Winter season can be full of fun, with sledding, making snowmen, and snowball fights with your friends. However, it can also be really boring- it’s dark early, super cold, and icy. However, gaming can help get you through the season! Check out my favorite games that are regularly in my rotation in my free time.
“Hello Kitty Island Adventure”:
“Hello Kitty Island Adventure” is a relaxing adventure game that works on a real-time 24-hour clock, while also having its own day-night rotation. This game was originally released on the app store, but most recently launched on the Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Steam. This game features Sanrio characters such as My Melody, Pompompurin, Chococat, Kerropi, Gudetama, and of course, Hello Kitty. In this game, you can customize your character by selecting from a variety of creatures and applying color palettes that you collect from raising your friendship with other characters. You play in a world set in an abandoned theme park, where you must work to revive the park through quests and unravel the island’s mysteries.
On the topic of friendship, this game is fantastic for people who love to interact with their villagers. In order to progress in this game, you must first increase your friendship with the townspeople. Through this, you unlock quests and new abilities such as swimming, diving, and mining. You also get to work with characters to complete these tasks and get to know each one’s personality throughout.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing this game. I normally love to time travel throughout games (by changing the time on your console to reflect a different date, it allows you to skip a real-time day), but not being able to do that (by doing this it will cause a bunch of glitches such as losing access to multiplayer functions) required me to pace myself and take the time to thoroughly enjoy every aspect of this game, as well as doing sidequests I wouldn’t normally consider doing just so I could play for longer. Once you complete the main storyline, rest assured there are many different adventures to be had, and the game continues for a lot longer beyond the main plot.
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons”
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” (ACNH) is a classic cozy Nintendo Switch game that expands greatly on the original Animal Crossing franchise. In this game, you travel to a deserted island where you’ll make your home, and work to unlock new buildings like the museum, expand your home, and attract new visitors. And for those who like to time travel- this is the game for you! While this game does operate on a real-time 24-hour clock, you can time travel to your heart’s content and complete the storyline at whatever pace you’d like.
In this game, while there is a main storyline to be completed, many players focus on the design elements, making cozy aesthetic islands and shaping rivers and cliffs to their liking. The possibilities are endless in ACHN- custom pathways, custom clothing, cute furniture, and the quest for a 5-star home and island rating. And if you get bored of the main game? There’s a DLC available to continue the story and unlock even more customization abilities.
This game has definitely been one of my go-to’s since quarantine, as I have over 220 hours played on my switch. Customizing my island is addicting, to say the least, and it’s such a nice game to play for those with a major creative side. I love the ability to visit friends’ islands and the process of kicking out that one annoying villager who just won’t leave no matter how many times I hit them with my net. ACHN is certainly addicting, and a huge hit among Nintendo Switch cozy gamers.
“Fae Farm”
Do you like fantasy, fairies, magic, and adventure? Let me introduce you to your new obsession, “Fae Farm”, which can be found on the Nintendo Switch, as well as Steam. Despite its name, “Fae Farm” doesn’t actually put that much emphasis on farming. In this whimsical world, you complete quests and go through dungeons to help troubled wisps, sprites, and spirits who are causing natural disasters, and harming people on the mainland. Unlock new wands, new magic, and even wings for your efforts, and rid the people of these curses.
“Fae Farm” is being actively worked on by a team of dedicated developers who continue to add new features to the game. Recent updates have brought new content for all players to enjoy. If you love a good grind, this is the perfect play. You must grow and forage supplies for quests and sell for money to upgrade your tools. You can also customize any of your many farms and homes to your liking. This game is also very mining-heavy, as quests require you to go through dungeons, defeat jumbles, and mine new, powerful ores to upgrade your weapons.
This game is one of my all-time favorite cozy games, and I could play it for hours (I have). My favorite aspect of the game is absolutely grinding and strategizing to complete quests, and the ability to do whatever I want whenever I want, as this game does not use a real-time 24-hour clock but rather its own time system that you can also sleep through to travel to a new day. Be warned, however, that this game will end the day once it gets too late, so make sure you’re watching the time while you’re out on a mission.
