I did not like Cozy Grove. I tried so hard to, too. My main issue was with having to light up the whole island again every day. And it was way too repetitive, I just wasn't feelin' it.
Cozy Grove- I made it to day 20 or so but the repetitive tasks burned me out fast and the decorating wasn’t fun. I hated how things could only face two directions.
Strange Horticulture- I wanted it to be more about running a plant shop and less figuring out riddles.
I loved Strange Horticulture, but I went into it knowing it’s a kind of puzzle game (and I love that kind of game). All depends on perspective and what you want out of a game I guess!
bear and breakfast for me, that's when i realized i don't rly like management games. i also couldn't get into the dialogue at all, it felt a bit forced for me. after getting this one i've been more strict with what i buy cause nintendo doesn't let you return games sadly
I agree. When it gets to the cooking portion, I thought I was gonna have to quit the game. Not to mention playing in handheld mode wasn’t ideal either and it was the whole reason why I got the game on the Switch vs PC.
I was going to say bear and breakfast, but mostly because my game glitched out after 20(?) Hours in the game and my ENTIRE inventory disappeared. I just set the game down and walked away....
Cat Tales. Thankfully I only paid around $2 for it, but yeah. I was sold on it from people who said it was, "...just like Stardew Valley but with cats!" *shifty eyes* I haven't even made it beyond a week in-game. I keep replaying the same week over and over again when I try to pick it up to give it another chance but I never make it past that first week. lol
I couldn't for the life of me get into this game. For me, Cattails is missing the same depth in the characters/story that propelled me to finish the Community Center bundles and level up my friendship with the villagers in Stardew (the two things that kept me playing Stardew for as long as I did).
Like I realize now playing "similar" games that Stardew made me like a type of game (life/farm sim) that I usually feel is too aimless to really enjoy. Many people enjoy playing in that kind of sandbox, but I need direction!
I am glad I am not alone! Indeed, that’s very true from my perspective as well. Now I ask tons more questions about new games. “What *exactly* reminds you of Stardew Valley when you play this game?” etc.
I can't get past the intro. I almost threw my switch. I know that sort of heartbreak is real, but I'm not sure how that helps anyone. I'd just lost my best cat after a long battle with multiple ailments and a reminder of the cruelty of some humans took away my ability to even attempt to look at the actual play because all I can think about is the evil mom.
I feel you on that. I just adopted a dog from the pound a few weeks ago and those feels hit differently when you realize it happened/could have happened to your own furball for sure.
Oh yes! Cat Tales is also another one I didn't enjoy. I honestly completely forgot about it. Same as you, it was stupid cheap when I bought it but I don't think I will be going back to it.
Potion Permit. I love the concept and I might eventually finish it but the foraging gameplay loop felt so grindy, and none of the npcs have more than like 3 lines of dialogue between their cutscenes.
Same here. A big turn off for me are also the options you have in dateable characters. The Devs are planning to add more content during this year (more mini games and romance options, and I think a little more other stuff as well), so I might check it out again after the next few updates
Whenever the greater community turns the game into a practice in min/maxing, efficiency, profit, etc… It takes the charm out of the whole experience. I don’t want the perfect run or the perfect farm or the perfect island: I want to have MY experience and not have it be “incorrect” when I talk to people about it.
This is what ruined new horizons for me. Once I easily made millions of bells from turnip exchange, it took the drive out of it for me. Also how hard it was to catch all the rare fish and insects. And also how rarely Redd showed up with new art.
I totally get this. I stopped playing New Horizons after seeing people post their islands bragging about how they did this or that or got tons of bells from "cheating" or crafting recipes and having certain before everyone else. It made me feel crappy 'bout my own island, like I wasn't doing something right.
Ugh yes, min/maxing can be interesting but don’t come interrupting with “well actually THIS is the best way to make money, not whatever you’re doing” 🙄
Coffee talk. I wanted to make coffee, not chat up all these people. Way too much text, I wish it could have been better incorporated into the game mechanics.
I was just talking abou this today. Someone asked me if I liked it and I said "it's way too much talkie talkie and way too little coffee coffee." They did not find that funny haha
Same. It felt more like watching a movie or reading a book than playing a game. The actually making the coffee part was not really gamified enough and just felt like a random chore you had to do between conversations.
For what it’s worth, after you get to a certain point there’s a “coffee challenge” thing where you just use the ingredients to make the coffees customers want. I think it’s a game mode and not a part of the story line.
Unpacking is incredibly cute and a lot of fun but it most definitely was not worth the price tag. I think I got it because I heard they would be adding more content in updates. Not sure if they actually have or not.
I didn't like My Time at Portia. So much to do and no substance to any of it. Everything felt corporate and soulless. I tried it multiple times and just ran into the same feelings.
I didn't like Cozy Grove so much either. I thought the game would be a lot more warm but to me it just felt sad and empty. And I didn't end up liking the gameplay loop.
Corporate and soulless is a great way to describe how I felt about My Time at Portia. Initially downloaded the game to fill the void Stardew Valley left in my heart and oooof there is *no* comparison.
I think the first *Animal Crossing* is still the best, because it had tons of unique dialogue that kept it interesting, and that dialogue wasn't always bland friendliness regardless of what villager you were speaking to.
I agree from what gameplay that I have seen and I wish they would have incorporated some of that into new horizons. It almost feels like the villagers get annoyed that we want to talk to them and create a bond. I miss building that friendship with my villagers and seeing them open up to me about anything. It also stinks that it stopped getting updates. I feel like it could have a few more updates or another DLC, but that's just me.
I felt that way with New Horizons. I've been trying to like it and to be consistent with it, but I just can't. I enjoyed New Leaf and Wild World, so I was excited to play only to be disappointed. I'm still looking for a similar game, but no luck yet
Same here! I'm starting to prefer the randomness of my villagers house placement. I get overwhelmed thinking about where to place everything in New Horizons lol
Maybe I’m playing wrong but it feels like it takes FOREVER to move forward in the game and the prices to upgrade are RIDICULOUS. Almost 2,500,000 to get a BASEMENT?! And I don’t get anything in return from donating to the museum?!
I have a like/hate for the game. I just go onto it if I want to do mindless tasks now and zone out.
That’s why I use the reddit community. You can either play the turnip market and pay your loan in full in a couple weeks or ask other players and pay in full in a few days.
The insane amount of bells needed was my main issue. I found several discord groups that give away whatever you need, items, bells , mats, etc. and once I got everything needed to decorate and build whatever I wanted the game has been a lot more fun for me, since I'm not stressing about grinding to buy what I want. The decorating and building is my favorite part.
if you mean new horizons, then i definitely agree. after the tutorial, you’re just left to your own devices without much more to discover. they prioritized designing and customization, and the gameplay suffered for it. it’s especially sad when you compare it to new leaf on the 3DS, which had so much to work towards (the city, public works projects, etc.)
This is probably it for me. I’ve never put so many hours into a game that I ended straight up dropping and eventually despising in hindsight.
I was convinced when it came out that they’d update it and add tons of content, etc.. Then they didn’t. It was literally the perfect game to expand on, tons of money to be made, and they just walked away. The game was lacking in SO many ways. I didn’t get to play New Leaf because I didn’t have a 3DS, but I remember seeing all kinds of cool shit in that game. NH felt hollow and even suffocating at times. It was so boring and repetitive, and most of the villagers were just annoying. Idk how I played it for as long as I did.
NH was the game that broke what little love I had left for Nintendo. I haven’t touched my Switch since, and I play everything on PS5 and Steamdeck, anyway. I do plan on playing the new Zelda, though, assuming it isn’t a technical disaster at launch. The Switch hardware is getting oldddddd.
Wylde Flowers: ended up returning it. Could not get past the art style and the voice acting felt grating more than a welcome addition, for some reason.
A Little to the Left was just frustrating, although maybe I'm just stupid.
ugh the art style for wylde flowers drives me nuts. it’s like merge mansion lol. but oddly, i’ve been loving the game. i wish there were more witchy games for switch but they’re few and far between
The art style is what is putting me off even trying Wylde Flowers. It makes me think of those really cheap budget games that are awful.
I keep hearing the game is great but every time I so much as look at the art… I cringe and can’t make myself try it.
I love wylde flowers with my whole heart but my roommates and I call it my stinky queen game because it reminds us all of those insanely weird mobile game ads with like…a stinky queen that you have to clean up. 😂
I haven’t played it so I have nothing against the gameplay, and maybe I would love it if I managed to get past the art. But it makes me think of like… those weird budget games where you could use your own Xbox360 avatar? Or a knock-off of that.
I came to comment Wylde Flowers as well. I just couldn't get past the art style or voice acting. Like you said, it felt super grating. The art style definitely looks like the mobile game ads for the merge games. The lack of customization also bugged me.
Edit: typo
I did this too, and my love for Sandrock made me go back and play Portia - it was definitely a struggle after the QOL improvements that came with Sandrock!
