Colder nights and darker days mean one thing: cosy gaming season has arrived.
It's the perfect season for curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea and entering a gentle world full of whimsical, cute characters.
While the better-known games of the genre, such as Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and The Sims are popular for good reason, there are dozens of lesser-known titles that are equally inviting (players ready for something new: check out our list of the best cosy games that you can download and play right now).
As the genre of cosy gaming continues to grow and evolve, we continually have more projects to look forward to playing.
For prolific gamers looking for their next warm and fuzzy outing, here's our rundown of the upcoming cosy games that we just can’t wait to get our hands on.
Haunted Chocolatier
Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, or Concerned Ape, has been teasing fans with sneak peeks into his next project: Haunted Chocolatier.
Barone has revealed that the game involves gathering ingredients, making chocolate, and running a chocolate shop. Plus, it has more of a focus on combat than its predecessor.
While fans have already caught a glimpse of early gameplay footage, Barone is reluctant to reveal much else about the game, so it will still be a surprise for players when it finally arrives.
Barone announced the project in 2021, but there’s no release date set yet.
Paralives
The Sims fans, this one’s for you. Paralives is a simulation game in which players can design their characters and homes with extraordinary detail, and with far more customisation options than The Sims 4 base game.
Like The Sims, Paralives players will manage their sim as they embark on a career, find love, and build a family.
Alex Massé and the team are sharing updates on X, and gamers can join the Paralives Patreon to stay in the loop.
Grave Seasons
Grave Seasons is a farming sim with a twist. Like Stardew Valley, players will be tasked with running a farm, and are able to romance the town’s NPCs.
However, in each game of Grave Seasons, an NPC is randomly selected to be a serial killer. The player is challenged to discover who the killer is and save the townsfolk from murder.
The game is in early development, so there’s no release date yet. But you can keep up with the SON M’s progress over on X (@bogboogie).
Pine Hearts
Pine Hearts is a puzzle exploration game inspired by the item-based progression of Zelda.
Gamers will play as a camper who explores Pine Hearts Caravan Park for the first time since they visited with their father as a child.
They will need to befriend their fellow campers in order to gain tools that will allow them access to the wider forest, all while taking a trip down memory lane.
There’s no release date just yet, but it’s expected to become available on the Nintendo Switch in 2024.
Botany Manor
Botany Manor is an exploration puzzle game set in the 19th century.
Gamers play as Arabella Greene, a retired botanist, who must inspect clues to find the plants’ ideal habitats, while learning about Arabella’s life and career as they go.
The beautiful gardens and warm interiors of Botany Manor, plus its relaxing soundtrack, suggest that this game will be a gentle, cosy one to curl up with.
There’s no release date yet, but Steam users can already add it to their wish list.
Bloomtown
Bloomtown is an RPG set in 1960s Americana where all is not as it seems.
Missing children and shadowy figures require Emily and her friends to help save their town from demonic creatures.
Bloomtown sounds like it will appeal to fans of Stranger Things, while the aesthetics of the town are very reflective of other cosy games.
Octopia DLC for Eastward
While this isn’t a new game as such, the upcoming Octopia DLC will appeal to fans of cosy gaming for sure.
Octopia is a farming sim where players are tasked with reviving an abandoned fairground into a village.
It takes place in a parallel world and introduces a more peaceful side to life in Eastward, with no fighting monsters involved.
