time fishing and trading, buying spells that create fireworks or turn you into a deer, and engage in a spot of semi turn-based combat if you’re feeling brave. It’s an exceptionally chill online game where you communicate with others by emotes only, a truly lovely world with an equally cozy soundtrack. Still in early access, Book of Travels is planning more areas of the map to continue its very subtle story.

Melatonin

Release date: 2022 | Developer: Half Asleep | Steam

Rhythm games don’t really have a reputation for being chill, but Melatonin is definitely low key and cozy. With its muted colors and lo-fi beats, Melatonin is nearly as relaxing as its name implies. Instead of throwing bars of beats at you, you’ll play along via visual cues that help you complete the beat in each of its levels.

A Short Hike

Release date: 2019 | Developer: adamgryu | Steam

For those that want a cozy game that won’t consume 100+ hours, this super cute adventure can be completed in around four hours. Explore an island mountain park while helping out the folks around you and uncovering small secrets on your journey to the peak. The park is lovely enough from the ground, but your main character can fly down too, so don’t forget to hunt for hidden areas and unseen new friends.

Dorfromantik

Release date: 2022 | Developer: Toukana Interactive | Steam

Strategy games don’t normally strike me as cozy, but Dorfomantik really lets you take the pressure off. I lost an entire weekend to this hex-based tile game the first time I tried it. In its standard mode, you’ll use a deck of hex tiles to match up stretches of fields, cities, waterways, and railroads to complete quests and grow your deck until you run out of tiles. For even less stress, creative mode lets you just build a lovely stretch of tiles any way you like from a neverending deck.

Beacon Pines

Release date: 2022 | Developer: Hiding Spot | Steam

Another cozy game that will only ask several hours of you, Beacon Pines is an adventure inside a story book with a super chill narrator. You’ll earn new words as you explore the town, allowing you to unlock new branches on the story tree in a Mad Libs-like puzzle. This is one I’d consider cozy horror: a mystery about an old factory town where folks are going missing. There aren’t jump scares though, just a creeping sense of dread as young pals Luka and Rolo dig themselves deeper and deeper into the town’s history.

Unpacking

Release date: 2021 | Developer: Witch Beam | Steam

Moving house is stressful, but Unpacking is a very chill, light puzzling experience. You’ll start small, organizing toys in a bright kids’ bedroom, later unpacking multiple rooms worth of possessions as the implied main character grows up and the things they’ve kept over the years accumulate or change. That pink stuffed pig deserves your loyalty, to make sure to put it someplace prominent.