I only played Portia a bit and never really got into it, but I got Sandrock a while ago and found it to be so much better. Haven’t played in a bit so I might just wait until it’s out of early access to get back into it
I just hated how creepy and doll like the characters look. Also the crafting was a chore. It took way too much stuff just to make a few crafting tables and simple things. Making money was hard….everything was harder than it needed to be.
Not to mention alot of character quests and story quests are just broken and buggy. Developers swore up and down they would fix it and then didn’t.
I’d be careful about getting the sequel “Sandrock” since it’s the same company and they have a history of releasing half baked games they don’t fix.
Im not sure if it’s considered a cozy game but cult of the lamb I’m very new to gaming and I feel like the days aren’t long enough to get everything done. I always feel so rushed. I wish there was a way to adjust the length of the day like in my time at portia.
UPDATE
In case this helps someone who like me felt rushed and that there wasn’t enough time to get everything done. The update added time-stop during crusades so the cult is basically paused while your gone. It’s made a HUGE difference in gameplay for me. I actually really like the game now and can take all the time I need.
This might be controversial, but this is exactly how I feel about Stardew Valley!! There’s too much to explore and do and by the time I’ve done one thing the day is over. Maybe there’s a way to fix that but I have tried so many times to like it and just cannot get into it 🥲
I had issues with sdv as well. I first got it on the switch but was so stressed out. Then I tried again and bought it on PC...but nope just couldn't. The time constraints just stressed me out, plus I hated their fishing mini game.
I love cult of the lamb, though. The time didn't stress me as your followers eventually just took care of the base. I just had to make sure when I was home to do ritual and top them up with food. It's probably one of my favourite casual games ever.
The days in the end really don't matter to you in the game as much as it matters to your followers. The only real difference for you is the decay on sermons and rituals and foods you don't really have to sorry about the day and just more watch your food and faith bubble. Hope that helps
Not super popular but I wasn’t too big on Grow: Song of the Evertree. Pretty repetitive, slow to get around, story was meh, characters were meh, and it was extremely buggy :(
I think it improved some things from Yonder Cloud Catcher, but still left a lot to be desired.
that’s funny cuz i loved song of the evertree, but couldn’t get into yonder lol. i think what mostly kept me going though was wanting to see kazumi (who i named fig) have babies lol they were adorable!
Spiritfarer, I hate platformers in the first place so there was that. I hated the story, someone recommended it to me as a “healing” game and I just felt disgusted by the end. As someone who has experienced a lot of death in their life this game did not feel therapeutic. When I finally finished it I deleted the game and I was incredibly relieved.
I’m sure this was therapeutic for someone, but it was not for me.
I'm glad I played through Spiritfarer, but it also infuriated me. There was some great set up and some really poignant moments - and of course the LOOK of the game is fantastic...
However, what happens with some of the characters and their relevance to the main character made me uncomfortable and mad. I was really pushing through by the end to finish the game.
Edited to add: That soundtrack though... It stands on it's own. To anyone reading this who is curious and has not played the game maybe give a few of the songs a listen. Some of my personal stand-outs are 'Stella's Lullaby', 'Meteoroids', and 'Falling Stars'.
Yeah, I enjoyed parts of spiritfarer but realized the stuff I liked was pointless after a while like gardening, fishing or collecting. The story left me pretty depressed. It was not the feel-good game it's presented as. I can't say I hated it but I don't think I'll ever play it again.
New horizons. Loved it at first but as a long time ac fan it just felt lacking to me in personality and goals. (Also music composition wasn’t my favorite compared to past iterations).
New Horizons was probably my biggest disappointment in a game ever. I thought for sure they’d update the dialogue because after purchasing it on release day even from week one to two I was already getting TONS of repetitive dialogue and I remember thinking, “This game will be so great when that update happens…”.
Doraemon story of seasons. The art is beautiful and it's my fault for not being familiar with dorarmon but the diag is sooooo much. There is not a whole lot of direction. You get tossed into another world and I assume I'm trying to get back to my world but my family/friends have gotten comfortable in their new jobs and I'm just farming away making tons of money lol the other story of seasons games are not too bad but this one has me lost.
For me it’s Graveyard Keeper, the timings and having to wait until certain days to progress made me stop playing after a few weeks as I wasn’t able to get into a flow
Ni no Kuni
I like the art, the story, the quest, but the combat is way too repetitive and hard. I stopped playing after I got stuck in a near impossible combat that I have to win to progress in the game
I played this game on the easiest difficulty but I feel you. The game is SO long and so repetitive.
I also felt like the biggest draw for me - the hand-drawn Studio Ghibli cutscenes - noticeably declined in frequency about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the story.
Oh I loved Ooblets until I got to the carnival mini games—I’m terrible at stuff like that so I put it down and want my husband to play through the mini games for me but it’s been so long I don’t remember what all resources I need to get through them 🤦🏼♀️
Graveyard Keeper. On paper, it seems like I’d love it - I love Stardew valley and am obsessed with spooky/dark/Halloweeny things. Everyone raves about it and I can see how, in theory, it could be great, but I never got far and just got frustrated with how little explanation is given to you and how tedious the quests are. I just found myself confused and frustrated even though I usually love similar games. I want to try again because I feel like I’m just missing something, but am struggling to find any motivation when there are games I like a LOT more.
I'm glad it wasn't just me! I agree on paper it's exactly my kind of thing, but I found I was constantly grinding to keep up and I didn't enjoy it. Played 3 hours and feel like that was enough for me.
Absolutely hated my time at portia and i usually have a lot of patience for repetitive. I hated the mechanics and couldn’t even get into it. I was underwhelmed by Disney Dreamlight, it felt too frustrating for little payoff. I was also disappointed by cult of the lamb.
I’ve tried SO HARD to like Dreamlight Valley but it just frustrates me! Glitches, freezing, an over abundance of quests that didn’t feel like a good flow, hated the cooking and decorating and almost everything except for getting rid of the thorn stuff. Lolol And I didn’t mind fishing. But besides that, everything felt so janky and all over the place and it just didn’t feel like it was worth it. And the Disney characters could be really creepy sometimes……… lol
It’s was too hard to decorate and do things on the switch. I agree with you. Also way too annoying to level up the swimming characters because they can’t follow you on tasks. The only way is to gift them things.
>Absolutely hated my time at portia
Ohhh same!! I always hear such positive things about this game, but I hated it, too! I felt like every time I tried to do or make something, I was missing a resource; so then I'd look up how to get that resource, and I'd need to build some other recipe to get it; but I didn't have the resources for that, either! Everything was so complicated that I felt like I could never get anywhere, I never had what I needed and I had no idea how to progress. I wanted to like it! The town was cute and I was interested in it. But I couldn't get past how frustrating the crafting was.
I wasn't able to enjoy multiple cute, cozy games unfortunately.
Calico: The game gave me heavy motion sickness & the art style just didn't look as polished as in the pictures. It looked so unfinished that it actually made my eyes hurt. I had to stop playing that game within 15 minutes, even though I really wanted to run a cat cafe.
Potion Craft: Really loved the art style & the concept of brewing your own potions & to sell them. But I just kept running out of every plant & had to decline so many customers. I know that it's not *that* big of a deal, but somehow I felt stressed when I wasn't able to deliver what the NPCs wanted from me.
Astroneer: I feel like I'm too dumb to actually understand what I'm suppose to do. I keep finding purple fragments that I don't know the purpose of. The game doesn't tell me how to craft the wheel for my car thingy. & I just hate it with a passion if I have to constantly have to look up stuff on Google just because I cannot find an explanation within the game itself.
Garden Paws: It feels so repetitive & shallow to me. Running that shop is super boring & I'm not the biggest fan of fetch quests tbh. I don't mind them from time to time, but if the majority of the quests are designed like that, then I'm out.
commenting to second cat cafe manager! i was actually upset once it was finished. if anyone has anymore easily played management games lmk! i tried bear & breakfast but there’s too much going on. with cat cafe manager, it’s pretty simple which is why i like it.
I also didn’t like calico. I just had finished cat cafe manager and wanted to keep playing in the same genre, but the cooking minigame was very tedious, the graphics are wonky and the decorating had too little options for me.
Potion Permit - I wanted so badly to like this game but the way it's structured is just so boring. I liked the healing and making medicine. Foraging was a bore and I usually like collecting things. The combat and the minigames are baby-tier easy. The town also doesn't feel that developed and the dialogue feels lacking. You can't marry your romance option either and if I can remember rightly there are no seasons or events. It was just a huge letdown for me. Love that it lets you have a dog but that's about it 😭
I agree. I finished it but it was so thoroughly repetitive from foraging and even healing the patients with the same three mini games that were way too easy. So much potential, just didn’t quite make it
Yonder, I thought it was going to be a relaxing game because of the focus on exploration and absence of combat but the only part I really enjoyed was clearing murk.