“Stardew Valley”
If you’ve been on the gaming side of TikTok, you’ve definitely heard of “Stardew Valley”. This game, available on Playstation, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox, and the app store, was created by an indie developer and is a cult classic in terms of farming sims. Create a successful farm, participate in town events, and find your way through the many levels of the mines. This game combines small-town drama, magic, and farming all in one experience. Having many villagers with dynamic personalities, rest assured you will never be bored playing this RPG.
In “Stardew Valley”, the quests are aplenty, with friendship quests, town hall unlocks, and drama-causing quests. You can also romance many characters of your choosing, but be aware- if you get caught cheating, the news will spread like wildfire, and the townsfolk will likely snub you for it. This game also has much in the way of mystery, with a secret wizard tower looming just in the distance.
While Stardew isn’t usually in my regular rotation, I adore watching gameplay while I crochet, as even seeing others play is a very peaceful, calming experience. If you cannot afford this game or simply don’t feel like playing, I highly recommend checking out YouTuber “clove-r” for all things Stardew. This game is great for those rainy days with a nice hot cup of tea, and plenty of time to kill.
“Unpacking”
“Unpacking” is a nostalgia-filled game, found on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation, and Steam, where you play as a young girl, following her life as she moves from her childhood bedroom to college, an apartment with friends, and homes with multiple different relationships. This game is guaranteed to hit home with a lot of young adults, as we all know the feeling of packing up to leave home and start the next chapter of our lives.
This zen game requires you to unpack and arrange the main character’s belongings in the proper places. As you do this, you get to see new hobbies she picks up or leaves behind, watch her taste in decor and clothing change, and follow her through art school.
“Unpacking” never fails to get me emotional. Having moved homes a lot as a kid, I’ve experienced having to leave for somewhere new many times, but none quite as difficult as finally leaving my family to go to college and start my journey to independence. I found this game incredibly relatable, and despite being able to complete it in a day or two, I always come back for another replay every few months.
“A Little to the Left”
Do you know that satisfying feeling when you get that one drawer organized juuuuuust right? Or when you straighten that crooked picture hung on your wall? How about when you arrange your art supplies in perfect rainbow order? Try “A Little to the Left”. This game focuses on that satisfying feeling of getting everything in its proper place, as you organize different spaces and items to fit perfectly.
Unfortunately, it’s not all that easy. You must work against your adorable, villainous cat who has a tendency to cause chaos and make a mess of things. While you place objects neatly, you may find that this absolute goober wants to swat things away, and on some levels, you have to redo the organization or fight with the cat for your things back.
As the owner of a cute but not-so-intelligent black cat, I certainly know the feeling of a weird goofy creature that seems dead-set on never letting things be perfectly neat. I found this game to be very funny and charming as well as satisfying, and I am obsessed with the way things look being so neatly put away. This game is a simple stress reliever, and I cannot recommend it enough.
“Good Pizza, Great Pizza”
My final game suggestion is “Good Pizza, Great Pizza”, available on the app store, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. Play as a pizza restaurant owner competing with the shop nearby to serve the highest quality pizzas in a timely manner. Fulfill orders, unlock new toppings, and maybe you’ll be featured on PNN, or the Pizza News Network.
That’s right, the society in this game revolves around pizza. There are multiple organizations dedicated to pizza- whether it’s quality assurance or pizza theft. These organizations play a big role in the storyline of the “Good Pizza, Great Pizza” universe. Also, be prepared to make a lot of weird pizza combinations, or have people coming into your shop asking for things in riddles, or just “cheese bread”.
I’ve been playing “Good Pizza, Great Pizza” since before a lot of new game content with a modern storyline was released, and it was just as addicting then as it is now. The pizzas make me hungry every time, and the customers are very entertaining. The repetitiveness of this game is balanced perfectly with quests and dynamic characters. Also if you enjoy this game, check out the developer’s newest release- “Good Coffee, Great Coffee”!
All in all, I hope anyone reading this article found a new, entertaining game to break up these long winter days and enjoy the last of this spring semester!