Cozy Grove

Cozy Grove presents island life sans crass Capitalistic Raccoon Overlords, and is a lovely experience through and through.

Cozy Grove is a very different kind of life sim. It’s so cheerful on the surface, but underneath the bark is a process of patience and of letting go the things holding one back or keeping them tethered in a difficult spot. I think for as fast-paced, hectic, and chaotic as our lives often get, there’s something a lot of players could take away from Cozy Grove, and the daily journey with this game makes it more than worthwhile if you’ve got the time and resolve to keep coming back.

Cozy Grove is great to look at, and only having to spend 20 minutes a day doing so doesn't make it feel like a chore. Gameplay can eventually feel repetitive, alas, such is the struggle with life sim games, and this one does it better than most.

Cozy Grove is a life-sim game that takes a few pages from Animal Crossing while encouraging you to take some time to log off from the game. While the controls are finicky at best, it still provides for a comfortable experience.

If you love the very special brand of relaxation that comes from the Animal Crossing series, but after over a year with New Horizons are looking for something similar but just a little bit different, then maybe Cozy Grove is the game for you. It doesn’t feel so much like a game, as it does a relaxing space for you to drop by and visit every day. Instead of a number of cute animals to interact with, the island is inhabited by friendly ghosts!

As requested by the developers, I would play roughly a half-hour of Cozy Grove a day. In my case, I was playing my half-hour before bed and found it to be a very pleasing and somewhat zen-like experience. From gathering someone else’s mail to setting fire to fish to collect fish bones, I am enjoying my time with Cozy Grove. I think Cozy Grove is a game everyone could enjoy if they allowed themselves to fall into it.

All in all, I say this is a great game to pick up if you’re a fan of the genre. It’s endlessly charming, and a real breath of fresh air in terms of its style and gameplay loop. On Spry Fox’s website, they claim they “want to make the world a happier place” with games, and I say they have more than achieved that goal.

For all its imperfections, Cozy Grove is enjoyable enough, even if it does start to get monotonous after a little while. Its limited daily playtime is suited better to a mobile device, but even on console there’s something nice about having somewhere to visit for a short while each day. There does need to be more to keep players occupied outside of a handful of quests, though. And performance is an issue that really needs to be addressed. Don’t expect a replacement for Animal Crossing, but Cozy Grove will raise a smile or two.

The game sets the pace, and that's it's biggest problem.

If you're looking for a very simple, very low-key game you can dabble in for a few minutes each day, then sure, Cozy Grove might be up your alley. Just don't expect much depth or nuance in the way of gameplay here.