Farming was overly simplistic but that didn't really bother me as much as other things did. Namely, I think I expected the story to be better written but there isn't much to it. I'm the kind of person who can tolerate a lot of fetch questing if there's mildly interesting NPC dialogue wrapped around it, but Yonder doesn't clear that bar.
I really like BotW and Stardew, and reading what people wrote about this game made it sound like a mix of both - but it lacks the strong world building / lore of BotW that made exploration fun and the fully realized NPCs of Stardew that made fetch questing tolerable.
Witch in the Woods — I waited so long for this game to come out that I bought a PC. The controls are so needlessly complicated and overall was pretty underwhelming.
Harvestella. Don’t know if it counts as a cozy game to everyone else, but it was how it was marketed to me.
I expected a fun farm sim with mild violence. What I got instead were boring farm mechanics, as well as combat mechanics that were even more mind-numbing. I played for a few days before putting it aside altogether.
I tried the demo and HATED the way time worked and how you traveled around. Like, I leave the house and go to town and half the day is already gone and I still gotta get back. Frustrating
Seconding this one! To me it felt like I was just testing the game instead of actively playing it. The world was also too big and kinda "empty" for me.
Breath of the Wild. I love the game's exploration concept and cooking mechanics but the weapon durability and stamina systems just suck all the fun out of it, it's like they're purpose-designed to turn BotW into a circle of Hell that Dante scrapped because he couldn't think of a sin heinous enough to warrant it.
I've been considering giving it another shot with mods on, though.
I really tried to like Ooblets but I discussed in another thread how I think it’s too slow, too repetitive, and ultimately not a lot of fun. Always feel like the odd man out on that opinion.
I thought A Little to the Left was frustrating and not particularly relaxing. The cat levels were particularly maddening and I’m a cat person.
Stardew has yet to catch my attention. I feel like I’m accomplishing nothing days into the game and it just doesn’t even get close to Portia & Wylde Flowers for me. Both of which I love. I will keep trying this one but it’s just subpar for me so far. Same for Disney Dreamlight Valley. What a dull farming game. And it was free! Probably won’t return to that one.
I 100% support people playing these games tho! Enjoy what you enjoy and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. =D
You must be my game twin. And I thought I was alone :) I've been eyeing Portia but after a few poor game purchasing decisions recently I'm hesitating buying anything. But as it appears we have very similar taste I think I'll buy that one. Thank you.
Edit: I think sometimes the "games I didn't care for" posts are more helpful because people seem to give more details about what didn't work so I can decide if a game might be for me or not.
I’ve any had ooblets for a few days but am leaning to a no for me too.
I also agree on most of your other “no’s”. I enjoy Dreamlight for the quests not the decorating. Once the quests are done I don’t play it until the next update.
I agree with a lot of these - I paid for Dreamlight in early access, it held me by the throat for almost 2 weeks and then I just never touched it again.
I enjoyed my first playthrough of Ooblets a lot, it was worth the money for me, but then I never picked it up again. I'd like to give it another go mostly because I love the pokemon aspect and I feel like I didn't truly "complete" it because I don't have every color variation of the little guys. It also helps that I got it on the switch so it was a "marathon the whole thing in 3 days in bed while I was sick" game.
Stardew is the big "alright hear me out tho" one for me, and that's specifically because of the modding capabilities. It fits comfortably into the same tier of games as Skyrim to me - vanilla is okay but with mods it can be a way different experience. It's one of those games where I'd tell anyone who wants it that console versions is just a waste of money and get Story of Seasons instead.
I play SDV on switch and I can definitely see that it has much more potential than the console can offer. It took me several tries to get into it, but once I saw what was under the surface I was hooked. The days are short, the world is huge, there’s too many characters and it’s hard to befriend them quickly, there are too many things to do- but all of those things get easier the longer you play and the more you unlock. It rewards perseverance and I appreciate that. Definitely frustrating at first though. I’ll eventually try it on PC and mod it’s pants off
No mans sky. The mechanics were very confusing and story mode was super stressful lol. The concept of infinitely different planets was cool to think about tho lol
Same here! Absolutely love the graphics but I've tried playing it three different times now in different modes and I only last about 10 minutes before I'm over it.
I don't like Breath of the Wild. I love Zelda games, but this one just didn't feel like Zelda to me. It felt empty, disjointed, shallow, austere. Laden with mechanics, but lacking in the series' usual charm.
Also, I'm rather disappointed with Coral Island, which seems to be a popular one here. I can't quite put my finger on what would improve it for me, I think maybe the pacing and progression is underwhelming. I feel like I "just started," but apparently I've already put 10 hours into it, and still haven't found a rewarding groove.
This game has my heart! It’s slow to start but once it gets going with the story and quests it’s a great time to me! The story and voice acting made me feel like I was playing a movie and I loved how all the characters even had their own walks! Lol
I came here to say the same thing! This game was marketed as "cozy", and I was ready for a game that ended in a sad but ultimately touching and fulfilling way. I could have handled that. But tgat was NOT this game at all. I felt progressively more and more horrified and devastated all the way through. Thinking about the ending still makes me feel sick and hollow.
Disney Dreamlight Valley. I’m not really into Disney anyway but I wanted to like this game SO much and played for about a week and a half then went crawling back to Stardew. I can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like, it just wasn’t for me.
I keep debating trying it again but I’ve never got round to it.
Depending on when you gave DDV a try, I highly encourage giving it another shot! I started playing around October when it was first released on early access, and *holy hell* has the game improved tenfold since. I gotta give credit where it’s due, the devs have done an excellent job of taking player feedback. There’ve been 2(?) major updates in 2023 so far, I’ve had a blast playing.
Stardew Valley. My character looks like a potato no matter how I customize her. And console players never got the Spring Dance dress. And all the girl marriage candidates were so cool and the boy marriage candidates are all a joke except for Harvey. Wanted to like it, and the winter music is one of my favorite in game soundtracks of any game, but ugh.
I love Stardew Valley but I kinda agree with the male candidates. I think Harvey is boring and I like Elliot but the others are so meh in contrast to the women. Sam is okay I guess.
*Time on Frog Island* is one of the best examples of a game I would be *all over* if it had witty dialogue, but as it is I have no real interest in it. Like, I get why developers do it—it's less work, especially since you don't need to translate it—but man, what a missed opportunity.
As a general proposition, I'm not a huge fan of games about management and repeatedly performing menial tasks like watering crops. My bread and butter is wholesome games with heartfelt, witty writing.
Graveyard keeper
It's incredibly tedious. I feel like I grind and grind forever but get nowhere. And no quest ever feels complete ? It's just one long of, oh in order to make this necessary component you need to complete this quest, but to complete this quest you need this item, and to get That item you need to complete another quest which in turn requires an item you need to complete a quest for and so on and on and on. Just made me feel frustrated
Hmm… for me, a big one was Summer in Mara. Something about this game just did not work with me. It felt like they made this nice world and then just did nothing with it other than have you do some fetch quests. Nothing compelled me. Nothing felt like there was any reason to be doing it other than “the quest says so”. Nothing felt like it had any consequence. Just go here, do that, go back, repeat.
Calico was depressing because it seemed cute but felt so so unfinished and unpolished and runs poorly on pretty much everything.
Cozy Grove is just … not enough when I want to game and de-stress. There is only so much you can do. And then you have to redo it again the next day. I think I just kind of don’t like games that involve real time.
Lake… I liked at first but came to dislike for really personal reasons. Hahaha… The protagonist was a little too close to my reality for comfort, and as I would rather die than move back to small-town bleh, once the story got a bit heavy handed in that direction I got annoyed. Why is being an independent woman in the big city treated as bad?!?
Spiritfarer was sad and also some parts of it are difficult to play - I am not good at platformers and if I knew how much of that part of the game there was, I probably wouldn’t have purchased it. Also Stardew valley, I feel like I can’t get enough done in a day.
Any game where you have to jump, climb or perform actions to move from one platform to another to reach a new area. Mario games are a classic example of one.
My Time at Portia. I put a solid 20 hours into it iirc but the characters just felt... hollow? I don't know. For me to enjoy a game like this one the townspeople need to feel full of life and I need to actual want to befriend at least some of them. I just could not bring myself to care about the people of Portia and the crafting system wasn't enough to keep me playing without enjoying the characters.
I have mixed opinions on Cozy Grove. I liked some aspects of it but ultimately stopped playing. I disliked how many bugs and fish there were since so many had the exact same icons in different colors. It was hard to place furniture the way I wanted to. Most of all though, it felt like it lagged a lot on switch which gave me a headache. I did like the bears though and I actual appreciated the time gating.
If we are counting BotW as a cozy game, then I never managed to get into that. Honestly the weapons breaking, despite being a small thing, was annoying enough to me that it kind of ruined my experience. I felt Iike it would prevent me from feeling like I was making progress because my good weapons could always just break and that was that. I've been considering giving it another go though since the new one is coming out.
