12 cozy adventure games to relax with this winter and throughout 2024

It's been a really stressful day. It's cold, I'm tired, and all I want to do is grab my laptop, some guilty pleasure food and climb into bed with a calm, cozy video game. Adventure games can be perfect to relax with on just such an occasion. For the most part, a nice point-and-click adventure isn't timed. There is neither hustle, nor bustle. They’re easy to get into, the characters are generally pleasant (if a little sticky-fingered), and their settings can transport us to worlds far away from the stresses of our own. The puzzles can be a challenge, but there’s freedom to explore, take our time and tackle them at our leisure.

There are many to choose from, but not EVERY adventure game is ideally suited to creating that soothing, comfortable mood. So where to begin? Here are 12 of the coziest of cozy adventure games I'm considering warming up to, either again or for the first time during these chilly December days and throughout the coming year.

#12 – The Night of the Rabbit

The Night of the Rabbit is fondly remembered as a cozy game due to several factors. Firstly, Daedalic Entertainment chose an art style to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. The beautiful hand-drawn graphics, coupled with the use of vibrant colors, contribute to a visually appealing and comforting fantasy environment. The game's story is centered around a child protagonist named Jerry Hazelnut and the many adorable animals that he encounters in a magical world beyond that of our own. There are troubles to help the inhabitants overcome here, but the slower pace and emphasis on exploration in this leisurely point-and-click adventure contribute to the cozy atmosphere, making the gameplay a delightful experience throughout.

#11 – Night in the Woods

Infinite Fall's Night in the Woods earns its cozy reputation through a blend of charming aesthetics, a captivating narrative, and relatable characters. The hand-drawn art style, featuring warm and inviting colors, immediately draws you into the quaint small town of Possum Springs. The picturesque landscapes and comfortable, familiar locales create a visual ambiance that feels like the home you WISH you had. The game's soothing soundtrack perfectly captures the mood of each scene, enhancing the overall sense of comfort. It gameplay-lite tale focuses on meaningful relationships as you guide young Mae through her journey of self-discovery and reconnection with friends. The narrative is filled with heartfelt moments that deepen your emotional investment into Mae and the other surrounding characters. As you explore the town, uncovering secrets, and navigating the challenges of growing up, you will surely come to cherish this easygoing avenue of escape from the day to day demands of your own life.

#10 – Firewatch

As I discussed in an earlier video, Campo Santo's Firewatch came at a time when I needed a distraction. And indeed it added a welcome level of calmness and peace for the hours I spent in the tower playing a man named Henry, talking to my fellow forest ranger and the game's love interest Delilah, or taking a peaceful hike in the woods during my daily patrols. The coziness here lies in the game’s emphasis on character-driven narrative. With nothing much in the way of puzzles to worry about, the story is told largely through radio conversations between Henry and Delilah as they share personal stories and insights. This connection, played out in nature's beauty, makes Firewatch a comfortable dose of euphoria.

#9 – Drawn: The Painted Tower

Often considered among the best casual adventure games ever made, Big Fish Studio’s Drawn: The Painted Tower exudes coziness through its rich hand-drawn art style and captivating atmosphere. You are tasked with helping the imprisoned Iris escape the titular painted tower. Iris is no ordinary little girl, as she has a knack for making everything she draws come true. As you might imagine, you'll need to make thoughtful use of this ability to overcome each obstacle along the way. The visuals feature intricately detailed illustrations that bring the world to life, and the imaginative designs create a sense of wonder and charm. The cozy ambiance is further enhanced by the game's fairytale-like setting, immersing players in a magical realm where art is life. And if you’re feeling so cozy when you’re done that you don’t want it to end, there’s more where that came from as two sequels, Dark Flight and Trail of Shadows, are available as well.

