Often, when you ask for cozy game recommendations, people are going to throw out farming sims like Stardew Valley. Planting and harvesting are often considered staples of the cozy game genre, but sometimes, you’re not in the mood for virtual crop management. Thankfully, there are plenty of wholesome, relaxing games that don’t demand you plow, sow, or harvest a single plant. From cooking games to visual novels to management sims, here are the best cozy games that aren’t about farming.
10. Witchy Life Story
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam
Price: $19.99
If you like a visual novel with lighter gameplay elements, Witchy Life Story will deliver. In this game, you play as a young witch who’s been sent to a small town to help them with their local festival. You mix up potions and charms for the locals while getting to know them, and there’s even a light romance element as you decide who to take on the big festival date. There’s some light garden tending as you gather ingredients for your potions, but it’s point-and-click style, no rows of crops required.
Witchy Life Story is a relatively short game, but the different date options and choices give it some replayability. Still, I suggest snagging this one on sale.
9. Supurr Cat Cafe: Sandwich Rush
Platform(s): PC via Steam
Price: $5.99 (Free Demo)
Not everyone might consider a sandwich stacking game cozy, but here me out on this one. For many millennials of a certain age, this one will bring back the Disney Flash games vibe from the Stitch sandwich stacker. I don’t know about you, but catching ingredients for sandwiches and doing nothing else can be a pretty cozy experience when I’m in the mood for it. In Supurr Cat Cafe: Sandwich Rush, you catch falling ingredients to build sandwiches, collect cats, and dress ’em up.
Supurr Cat Cafe: Sandwich Rush doesn’t really have a linear story, so you can keep playing for a good bit of time. That said, you will eventually unlock all of the costumes and shop upgrades, with an estimated two to three hours of gameplay.
8. Magical Delicacy
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam
Price: $24.99 (Free with Xbox Game Pass)
This game is a real delight, but it does contain some mild platforming elements, which is why it isn’t higher on the list. Not everyone might consider platforming cozy, but the pixel art, storyline, and brewing up potions and meals earn this one the wholesome label in my book. Magical Delicacy is a nice, narrative-driven witchy game with a cooking twist, perfect for keeping you engaged without combat. Plus, even if you fall down during platforming, you can just try again – no health points to keep track of.
Magical Delicacy does have a definitive beginning and end, and the main story will take around 25-30 hours, depending on your gameplay speed and determination to get every achievement.
7. Spirittea
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam
Price: $19.99 (Free with Xbox Game Pass)
If you’ve ever dreamed of running a bath house or living inside a cozy game with Studio Ghibli vibes, Spirittea is the cozy game for you. In this pixel art game, you run a bath house for spirits. Keep the water at the right temperature and seat spirits according to their preferences while slowly helping more spirits to remember themselves and stop haunting the city.
Spirittea is a unique take on the cozy genre, offering all the fun management sim vibes you could want, but without running a restaurant or farm. Gameplay length varies depending on how completionist you are, but there is a story ARC to it, so it’ll be somewhere around 45-60 hours to finish the game content.
6. Coffee Talk
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC via Steam
Price: $12.99
Coffee Talk is an iconic visual novel that introduced many gamers to the genre. There’s now a sequel, with a third game on the way, offering fans of more relaxed, story-driven gameplay plenty of hours to enjoy. In Coffee Talk, you’re a barista at a unique coffee bar that operates at night. You’ll make drinks and talk to your customers, getting to know them as their stories unfold. The gameplay mechanics are very simple, and the art style is super cozy, making this a great game when you want to get lost in a good story.
There are about five hours of story content in Coffee Talk, though there are multiple possible endings, so you could wind up playing a few times to see everything. If you enjoy the first Coffee Talk, there’s Coffee Talk: Episode 2 Hibiscus & Butterfly to continue the story, with the third game on the way.
5. Traveller’s Rest
Platform(s): PC via Steam (Early Access)
Price: $17.99
Traveller’s Rest is a tavern management game where you play as a local innkeeper. There is some farming involved, but it’s not the primary focus, as you’ll be busy crafting, cooking, and running your tavern. The game recently got a pretty major update that adds more robust story elements alongside the enjoyable tavern management gameplay, as well as multiplayer. And yes, there’s fishing as well. This is a great game if you love restaurant management and want some of those other cozy gaming staples as well.
As Traveller’s Rest is still in Early Access, it’s hard to say exactly how long the gameplay will be when the game is complete. Currently, the main story is around 20-25 hours of content, but that could change as the game develops and gets future updates.
4. Cozy Caravan
Platform(s): PC via Steam (Early Access)
Price: $19.99
Another game in Early Access, but packed full of cozy content, is the aptly named Cozy Caravan. This adorable game has intentionally slow gameplay, where you travel around in your caravan helping the locals with various tasks. You’ll do a bit of harvesting to help out the local farmers, but mainly this game is a slow-paced fetch quest game where you’ll host weekly farmer’s markets to sell your baked goods and produce accumulated throughout the week. And you get to be an adorable animal while doing it.
Cozy Caravan gets new content added pretty regularly in Early Access, but there are still some new additions to go, meaning the length of the finished game is TBD. There’s around 10-15 hours of content as of now, with more to come.
3. Moonstone Island
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, Mobile (Crunchyroll Only)
Price: $19.99 (Free on Mobile with Crunchyroll Subscription)
Moonstone Island is a little bit Pokemon, a little bit Stardew Valley, and definitely cozy. The game combines life sim and creature collector elements, as you play a young magic user setting out on their own to complete alchemy training. There is a bit of farming, but it’s hardly the main focus. You’ll explore dungeons, temples, and biomes while engaging in turn-based combat using a card system. While there is battling, it’s relatively chill thanks to the turn-based system – no quick reflexes required! You’ll also get to know the local NPCs, craft items, and customize your home.
Moonstone Island offers a free demo so you can try it out before you buy, and it still gets relatively frequent updates and new DLC to expand the game. The main story is somewhere around 30-40 hours, though you can certainly take a “gotta catch ’em all” approach to the Spirits, which do have Holographic varieties to gather as well.
2. Minami Lane
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam
Price: $4.99
I’m not saying this is the perfect cozy game, but I’m also not not saying it. Minami Lane is a short-but-sweet street management game where your goal is to slowly build up the street with the right businesses to keep the locals happy. It’s broken into a series of levels with different objectives, and the art style and soundtrack are extra wholesome. You’ll place shops, adjust their offerings, and keep track of everyone’s happiness levels until you meet your objectives. Then it’s on to the next level for more cozy fun. There’s also a sandbox mode if you just want to vibe in your beautiful new community.
This is definitely a “short but sweet” game, with the pricetag to match. Minami Lane offers around two to four hours of gameplay in the story mode, with the option to keep going in sandbox mode.
1. Lemon Cake
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC via Steam
Price: Varies by Platform. $14.99 on Steam, $19.99 on Xbox & PlayStation, and $29.99 for Switch
Baking fans and restaurant sim lovers, may I present my personal favorite cafe management game? Lemon Cake has an adorable art style and sweet premise where you help rehab a run-down bakery with the help of the friendly ghost who once owned it. You’ll set your menu, bake your items, and deliver them to customers. There are new recipes to learn and upgrades to unlock, and while you’ll eventually harvest certain ingredients from the attached greenhouse, it’s not all-out farming.
To unlock all recipes and complete the main story in Lemon Cake, you’ll get about 25-30 hours of gameplay. You can keep on running your bakery as long as you like, but the shine might be off a bit once you’ve unlocked everything.
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