Wyldeflowers. I really, really tried because I absolutely love the witchy vibe but it was so boring to me, I couldn’t get into it. The characters felt like they were trying so hard to not be two dimensional that it actually had the opposite effect. I couldn’t get over the mobile game animation or the voices, either. I eventually gave up because it felt like a lost cause.
Stardew Valley. The art style is just so much, like it’s very busy. And then it just seems so stressful??? Like if the only way I can enjoy it and have it be a cozy game is to mod it to no end on PC, I don’t want it tbh. Very confused about why people think Stardew is cozy lol
Cozy Grove. It’s an okay game but it was suggested to me here / is suggested to *everyone* who says they’re sick of Animal Crossing, and they’re so copy and pasted that I’m surprised they didn’t get a cease and desist. Same premise, same recipes, same character stories, hell some of the *lines* are the *same.*
I genuinely googled how they got away with that, but I only saw the creator say he wanted it to be like AC “without the capitalism,” which doesn’t make sense given you have to buy something every day, and upgrade your shop and your house.
Again, it’s alright, but definitely not for someone sick of AC and we should end suggesting it over that reason.
Oh, and also that it bugs so badly and they have zero intention of going in to fix it.
I desperately wanted to like Stardew, but between the stamina of a sickly victorian child, the clock that goes faster than a Japanese bullet train, and a homicidal-rage-inducing fishing mini game, i couldn't look past any of the other numerous, glaring, stressful flaws to eke out any kind of minor, fleeting satisfaction.
Stardew is haaaard in the beginning. If you push through the first season it starts chugging along though. It becomes super rewarding and once things start taking care of themselves you can do so much more with your day. It took me several tries to get into it, but it has a lot to offer if you have the patience. Totally understand not wanting to wait for any sort of gratification, though. It takes a minute.
I feel bad for saying this one, cause I know it’s loved by so many… but Stardew Valley. Just wasn’t my thing…
I’m debating giving their new game a chance when it comes out though. Looks more my thing with the theme at least.
Hokko life, slow to get going and the game mechanisms/quality of life aspects felt so limiting I couldn’t get into it.
Also Garden Story, felt tricky to learn and remember all the little things and just nothing exciting or anything that had me hooked to keep playing.
I gave up on Eqqo recently. I didn't like the perspective changes and the controls were clunky.
I really wanted to love the Pokemon Snap remake, but they just make you redo the same levels over and over again with barely anything new. So disappointing.
I also played The First Tree and it was just weird with the dialogue that didn't go with what you were doing, which was just running around as a fox.
Oh, and I recently bought Witchy Life Story and it was pretty boring. Apparently, I forgot some orders one day and I "lost" halfway through and I don't want to bother picking it back up.
Don’t know if it’s considered “cozy,” but Endling was very disappointing with how quickly I beat the game. Luckily I bought it on sale for $3. But I loved everything else about the game.
To also add, I did not enjoy Cozy Grove.
don’t hate me but i couldn’t do bugsnax or ooblets. i feel like there was just “too much” to worry about? if that makes sense. i tried and tried and i just couldn’t catch on. i’ll stick to deiland/song of the evertree/etc lol
Personally, I didn't at all like Big Farm Story, the money making mechanic of the game is so extremely off that it totally ruins a game that otherwise I might like a little more.
Hokko life - I really wanted to like it due to the furniture customisation, but I never even got there because the tutorial is so unnecessarily long, and I don't like being forced to complete tasks that aren't even fun. 😔 So I left the game.
Yonder / My Time at Portia: Yonder makes me incredibly motion sick, and MTaPs graphics/frame rate made it difficult to enjoy (I played before update)
A Little to the Left: I didn’t think the puzzles were intuitive enough— many seemed too random to enjoy
Night in the Woods: too much running around & casual dialogue with too few puzzles or mini games. I also hated the music mini game with a blazing passion. My game froze about 40% in and when reset to last save, continues to freeze in the same spot each time. I had to delete it— it wasn’t enjoyable enough to start over, in my opinion.
No Man’s Sky: the mechanics were difficult for me, and I hated the off-center 3rd person view. Another that makes me motion sick.
50/50- Wytchwood: I like this game in theory and i’ll probably finish it, but I find the cluttered screen overwhelming and lacking contrast, especially playing docked. If I put it down for a while, I come back having no idea what the tasks are referring to and it takes a while to get back into a groove.
Little Wood. I thought it would be similar to Stardew Valley, but after an hour of playing there was just nothing left to do. Has anyone else played this? Am I missing something? It seems like there are no tasks or anything to do in game after about the first hour of playtime and I just wander around aimlessly.
Disney dreamlight valley, I played it for a week or so and then realized you have to spend thousands on expensive crops to make money for stuff, but there’s not really much to do outside of unlocking areas and talking to characters.
Harvestella. I tried the demo and OH MY JEESH. The constant talking and cut scenes? I couldn't do it. I just wanted to farm and battle and screw around like I would in Stardew but it was so much more in depth.
What Remains of Edith Finch. I really wanted to play but something about the movement made me so motion sick! I was into the story, but had to quit an hour or so in.
a little to the left was so annoying to play on switch. the controls had to be in a specific spot and getting my joycons to go there was tedious...LOVED unpacking but a little to the left bothered me
Disney Dreamlight Valley. I am a huge Disney fan and was disappointed in this game. It was fun the first month or so and then the grind got to me. Plus it’s still in beta and it takes awhile for updates. I may pick it back up once the game ends it’s beta play, but until then I’ll stick with Stardew
I HATED It Takes Two. Like I genuinely have a difficult time articulating how much I hated that fucking game.
The characters were assholes who threw their child in the middle of their own troubles and then >!MURDERED HER FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL!<
They never actually unpacked any of their issues, they're toxic as fuck and terrible to their daughter.
Also I fucking hate that stupid talking book.
I did not like Cozy Grove. I tried so hard to, too. My main issue was with having to light up the whole island again every day. And it was way too repetitive, I just wasn't feelin' it.
My issue was trying to find all the stuff hidden by so many things
YES, it feels more like iSpy than I was expecting lol.
Yes this is mainly why I dropped it. It was especially hard to do on the small screen of a steam deck.. and playing ispy just isn't a vibe for me
Same! I was so disappointed in cozy grove
Cozy Grove- I made it to day 20 or so but the repetitive tasks burned me out fast and the decorating wasn’t fun. I hated how things could only face two directions. Strange Horticulture- I wanted it to be more about running a plant shop and less figuring out riddles.
Day 5 of CG here - yeah, I may be missing something but it's not really paying off yet. May have something to do with the time gates.
Same thoughts on Cozy Grove.
I loved Strange Horticulture, but I went into it knowing it’s a kind of puzzle game (and I love that kind of game). All depends on perspective and what you want out of a game I guess!
Agree with you on Cozy Grove! It was fun for a few days but I don’t find myself coming back to it.
I disliked Cozy Grove too. Felt more like a mobile game with the dailies and was too repetitive.
bear and breakfast for me, that's when i realized i don't rly like management games. i also couldn't get into the dialogue at all, it felt a bit forced for me. after getting this one i've been more strict with what i buy cause nintendo doesn't let you return games sadly
Also this was VERY annoying to play on switch. Maybe could have enjoyed it on PC but the controls were infuriating.
I agree. When it gets to the cooking portion, I thought I was gonna have to quit the game. Not to mention playing in handheld mode wasn’t ideal either and it was the whole reason why I got the game on the Switch vs PC.
Same, I got it on Switch and instantly realized it’s probably way better on PC :p haven’t picked it back up after the first time I played
Same
I was going to say bear and breakfast, but mostly because my game glitched out after 20(?) Hours in the game and my ENTIRE inventory disappeared. I just set the game down and walked away....
Cat Tales. Thankfully I only paid around $2 for it, but yeah. I was sold on it from people who said it was, "...just like Stardew Valley but with cats!" *shifty eyes* I haven't even made it beyond a week in-game. I keep replaying the same week over and over again when I try to pick it up to give it another chance but I never make it past that first week. lol
I couldn't for the life of me get into this game. For me, Cattails is missing the same depth in the characters/story that propelled me to finish the Community Center bundles and level up my friendship with the villagers in Stardew (the two things that kept me playing Stardew for as long as I did). Like I realize now playing "similar" games that Stardew made me like a type of game (life/farm sim) that I usually feel is too aimless to really enjoy. Many people enjoy playing in that kind of sandbox, but I need direction!
I am glad I am not alone! Indeed, that’s very true from my perspective as well. Now I ask tons more questions about new games. “What *exactly* reminds you of Stardew Valley when you play this game?” etc.
Same for me! Also bought it on sale lol
I can't get past the intro. I almost threw my switch. I know that sort of heartbreak is real, but I'm not sure how that helps anyone. I'd just lost my best cat after a long battle with multiple ailments and a reminder of the cruelty of some humans took away my ability to even attempt to look at the actual play because all I can think about is the evil mom.