#8 – Stacking

Double Fine’s Stacking achieves coziness through its unique combination of industrial-age aesthetic and character swapping between matryoshka nesting dolls. You play as Charlie Blackmore, the smallest doll in a world of nested characters, and it’s your job to rescue the doll family from the clutches of a greedy tycoon and reunite them. The dolls each have distinct personalities and costumes that contribute to the fun atmosphere by adding a touch of playfulness. The game world features several varied, distinctively stylized settings that offer an unfettered escape into a place far from the realities of home. The coziness of Stacking is accentuated by its puzzle-solving mechanics and the endearing nature of its challenges, in which you must inhabit the correct (and correctly sized) nesting doll to achieve your objectives, continually unlocking and possessing new characters in order to advance. And in a nice touch, a help feature offers a handy trail leading directly to your next goal in an otherwise open world free to explore. There’s no other game like it, and in Stacking the combination of gameplay, charming visuals, and a heartwarming narrative contributes to its relaxing and enjoyable experience.

#7 – Loom

The Lucasfilm Games classic Loom achieves its coziness through a blend of fantasy storytelling and soothing musical elements. The game is set in a magical world featuring a distinctive pixel art style that combines vibrant colors and fantastical landscapes. The quiet and mostly peaceful demeanor of the game’s protagonist, Bobbin Threadbare, and its other characters help instill a sense of calm. As the cloaked Bobbin it's up to you and only you to save your guild of Weavers and the world from "Chaos" and an army of undead, not with a weapon but by casting spells with your musical distaff. The use of soft, melodic music complements the narrative, creating a soothing atmosphere that enhances the overall sense of comfort and seamlessly integrates with the gameplay. It’s relatively easy and therefore not particularly a long game, but the combination of inventive puzzle solving, magical musical elements and engaging storyline makes Loom a cozy and memorable gaming experience for those seeking a unique blend of fantasy and tranquility.

#6 – Broken Age

The game that blew the lid off of Kickstarter, Broken Age oozes “cozy” thanks to its gorgeous hand-painted art style, heartwarming dual storylines and endearing youthful protagonists. Tim Schafer and Double Fine penned a whimsical adventure following the lives of two teenagers living in entirely separate worlds, seemingly unrelated. On one side is Shay (voiced by Frodo himself, Elijah Wood), who lives under the oppressive parental watch of two AIs and longs for a less controlled and more adventurous life outside of his spaceship. On the other is Vella, a young girl chosen by her village to be sacrificed to a monstrous creature. THAT doesn’t sound cozy, but helping her break free and end this barbaric tradition worldwide definitely is, a journey that takes her to a sheltered community in the clouds (presided over by guru Harm’ny Lightbeard, voiced by an unusually chill Jack Black), among others. As the game progresses, you alternate between controlling Vella and Shay, gradually uncovering the mysterious connection between each character and their worlds, all while enjoying the game's soothing soundtrack and fanciful atmosphere.

#5 – Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet

Like its predecessor, the freeware game Spoonbeaks Ahoy! (later remastered commercially in HD), Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet, by Alasdair Beckett-King, is a whimsically amusing game thanks to its witty humor, charming characters, and vibrant art style. You play as Nelly, a delightfully heroic young pirate who vows to stop the evil Baron Widebeard, whose beard is indeed wide and his crimes against loveable animals spread even wider. The game features hand-drawn animations and beautiful environments that create an inviting atmosphere, and the character designs add a playful touch to the overall feel. The humorous tone gives a sense of warmth and comfort as you navigate the pirate-themed world, and the funny interactions with the game's inhabitants contribute to the cozy atmosphere, making it a thoroughly charming experience.

#4 – Professor Layton series

Not a single game but rather an entire franchise, Level-5's Professor Layton is a cozy Japanese handheld game series known for its charming Studio Ghibli-inspired art style, plethora of engaging puzzles, and endearing characters. The hand-drawn visuals feature a picturesque world filled with attention to detail depicting an alternate reality London. The animated cutscenes and scenic locations are gorgeous, and the character designs, including the top-hatted titular archeologist and his young apprentice Luke Triton, exude a charming quality that make them easy to follow. The narrative, centered around complex mysteries and detective work, adds a layer of intrigue and adventure, but progress occurs primarily through solving the myriad varied puzzles you encounter along the way. The combination of charming visuals, range of difficulty but always fair puzzles and engaging character-driven storytelling makes the Professor Layton series a cozy and satisfying gaming experience that’s easy to pick up and play for short bursts or long, even on the go.

