While it might have felt like a bit of a slow year for some genres, 2024 brought some truly phenomenal new cozy games into gamers’ lives. From Little Kitty, Big City to Fields of Mistria in Early Access, cozy gamers had no shortage of great games to enjoy last year. Even so, quite a few highly anticipated titles were delayed, while other exciting projects were announced but not released. That means there are plenty of cozy games to look forward to in 2025, so get that Nintendo Switch or aesthetic PC gaming setup ready.
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While the definition of “cozy game” might still be up for debate, most agree that lower stakes games with limited combat and lots of cooking tend to fit the bill. That said, there’s also space for story-based dating sims and visual novels, making 2025 an exciting year to see what’s new and improved in the world of cozy gaming.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure
Release Date: January 30th, 2025
For fans of Hello Kitty and Animal Crossing comes the game that combines them both. Hello Kitty: Island Adventure released for Apple Arcade in 2023, but is finally making its way to PC and Nintendo Switch in January 2025. In this game, players will explore an abandoned island as Hello Kitty and her friends, with plenty of baking, cooking, crafting, and collecting to enjoy. Like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the game will also bring in a multiplayer element to let players connect with their friends.
Date Everything!
Release Date: February 14th, 2025
Another highly anticipated cozy release that got delayed is Date Everything. Unlike what many think of when they consider a chill game, this isn’t a farming sim. It’s a dating sim, and one where players can romance anthropomorphized versions of their… furniture? And other typically non-sentient beings and concepts brought to life, including an overwhelming sense of existential dread. This unserious and entertaining dating sim will now come out on Valentine’s Day 2025, a delay so perfect that developer Sassy Chap Games may as well have planned it from the start.
Good Coffee, Great Coffee
Release Date: February 2025
From the creators of the beloved pizza-making game Good Pizza, Great Pizza comes another entry. This time, it’s all about the coffee. Some players in select countries are already slinging coffee as part of the beta test, but the worldwide release of Good Coffee, Great Coffee is planned for sometime in February of 2025. For now, the game is only confirmed for mobile via Google Play and the Apple App Store. Even so, fans of cozy restaurant management games will a sense of humor are ready to brew some coffee with developer TapBlaze.
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game
Release Date: March 25th, 2025
Once upon a time, gamers were supposed to be living in the Shire in 2024. However, developers Weta Workshop decided their hobbit life sim needed a little more time to bake. Now, cozy gaming fans and Lord of the Rings devotees will be able to live out their Shire lives in March 2025. This game explores life in the shire, letting players create their own hobbit avatar and spent a quiet life building up their village through farming, cooking, and plenty of community gatherings. And this is a cozy game, so yes, of course there will also be fishing.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Release Date: April 2025
This game has already had its release date delayed twice, from an original 2023 plan to 2024 and now, finally, an April 2025 release date. While that’s been disappointing for eager fans, it also means there’s been plenty of time to drum up excitement, and gamers are really hoping 2025 finally brings Fantasy Life i to the Nintendo Switch as planned. The game will have players build up a ruined island by traveling into the past. That means many cozy gaming staples, such as crafting, collecting, and building community will all be on offer, with a bit of a magical twist.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma
Release Date: Spring 2025
The Rune Factory franchise is beloved amongst cozy fans, which naturally means they can’t wait for the next installment. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma puts the player into the Eastern lands of Azuma, where the earth has shattered and sent terrain into the skies. As an Earth Dancer, gamers will work to save this beautiful world… and rebuild some local farms and communities along the way, of course. This beautiful game does have combat, but it also brings the cozy vibes for those who want just a little more oomph in their gaming.
Tiny Bookshop
Release Date: 2025, Unspecified
The venn diagram for book lovers and cozy gamers isn’t quite a circle, but it sure comes close. Many people fell in love with Tiny Bookshop when the demo dropped in 2024 and are eagerly awaiting an official confirmation of just when, exactly, it will come out this year. As of now, it’s simply noted as planned for 2025, so it could be a while to wait. This bookshop sim puts players in the role of running a mobile caravan bookshop, helping their customers choose the right reads for themselves or a gift. It’s beautiful, slow-paced, and uses actual book titles for the recommendation gameplay. In other words, perfection.