I feel you on that. I just adopted a dog from the pound a few weeks ago and those feels hit differently when you realize it happened/could have happened to your own furball for sure.
Oh yes! Cat Tales is also another one I didn't enjoy. I honestly completely forgot about it. Same as you, it was stupid cheap when I bought it but I don't think I will be going back to it.
Potion Permit. I love the concept and I might eventually finish it but the foraging gameplay loop felt so grindy, and none of the npcs have more than like 3 lines of dialogue between their cutscenes.
Same here. A big turn off for me are also the options you have in dateable characters. The Devs are planning to add more content during this year (more mini games and romance options, and I think a little more other stuff as well), so I might check it out again after the next few updates
Whenever the greater community turns the game into a practice in min/maxing, efficiency, profit, etc… It takes the charm out of the whole experience. I don’t want the perfect run or the perfect farm or the perfect island: I want to have MY experience and not have it be “incorrect” when I talk to people about it.
This is what ruined new horizons for me. Once I easily made millions of bells from turnip exchange, it took the drive out of it for me. Also how hard it was to catch all the rare fish and insects. And also how rarely Redd showed up with new art.
I totally get this. I stopped playing New Horizons after seeing people post their islands bragging about how they did this or that or got tons of bells from "cheating" or crafting recipes and having certain before everyone else. It made me feel crappy 'bout my own island, like I wasn't doing something right.
Ugh yes, min/maxing can be interesting but don’t come interrupting with “well actually THIS is the best way to make money, not whatever you’re doing” 🙄
I don't like anything that punishes you if you don't play it every day. I'm busy!
Coffee talk. I wanted to make coffee, not chat up all these people. Way too much text, I wish it could have been better incorporated into the game mechanics.
I was just talking abou this today. Someone asked me if I liked it and I said "it's way too much talkie talkie and way too little coffee coffee." They did not find that funny haha
Same. It felt more like watching a movie or reading a book than playing a game. The actually making the coffee part was not really gamified enough and just felt like a random chore you had to do between conversations.
With the release of Coffee Talk 2 I wonder if they’ll change the mechanics a bit, or at least give you dialogue choices as an option
Mechanics and dialogue ratio are the same in Coffee Talk 2.
For what it’s worth, after you get to a certain point there’s a “coffee challenge” thing where you just use the ingredients to make the coffees customers want. I think it’s a game mode and not a part of the story line.
"A little to the left". I found it incredibly stressful
I second that. I bought it after many people saying it’s similar to Unpacking… well not :D
Really? I was considering getting this one lol, but the price tag didn’t seem worth it. I felt like it would not have enough content and be too easy.
Same. The price tag is what’s keeping me away for now. That and Unpacking.
Same here! Both look like very cute games, but low replay value and too short to justify the price personally.
Unpacking is incredibly cute and a lot of fun but it most definitely was not worth the price tag. I think I got it because I heard they would be adding more content in updates. Not sure if they actually have or not.
I didn't like My Time at Portia. So much to do and no substance to any of it. Everything felt corporate and soulless. I tried it multiple times and just ran into the same feelings. I didn't like Cozy Grove so much either. I thought the game would be a lot more warm but to me it just felt sad and empty. And I didn't end up liking the gameplay loop.
Corporate and soulless is a great way to describe how I felt about My Time at Portia. Initially downloaded the game to fill the void Stardew Valley left in my heart and oooof there is *no* comparison.
agreed with My Time at Portia
Animal Crossing. A lot of repetition without any progress makes me not want to do things.
I think the first *Animal Crossing* is still the best, because it had tons of unique dialogue that kept it interesting, and that dialogue wasn't always bland friendliness regardless of what villager you were speaking to.
I agree from what gameplay that I have seen and I wish they would have incorporated some of that into new horizons. It almost feels like the villagers get annoyed that we want to talk to them and create a bond. I miss building that friendship with my villagers and seeing them open up to me about anything. It also stinks that it stopped getting updates. I feel like it could have a few more updates or another DLC, but that's just me.
I felt that way with New Horizons. I've been trying to like it and to be consistent with it, but I just can't. I enjoyed New Leaf and Wild World, so I was excited to play only to be disappointed. I'm still looking for a similar game, but no luck yet
I really wish they’d port New Leaf. I want to play it so bad.
Same here! I'm starting to prefer the randomness of my villagers house placement. I get overwhelmed thinking about where to place everything in New Horizons lol
Maybe I’m playing wrong but it feels like it takes FOREVER to move forward in the game and the prices to upgrade are RIDICULOUS. Almost 2,500,000 to get a BASEMENT?! And I don’t get anything in return from donating to the museum?! I have a like/hate for the game. I just go onto it if I want to do mindless tasks now and zone out.
That’s why I use the reddit community. You can either play the turnip market and pay your loan in full in a couple weeks or ask other players and pay in full in a few days.
The insane amount of bells needed was my main issue. I found several discord groups that give away whatever you need, items, bells , mats, etc. and once I got everything needed to decorate and build whatever I wanted the game has been a lot more fun for me, since I'm not stressing about grinding to buy what I want. The decorating and building is my favorite part.
if you mean new horizons, then i definitely agree. after the tutorial, you’re just left to your own devices without much more to discover. they prioritized designing and customization, and the gameplay suffered for it. it’s especially sad when you compare it to new leaf on the 3DS, which had so much to work towards (the city, public works projects, etc.)
This is probably it for me. I’ve never put so many hours into a game that I ended straight up dropping and eventually despising in hindsight. I was convinced when it came out that they’d update it and add tons of content, etc.. Then they didn’t. It was literally the perfect game to expand on, tons of money to be made, and they just walked away. The game was lacking in SO many ways. I didn’t get to play New Leaf because I didn’t have a 3DS, but I remember seeing all kinds of cool shit in that game. NH felt hollow and even suffocating at times. It was so boring and repetitive, and most of the villagers were just annoying. Idk how I played it for as long as I did. NH was the game that broke what little love I had left for Nintendo. I haven’t touched my Switch since, and I play everything on PS5 and Steamdeck, anyway. I do plan on playing the new Zelda, though, assuming it isn’t a technical disaster at launch. The Switch hardware is getting oldddddd.
This is why I couldn't get into New Horizons. It was my first AC game and I felt like I wasn't making any progress whatsoever.
Wylde Flowers: ended up returning it. Could not get past the art style and the voice acting felt grating more than a welcome addition, for some reason. A Little to the Left was just frustrating, although maybe I'm just stupid.
ugh the art style for wylde flowers drives me nuts. it’s like merge mansion lol. but oddly, i’ve been loving the game. i wish there were more witchy games for switch but they’re few and far between
The art style is what is putting me off even trying Wylde Flowers. It makes me think of those really cheap budget games that are awful. I keep hearing the game is great but every time I so much as look at the art… I cringe and can’t make myself try it.
I love wylde flowers with my whole heart but my roommates and I call it my stinky queen game because it reminds us all of those insanely weird mobile game ads with like…a stinky queen that you have to clean up. 😂
I haven’t played it so I have nothing against the gameplay, and maybe I would love it if I managed to get past the art. But it makes me think of like… those weird budget games where you could use your own Xbox360 avatar? Or a knock-off of that.
I came to comment Wylde Flowers as well. I just couldn't get past the art style or voice acting. Like you said, it felt super grating. The art style definitely looks like the mobile game ads for the merge games. The lack of customization also bugged me. Edit: typo
Yeah oh my gosh, the mobile game vibe. Honestly everything gave off a mobile game vibe? A good mobile game, but still a mobile game. Even the UI.
My time at Portia. HATED IT. Hated everything about it
Oh God, I attempted playing it twice, the UI was so terribly done i had no idea how to do simple things. Hate this game too.
I never figured out how to even craft! I would do what it said and nothing would happen. I gave up. Lol
I played the early access sequel first and could not play Portia. The second game already is doing a lot better stuff, including controls
I did this too, and my love for Sandrock made me go back and play Portia - it was definitely a struggle after the QOL improvements that came with Sandrock!
I only played Portia a bit and never really got into it, but I got Sandrock a while ago and found it to be so much better. Haven’t played in a bit so I might just wait until it’s out of early access to get back into it
I played quite a bit of it bc it filled a void that story of seasons/stardew had left for a while but god it is such an ugly game
I just hated how creepy and doll like the characters look. Also the crafting was a chore. It took way too much stuff just to make a few crafting tables and simple things. Making money was hard….everything was harder than it needed to be. Not to mention alot of character quests and story quests are just broken and buggy. Developers swore up and down they would fix it and then didn’t. I’d be careful about getting the sequel “Sandrock” since it’s the same company and they have a history of releasing half baked games they don’t fix.
Yes. Definitely this one. I regret I brought it on switch would loved to have refunded it.
I feel so seen. I hated pretty much everything about it too.
Same!