#3 – Grim Fandango – Remastered

Another LucasArts classic enters the list. Grim Fandango needs no introduction, but have you ever noticed just how cozy it is to play? Tim Schafer’s wildly imaginative adventure exudes comfort through its distinctive art style, drawing inspiration from such diverse sources as film noir and Mexican folklore. The creative pre-rendered backgrounds and 3D character designs create a charming atmosphere, and the protagonist, the loveable afterlife travel agent named Manny Calavera, is voiced to smooth-sounding perfection by veteran actor Tony Plana. With its captivating jazz-influenced soundtrack by Peter McConnell, the game's score contributes significantly to its slick, easygoing ambiance. The narrative, centered around Manny's four-year journey to stop a travel ticket racket by his vile boss Domino and partner-in-crime Hector, is both engaging and humorous, creating an immersive storytelling experience continually filled with surprises. The one thing decidedly UN-cozy about the original 1998 release was its unwieldy keyboard tank controls, but at last that too has been smoothed over with the addition of point-and-click in the remastered edition.

#2 – Boxville

Amanita Design may have popularized the modern wordless, whimsical point-and-click science fantasy adventure with the likes of Samorost and Machinarium, but it was Triomatica Games that followed up by creating one of the coziest games of its kind. Frankly, I cannot think of anything that isn’t cozy and calming in the world of Boxville, which has a way of forcing you to slow down and enjoy the moment. The story is told through speechless anthropomorphic tin cans who live in a city of boxes and draw doodles on cardboards. The premise is that you’ve lost your doglike pal due to a series of vicious earthquakes, and must now discover the cause of the quakes and save man's... or rather can's best friend. The visuals are eminently appealing, drawn in an easygoing 2D style; the animations are smooth and the music and sound provide just the right accompaniment. There are plenty of puzzling obstacles in your path, but the friends you meet along the way are cute and the atmosphere is always relaxed. It’s a truly beautiful game about friendship and the importance of being nice to others, regardless of whether they are people or cans – and how can that not pull at your heart and make you feel warm inside?

#1 – Return to Monkey Island

A father and son sit together on a park bench on a summer day, the older one recounting stories of past adventures. What could be cozier than that? Of course, that’s just the framing device for Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman to plunge us right back into the swashbuckling world of loveable pirates first introduced by Lucasfilm Games in 1990. In Return to Monkey Island you once again play as Guybrush Threepwood (voiced as expertly as always by the inimitable Dominic Armato), who is a father now and passing on his knowledge and experience to his son Boybrush, whom you’ll also have the chance to control. After five games and a franchise crossover spinoff, this adventure finally gives us the true "secret" of Monkey Island. To gain such knowledge, Guybrush must acquire three magical keys to unlock the long-awaited answer.

The series’ other iconic characters are back as well, as cute and endearing as ever. The normally irritable Elaine, voiced by the returning Alexandra Boyd, actually dotes on Guybrush here, and even LeChuck seems a little less villainous, although equally ambitious, while other fan favorites like Murray and Stan make welcome appearances. Rex Crowle’s visuals are much different than anything we’ve seen in the series before, but they’re bright and stylish and perfectly reflect the tone the Terrible Toybox team was going for. The ambiance is further enhanced by another wonderful musical score by acclaimed former LucasArts composers Michael Land, Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian. The interface, puzzles, characters and gags are pure Monkey Island adventuring goodness, so if you are looking to pass on your love of the genre to your own children, I can think of no better game to share with them.

That should be enough cozy games to get anyone started! Got more suggestions? Drop 'em in the comments below or find us on our Discord, as we and your fellow adventure game fans would surely love to hear about them. And if you made it this far, maybe you'll enjoy the fun video that my wife and I made on the subject.

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