The Game Awards are my Golden Globes/Oscars event each year. I don’t watch a lot of movies or TV, but I play a ton of (mostly indie) games. I’d rather be in control of the stories I consume, I guess—and I don’t know what that says about me! One of my favorite combos is a chore-based game like Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home or Fields of Mistria paired with goopy, trashy reality TV that doesn’t require an ounce of brain-power to absorb. Needless to say, I dropped everything to tune in to the 2024 Game Awards on Twitch.
The Game Awards livestream was tonight (Dec 12, 2024) and—although not a primary focus—there were some cozy game announcements, trailers, and personalities featured throughout! Here’s my recap of The Game Awards 2024: All Things Cozy.
Cozy News @ The Game Awards 2024
All the trailers, spotlights, awards, and influencers from the cozy game sphere that were showcased tonight.
Astro Bot: Our Official #GOTY2024 Winner!
Astro Bot is a series of adorable platforming games featuring a small robot named Astro, designed to showcase PlayStation’s VR and DualSense controller capabilities.
This year, we got an official, full-length Astro Bot game: a smart puzzle-platformer and thrilling space adventure across over 50 planets. The best part of the game was the cameos from so many PlayStation properties throughout, like Kratos from God of War (pictured above).
Astro Bot just won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024.
The charming 3D puzzle-platformer also nabbed Best Game Direction. The “Best Game Direction” award at The Game Awards recognizes outstanding creative vision, innovation, and execution in game design and direction. It highlights developers who push the boundaries of interactive storytelling and gameplay, creating exceptional player experiences.
Balatro: Winner of Best Debut Indie Game, Best Independent Game, & Best Mobile Game
Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder inspired by poker that challenges players to play with illegal poker hands, game-changing jokers, and outrageous combos. With its pixel-art style and strategic gameplay, Balatro received widespread acclaim for its addictive gameplay and has consistently garnered positive reviews from players and critics alike.
I have yet to play it, but from what I hear, Balatro more than deserves the awards for best…well, all-of-the-above and more. I just bought it on mobile, so hopefully I can check it out during winter holidays.
NEVA & Nomada Studio: Winner of Games for Impact
NEVA is a game about a young woman and her wolf companion exploring a beautiful, mysterious world as they face challenges and grow together. It’s a mix of adventure and emotional storytelling, with stunning visuals and heartfelt moments.
NEVA was the 2024 winner of the Games for Impact award!
The “Games for Impact” award at The Game Awards celebrates games that make a meaningful impact on players by addressing social issues, promoting empathy, or exploring profound themes. These games often focus on storytelling and emotional resonance, aiming to inspire thought and dialogue around important topics.
Stage Fright (world premiere)
Ghost Town Games announces Stage Fright! The Overcooked! developers showed off their upcoming multiplayer game, which seems to have the same co-op chaos with new challenges. Folks in-the-know are reporting that there will be “escape room style cooperation” games, which is very my vibe.
Split Fiction (world premiere)
Split Fiction is the new split-screen co-op game from It Takes Two developer looks just as chaos-cozy as their last title! I love all the subtle nods to gaming classics like Metroid and Donkey Kong. I’m always looking for new couch co-op games (a dying breed!!), so I’m exciting to see what they come up with.
Dispatch (world premiere)
Easily my favorite trailer of the night. Dispatch is about a washed-up super hero who gets recruited to be what is essentially the 911 dispatcher for other, better super heroes. Brought to us by the creative minds behind Tales of the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us, this visual novel is packed with humor, satire, and a pinch of Aaron Paul cosplaying (read: voice acting) as the ‘What if Iron Man was a washed up loser’-style MC.
I love absolutely everything about this.
One Move Away (world premiere)
One Move Away is a colorful, first-person puzzle game about organizing your belonging as you prepare to move away. Half Unpacking, half A Little to the Left, players will follow 3 character stories as they decide what to take with them…and what to leave behind.
Can’t wait to add this one to my Games Like Unpacking list when it’s out!
Steel Paws (world premiere)
Steel Paws gave me huge Metabots-X-Pokemon vibes, and I love it. Created by Yū Suzuki, of Shenmue fame, this cozy anime game is coming to mobile platforms so I’ll be watching for it on Google Play.
I’m always down for a new creature collector/battler, and having it on-the-go in my pocket or purse is even better.
Dave the Diver: In the Jungle (teaser trailer)
Dave the Diver DLC???? While we saw almost nothing of the actual, in-game mechanics, I am super excited for Dave the Diver: In the Jungle, and I can imagine the vast majority of gamers are, too. I still haven’t finished Dave the Diver prime, though! The backlog is backloggin’.
Tales of the Shire & Cozy K. (spotlight)
Tales of the Shire is an upcoming cozy game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, focusing on the peaceful and charming life of hobbits in the Shire. The game features activities like cooking, foraging, fishing, and decorating your hobbit home, inspired by titles like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. It is set to release in early 2025 on PC, console, and Nintendo Switch.
But that wasn’t really the big news around Tales. The bigger news was cozy streamer Cozy K was features on The Game Awards livestream, previewing the game for the audience! I love how many times the presenter worked “cozy” into her speech, and love that cozy games are being recognized as a prominent genre worth celebrating.
Meet Cozy K:
We LOVE a show that elevates our cozy community!!
Infinity Nikki (spotlight)
There was a quick spotlight for my current obsession: Cozy, open-world, dress-up, gatcha game Infinity Nikki. They also announced that Infinity Nikki has now amassed over 20 million downloads so far!
I’ve been playing Infinity Nikki like crazy, so stay tuned because I’m hopefully going to jot down my thoughts soon.
Nintendo Switch: Up-and-Coming Titles
Nintendo had a small segment on the show where they montaged a few upcoming cozy titles that are coming to the platform. Though nothing super new or surprising was announced, here are the games highlighted:
- Civilization VII releases Feb. 11/2025
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure releases Jan. 30/25 (PS. Big Challenges supremacy)
- Tales of the Shire releases Mar. 25/25
- Sunderfolk releases TBD 2025.
You can catch up on the full show or select announcements on The Game Awards YouTube channel, though my favorite way to digest big shows like this is secondhand commentary from gaming personalities. I love Kinda Funny for that, personally, but I’d love some more podcast recommendations so drop them in the comments.
Stay cozy, gamers!