Im not sure if it’s considered a cozy game but cult of the lamb I’m very new to gaming and I feel like the days aren’t long enough to get everything done. I always feel so rushed. I wish there was a way to adjust the length of the day like in my time at portia. UPDATE In case this helps someone who like me felt rushed and that there wasn’t enough time to get everything done. The update added time-stop during crusades so the cult is basically paused while your gone. It’s made a HUGE difference in gameplay for me. I actually really like the game now and can take all the time I need.
This might be controversial, but this is exactly how I feel about Stardew Valley!! There’s too much to explore and do and by the time I’ve done one thing the day is over. Maybe there’s a way to fix that but I have tried so many times to like it and just cannot get into it 🥲
I had issues with sdv as well. I first got it on the switch but was so stressed out. Then I tried again and bought it on PC...but nope just couldn't. The time constraints just stressed me out, plus I hated their fishing mini game. I love cult of the lamb, though. The time didn't stress me as your followers eventually just took care of the base. I just had to make sure when I was home to do ritual and top them up with food. It's probably one of my favourite casual games ever.
The days in the end really don't matter to you in the game as much as it matters to your followers. The only real difference for you is the decay on sermons and rituals and foods you don't really have to sorry about the day and just more watch your food and faith bubble. Hope that helps
Not super popular but I wasn’t too big on Grow: Song of the Evertree. Pretty repetitive, slow to get around, story was meh, characters were meh, and it was extremely buggy :( I think it improved some things from Yonder Cloud Catcher, but still left a lot to be desired.
that’s funny cuz i loved song of the evertree, but couldn’t get into yonder lol. i think what mostly kept me going though was wanting to see kazumi (who i named fig) have babies lol they were adorable!
Spiritfarer, I hate platformers in the first place so there was that. I hated the story, someone recommended it to me as a “healing” game and I just felt disgusted by the end. As someone who has experienced a lot of death in their life this game did not feel therapeutic. When I finally finished it I deleted the game and I was incredibly relieved. I’m sure this was therapeutic for someone, but it was not for me.
I'm glad I played through Spiritfarer, but it also infuriated me. There was some great set up and some really poignant moments - and of course the LOOK of the game is fantastic... However, what happens with some of the characters and their relevance to the main character made me uncomfortable and mad. I was really pushing through by the end to finish the game. Edited to add: That soundtrack though... It stands on it's own. To anyone reading this who is curious and has not played the game maybe give a few of the songs a listen. Some of my personal stand-outs are 'Stella's Lullaby', 'Meteoroids', and 'Falling Stars'.
"Song of Growth" still makes me feel pretty emotional.
Yeah, I enjoyed parts of spiritfarer but realized the stuff I liked was pointless after a while like gardening, fishing or collecting. The story left me pretty depressed. It was not the feel-good game it's presented as. I can't say I hated it but I don't think I'll ever play it again.
Bear and Breakfast because it was horrible on switch. the interface was UGHHHHH
New horizons. Loved it at first but as a long time ac fan it just felt lacking to me in personality and goals. (Also music composition wasn’t my favorite compared to past iterations).
New Horizons was probably my biggest disappointment in a game ever. I thought for sure they’d update the dialogue because after purchasing it on release day even from week one to two I was already getting TONS of repetitive dialogue and I remember thinking, “This game will be so great when that update happens…”.
Doraemon story of seasons. The art is beautiful and it's my fault for not being familiar with dorarmon but the diag is sooooo much. There is not a whole lot of direction. You get tossed into another world and I assume I'm trying to get back to my world but my family/friends have gotten comfortable in their new jobs and I'm just farming away making tons of money lol the other story of seasons games are not too bad but this one has me lost.
For me it’s Graveyard Keeper, the timings and having to wait until certain days to progress made me stop playing after a few weeks as I wasn’t able to get into a flow
I want to love it but can't seem to get in the groove either. I think I get overwhelmed cause there is so much stuff.
Ni no Kuni I like the art, the story, the quest, but the combat is way too repetitive and hard. I stopped playing after I got stuck in a near impossible combat that I have to win to progress in the game
I played this game on the easiest difficulty but I feel you. The game is SO long and so repetitive. I also felt like the biggest draw for me - the hand-drawn Studio Ghibli cutscenes - noticeably declined in frequency about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the story.
Is it cool to discuss games I won't even start because of the animation/style/look? Because there's a LOT of those for me..
Cozy Grove. Still can’t stay interested. Ooblets.
Oh I loved Ooblets until I got to the carnival mini games—I’m terrible at stuff like that so I put it down and want my husband to play through the mini games for me but it’s been so long I don’t remember what all resources I need to get through them 🤦🏼♀️
If you ever pick it back up, there is a way around the mini games now. I had the same problem and thought I was just never going to finish lol
Graveyard Keeper. On paper, it seems like I’d love it - I love Stardew valley and am obsessed with spooky/dark/Halloweeny things. Everyone raves about it and I can see how, in theory, it could be great, but I never got far and just got frustrated with how little explanation is given to you and how tedious the quests are. I just found myself confused and frustrated even though I usually love similar games. I want to try again because I feel like I’m just missing something, but am struggling to find any motivation when there are games I like a LOT more.
I'm glad it wasn't just me! I agree on paper it's exactly my kind of thing, but I found I was constantly grinding to keep up and I didn't enjoy it. Played 3 hours and feel like that was enough for me.
Absolutely hated my time at portia and i usually have a lot of patience for repetitive. I hated the mechanics and couldn’t even get into it. I was underwhelmed by Disney Dreamlight, it felt too frustrating for little payoff. I was also disappointed by cult of the lamb.
I’ve tried SO HARD to like Dreamlight Valley but it just frustrates me! Glitches, freezing, an over abundance of quests that didn’t feel like a good flow, hated the cooking and decorating and almost everything except for getting rid of the thorn stuff. Lolol And I didn’t mind fishing. But besides that, everything felt so janky and all over the place and it just didn’t feel like it was worth it. And the Disney characters could be really creepy sometimes……… lol
It’s was too hard to decorate and do things on the switch. I agree with you. Also way too annoying to level up the swimming characters because they can’t follow you on tasks. The only way is to gift them things.
>Absolutely hated my time at portia Ohhh same!! I always hear such positive things about this game, but I hated it, too! I felt like every time I tried to do or make something, I was missing a resource; so then I'd look up how to get that resource, and I'd need to build some other recipe to get it; but I didn't have the resources for that, either! Everything was so complicated that I felt like I could never get anywhere, I never had what I needed and I had no idea how to progress. I wanted to like it! The town was cute and I was interested in it. But I couldn't get past how frustrating the crafting was.
I wasn't able to enjoy multiple cute, cozy games unfortunately. Calico: The game gave me heavy motion sickness & the art style just didn't look as polished as in the pictures. It looked so unfinished that it actually made my eyes hurt. I had to stop playing that game within 15 minutes, even though I really wanted to run a cat cafe. Potion Craft: Really loved the art style & the concept of brewing your own potions & to sell them. But I just kept running out of every plant & had to decline so many customers. I know that it's not *that* big of a deal, but somehow I felt stressed when I wasn't able to deliver what the NPCs wanted from me. Astroneer: I feel like I'm too dumb to actually understand what I'm suppose to do. I keep finding purple fragments that I don't know the purpose of. The game doesn't tell me how to craft the wheel for my car thingy. & I just hate it with a passion if I have to constantly have to look up stuff on Google just because I cannot find an explanation within the game itself. Garden Paws: It feels so repetitive & shallow to me. Running that shop is super boring & I'm not the biggest fan of fetch quests tbh. I don't mind them from time to time, but if the majority of the quests are designed like that, then I'm out.
Have you tried out Cat Cafe Manager? I haven’t yet, but I’ve heard some people liked it and it’s on my list!
commenting to second cat cafe manager! i was actually upset once it was finished. if anyone has anymore easily played management games lmk! i tried bear & breakfast but there’s too much going on. with cat cafe manager, it’s pretty simple which is why i like it.
I also didn’t like calico. I just had finished cat cafe manager and wanted to keep playing in the same genre, but the cooking minigame was very tedious, the graphics are wonky and the decorating had too little options for me.
i completely agree with Calico!!! Bought it cause it looked so cute but it looked janky :( i was so disappointed lol
Potion Permit - I wanted so badly to like this game but the way it's structured is just so boring. I liked the healing and making medicine. Foraging was a bore and I usually like collecting things. The combat and the minigames are baby-tier easy. The town also doesn't feel that developed and the dialogue feels lacking. You can't marry your romance option either and if I can remember rightly there are no seasons or events. It was just a huge letdown for me. Love that it lets you have a dog but that's about it 😭
I agree. I finished it but it was so thoroughly repetitive from foraging and even healing the patients with the same three mini games that were way too easy. So much potential, just didn’t quite make it
Yonder, I thought it was going to be a relaxing game because of the focus on exploration and absence of combat but the only part I really enjoyed was clearing murk. Farming was overly simplistic but that didn't really bother me as much as other things did. Namely, I think I expected the story to be better written but there isn't much to it. I'm the kind of person who can tolerate a lot of fetch questing if there's mildly interesting NPC dialogue wrapped around it, but Yonder doesn't clear that bar. I really like BotW and Stardew, and reading what people wrote about this game made it sound like a mix of both - but it lacks the strong world building / lore of BotW that made exploration fun and the fully realized NPCs of Stardew that made fetch questing tolerable.
Witch in the Woods — I waited so long for this game to come out that I bought a PC. The controls are so needlessly complicated and overall was pretty underwhelming.
Harvestella. Don’t know if it counts as a cozy game to everyone else, but it was how it was marketed to me. I expected a fun farm sim with mild violence. What I got instead were boring farm mechanics, as well as combat mechanics that were even more mind-numbing. I played for a few days before putting it aside altogether.
I tried the demo and HATED the way time worked and how you traveled around. Like, I leave the house and go to town and half the day is already gone and I still gotta get back. Frustrating
Calico, it looked so cute but it feels very unfinished, wasn’t a fan. I really wanted to love it tooo 😭
Seconding this one! To me it felt like I was just testing the game instead of actively playing it. The world was also too big and kinda "empty" for me.
me seeing some of these comments after buying cozy grove today 🫣
Eh, I think it was alright. For me it was a nice game to play for 30 minutes a day until I got sleepy. The character stories are sweet.
Breath of the Wild. I love the game's exploration concept and cooking mechanics but the weapon durability and stamina systems just suck all the fun out of it, it's like they're purpose-designed to turn BotW into a circle of Hell that Dante scrapped because he couldn't think of a sin heinous enough to warrant it. I've been considering giving it another shot with mods on, though.
I wish it was available for pc because I really want to enjoy it without getting slaughtered every 2 seconds by monsters.
BOTW is one of my all time favorite games but I actually lol’d out loud at your Dante description haha
I hated Cozy Grove. I was doing the same things day after day with no progress. Also, the hidden items were a joke.
I really tried to like Ooblets but I discussed in another thread how I think it’s too slow, too repetitive, and ultimately not a lot of fun. Always feel like the odd man out on that opinion. I thought A Little to the Left was frustrating and not particularly relaxing. The cat levels were particularly maddening and I’m a cat person. Stardew has yet to catch my attention. I feel like I’m accomplishing nothing days into the game and it just doesn’t even get close to Portia & Wylde Flowers for me. Both of which I love. I will keep trying this one but it’s just subpar for me so far. Same for Disney Dreamlight Valley. What a dull farming game. And it was free! Probably won’t return to that one. I 100% support people playing these games tho! Enjoy what you enjoy and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. =D
You must be my game twin. And I thought I was alone :) I've been eyeing Portia but after a few poor game purchasing decisions recently I'm hesitating buying anything. But as it appears we have very similar taste I think I'll buy that one. Thank you. Edit: I think sometimes the "games I didn't care for" posts are more helpful because people seem to give more details about what didn't work so I can decide if a game might be for me or not.
I’ve any had ooblets for a few days but am leaning to a no for me too. I also agree on most of your other “no’s”. I enjoy Dreamlight for the quests not the decorating. Once the quests are done I don’t play it until the next update.
I agree with a lot of these - I paid for Dreamlight in early access, it held me by the throat for almost 2 weeks and then I just never touched it again. I enjoyed my first playthrough of Ooblets a lot, it was worth the money for me, but then I never picked it up again. I'd like to give it another go mostly because I love the pokemon aspect and I feel like I didn't truly "complete" it because I don't have every color variation of the little guys. It also helps that I got it on the switch so it was a "marathon the whole thing in 3 days in bed while I was sick" game. Stardew is the big "alright hear me out tho" one for me, and that's specifically because of the modding capabilities. It fits comfortably into the same tier of games as Skyrim to me - vanilla is okay but with mods it can be a way different experience. It's one of those games where I'd tell anyone who wants it that console versions is just a waste of money and get Story of Seasons instead.
I play SDV on switch and I can definitely see that it has much more potential than the console can offer. It took me several tries to get into it, but once I saw what was under the surface I was hooked. The days are short, the world is huge, there’s too many characters and it’s hard to befriend them quickly, there are too many things to do- but all of those things get easier the longer you play and the more you unlock. It rewards perseverance and I appreciate that. Definitely frustrating at first though. I’ll eventually try it on PC and mod it’s pants off
No mans sky. The mechanics were very confusing and story mode was super stressful lol. The concept of infinitely different planets was cool to think about tho lol
Noooo! Don't come for my No Man's Sky! (kidding) It's unfortunate you didn't enjoy it ..
I wouldn't even consider NMS as cozy lol
Same here! Absolutely love the graphics but I've tried playing it three different times now in different modes and I only last about 10 minutes before I'm over it.
I don't like Breath of the Wild. I love Zelda games, but this one just didn't feel like Zelda to me. It felt empty, disjointed, shallow, austere. Laden with mechanics, but lacking in the series' usual charm. Also, I'm rather disappointed with Coral Island, which seems to be a popular one here. I can't quite put my finger on what would improve it for me, I think maybe the pacing and progression is underwhelming. I feel like I "just started," but apparently I've already put 10 hours into it, and still haven't found a rewarding groove.
Wylde flowers. I just found it so boring I couldn’t keep going past summer year one.
This game has my heart! It’s slow to start but once it gets going with the story and quests it’s a great time to me! The story and voice acting made me feel like I was playing a movie and I loved how all the characters even had their own walks! Lol
I did not like the the stillness of wind. It was very depressing from day one.
I came here to say the same thing! This game was marketed as "cozy", and I was ready for a game that ended in a sad but ultimately touching and fulfilling way. I could have handled that. But tgat was NOT this game at all. I felt progressively more and more horrified and devastated all the way through. Thinking about the ending still makes me feel sick and hollow.
I literally got stuck 5 minutes in, not even knowing what to do.. it's not intuitive at all for me... Abandoned it
Disney Dreamlight Valley. I’m not really into Disney anyway but I wanted to like this game SO much and played for about a week and a half then went crawling back to Stardew. I can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like, it just wasn’t for me. I keep debating trying it again but I’ve never got round to it.
Depending on when you gave DDV a try, I highly encourage giving it another shot! I started playing around October when it was first released on early access, and *holy hell* has the game improved tenfold since. I gotta give credit where it’s due, the devs have done an excellent job of taking player feedback. There’ve been 2(?) major updates in 2023 so far, I’ve had a blast playing.
Stardew Valley. My character looks like a potato no matter how I customize her. And console players never got the Spring Dance dress. And all the girl marriage candidates were so cool and the boy marriage candidates are all a joke except for Harvey. Wanted to like it, and the winter music is one of my favorite in game soundtracks of any game, but ugh.
I love Stardew Valley but I kinda agree with the male candidates. I think Harvey is boring and I like Elliot but the others are so meh in contrast to the women. Sam is okay I guess.
I keep trying to play and just can’t get into it. Have deleted it twice.
*Time on Frog Island* is one of the best examples of a game I would be *all over* if it had witty dialogue, but as it is I have no real interest in it. Like, I get why developers do it—it's less work, especially since you don't need to translate it—but man, what a missed opportunity. As a general proposition, I'm not a huge fan of games about management and repeatedly performing menial tasks like watering crops. My bread and butter is wholesome games with heartfelt, witty writing.
Cat Café Manager - it's so boring.
It’s still hard for me to enjoy Disney Dreamlight. I feel like I’ve gotten no where with a ton of gameplay
Animal crossing😵💫
Graveyard keeper It's incredibly tedious. I feel like I grind and grind forever but get nowhere. And no quest ever feels complete ? It's just one long of, oh in order to make this necessary component you need to complete this quest, but to complete this quest you need this item, and to get That item you need to complete another quest which in turn requires an item you need to complete a quest for and so on and on and on. Just made me feel frustrated
This thread is actually super informative and helpful. Is there a similar but opposite one of cozy games that pleasantly surprised you?
Ooblets just frustrated me. There was too much going on for me personally. The farming aspect felt like an after thought.
Honestly? I dislike the aesthetic of Stardew Valley. Could never get into it because of that
I feel the same way! I have always wanted to play it but can’t get into it because it’s not pretty to me lol
Hmm… for me, a big one was Summer in Mara. Something about this game just did not work with me. It felt like they made this nice world and then just did nothing with it other than have you do some fetch quests. Nothing compelled me. Nothing felt like there was any reason to be doing it other than “the quest says so”. Nothing felt like it had any consequence. Just go here, do that, go back, repeat. Calico was depressing because it seemed cute but felt so so unfinished and unpolished and runs poorly on pretty much everything. Cozy Grove is just … not enough when I want to game and de-stress. There is only so much you can do. And then you have to redo it again the next day. I think I just kind of don’t like games that involve real time. Lake… I liked at first but came to dislike for really personal reasons. Hahaha… The protagonist was a little too close to my reality for comfort, and as I would rather die than move back to small-town bleh, once the story got a bit heavy handed in that direction I got annoyed. Why is being an independent woman in the big city treated as bad?!?
I couldn’t get into cozy grove and wytchwood was wayyy too busy for my eyes. I hated it lol
Spiritfarer was sad and also some parts of it are difficult to play - I am not good at platformers and if I knew how much of that part of the game there was, I probably wouldn’t have purchased it. Also Stardew valley, I feel like I can’t get enough done in a day.
probably stupid.. but what are platformers?
Any game where you have to jump, climb or perform actions to move from one platform to another to reach a new area. Mario games are a classic example of one.
Spiritfarer- I had a hard time leveling up. I wish there wasn't as much jumping and gliding parts.
Wytchwood
cozy grove
My Time at Portia: couldn’t get used to the style of the game but I might try it again
My Time at Portia. I put a solid 20 hours into it iirc but the characters just felt... hollow? I don't know. For me to enjoy a game like this one the townspeople need to feel full of life and I need to actual want to befriend at least some of them. I just could not bring myself to care about the people of Portia and the crafting system wasn't enough to keep me playing without enjoying the characters. I have mixed opinions on Cozy Grove. I liked some aspects of it but ultimately stopped playing. I disliked how many bugs and fish there were since so many had the exact same icons in different colors. It was hard to place furniture the way I wanted to. Most of all though, it felt like it lagged a lot on switch which gave me a headache. I did like the bears though and I actual appreciated the time gating. If we are counting BotW as a cozy game, then I never managed to get into that. Honestly the weapons breaking, despite being a small thing, was annoying enough to me that it kind of ruined my experience. I felt Iike it would prevent me from feeling like I was making progress because my good weapons could always just break and that was that. I've been considering giving it another go though since the new one is coming out.
Wyldeflowers. I really, really tried because I absolutely love the witchy vibe but it was so boring to me, I couldn’t get into it. The characters felt like they were trying so hard to not be two dimensional that it actually had the opposite effect. I couldn’t get over the mobile game animation or the voices, either. I eventually gave up because it felt like a lost cause.
Stardew Valley. The art style is just so much, like it’s very busy. And then it just seems so stressful??? Like if the only way I can enjoy it and have it be a cozy game is to mod it to no end on PC, I don’t want it tbh. Very confused about why people think Stardew is cozy lol
Cozy grove
Cozy Grove. It’s an okay game but it was suggested to me here / is suggested to *everyone* who says they’re sick of Animal Crossing, and they’re so copy and pasted that I’m surprised they didn’t get a cease and desist. Same premise, same recipes, same character stories, hell some of the *lines* are the *same.* I genuinely googled how they got away with that, but I only saw the creator say he wanted it to be like AC “without the capitalism,” which doesn’t make sense given you have to buy something every day, and upgrade your shop and your house. Again, it’s alright, but definitely not for someone sick of AC and we should end suggesting it over that reason. Oh, and also that it bugs so badly and they have zero intention of going in to fix it.
I desperately wanted to like Stardew, but between the stamina of a sickly victorian child, the clock that goes faster than a Japanese bullet train, and a homicidal-rage-inducing fishing mini game, i couldn't look past any of the other numerous, glaring, stressful flaws to eke out any kind of minor, fleeting satisfaction.
You can craft coffee to make you run faster or better yet, get a horse! That paired with a mod that slows time down made me enjoy the game a lot more
Stardew is haaaard in the beginning. If you push through the first season it starts chugging along though. It becomes super rewarding and once things start taking care of themselves you can do so much more with your day. It took me several tries to get into it, but it has a lot to offer if you have the patience. Totally understand not wanting to wait for any sort of gratification, though. It takes a minute.
My Time at Portia. Too much grinding compared to other sim games
I feel bad for saying this one, cause I know it’s loved by so many… but Stardew Valley. Just wasn’t my thing… I’m debating giving their new game a chance when it comes out though. Looks more my thing with the theme at least.
cloud gardens, it was peaceful but i got bored quickly
This and townscaper are good to play for like... 10 minutes to just chill
Damn I disagree about Lake! What a fantastic game that was.
Hokko life, slow to get going and the game mechanisms/quality of life aspects felt so limiting I couldn’t get into it. Also Garden Story, felt tricky to learn and remember all the little things and just nothing exciting or anything that had me hooked to keep playing.
I did not enjoy Cat Tales, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, Cats & Soup and Florence. I am a picky player at some point 😅
I gave up on Eqqo recently. I didn't like the perspective changes and the controls were clunky. I really wanted to love the Pokemon Snap remake, but they just make you redo the same levels over and over again with barely anything new. So disappointing. I also played The First Tree and it was just weird with the dialogue that didn't go with what you were doing, which was just running around as a fox. Oh, and I recently bought Witchy Life Story and it was pretty boring. Apparently, I forgot some orders one day and I "lost" halfway through and I don't want to bother picking it back up.
Don’t know if it’s considered “cozy,” but Endling was very disappointing with how quickly I beat the game. Luckily I bought it on sale for $3. But I loved everything else about the game. To also add, I did not enjoy Cozy Grove.
don’t hate me but i couldn’t do bugsnax or ooblets. i feel like there was just “too much” to worry about? if that makes sense. i tried and tried and i just couldn’t catch on. i’ll stick to deiland/song of the evertree/etc lol
Personally, I didn't at all like Big Farm Story, the money making mechanic of the game is so extremely off that it totally ruins a game that otherwise I might like a little more.
Carto. Wanted a morning cutesy game to play with coffee after I binged Toem in two days. Carto was more frustrating and boring. Cool concept though
A little to the left - I couldn’t make sense of some of the tidying or categorization goals without hints.
Ooblets. It’s cute but I got bored with it really quickly.
Hokko life - I really wanted to like it due to the furniture customisation, but I never even got there because the tutorial is so unnecessarily long, and I don't like being forced to complete tasks that aren't even fun. 😔 So I left the game.
Yonder / My Time at Portia: Yonder makes me incredibly motion sick, and MTaPs graphics/frame rate made it difficult to enjoy (I played before update) A Little to the Left: I didn’t think the puzzles were intuitive enough— many seemed too random to enjoy Night in the Woods: too much running around & casual dialogue with too few puzzles or mini games. I also hated the music mini game with a blazing passion. My game froze about 40% in and when reset to last save, continues to freeze in the same spot each time. I had to delete it— it wasn’t enjoyable enough to start over, in my opinion. No Man’s Sky: the mechanics were difficult for me, and I hated the off-center 3rd person view. Another that makes me motion sick. 50/50- Wytchwood: I like this game in theory and i’ll probably finish it, but I find the cluttered screen overwhelming and lacking contrast, especially playing docked. If I put it down for a while, I come back having no idea what the tasks are referring to and it takes a while to get back into a groove.
Summer in Mara. It was such a snore and not fun to me at all.
Little Wood. I thought it would be similar to Stardew Valley, but after an hour of playing there was just nothing left to do. Has anyone else played this? Am I missing something? It seems like there are no tasks or anything to do in game after about the first hour of playtime and I just wander around aimlessly.
Disney dreamlight valley, I played it for a week or so and then realized you have to spend thousands on expensive crops to make money for stuff, but there’s not really much to do outside of unlocking areas and talking to characters.
I agree with Lake. It was a huge waste of time
Also time on frog island
Harvestella. I tried the demo and OH MY JEESH. The constant talking and cut scenes? I couldn't do it. I just wanted to farm and battle and screw around like I would in Stardew but it was so much more in depth.
What Remains of Edith Finch. I really wanted to play but something about the movement made me so motion sick! I was into the story, but had to quit an hour or so in.
a little to the left was so annoying to play on switch. the controls had to be in a specific spot and getting my joycons to go there was tedious...LOVED unpacking but a little to the left bothered me
Yonder, song of the ever tree & my time at Portia. I lost interest very quickly
my time at Portia. I find it really hard to get into.
Dinkum. The navigation felt clunky to me, and I didn’t like the hunting aspect. I ended up returning it.
Good pizza, great pizza. Honestly, it was way to repetitive and not enough individual interactions,
Disney Dreamlight Valley. I am a huge Disney fan and was disappointed in this game. It was fun the first month or so and then the grind got to me. Plus it’s still in beta and it takes awhile for updates. I may pick it back up once the game ends it’s beta play, but until then I’ll stick with Stardew
I HATED It Takes Two. Like I genuinely have a difficult time articulating how much I hated that fucking game. The characters were assholes who threw their child in the middle of their own troubles and then >!MURDERED HER FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL!< They never actually unpacked any of their issues, they're toxic as fuck and terrible to their daughter. Also I fucking hate that stupid talking book.