100+ Masterlist of Cozy Games on Steam in 2026 [Sorted By Genre]

Posted on by Carmen

There are so many unique cozy games on Steam that I honestly don’t know where to start when it comes to recommendations sometimes. The Steam platform is blessed with having access to most cozy games first, before they are ported elsewhere, if they ever make it onto consoles at all. That makes it one of the best places to collect, review, and share cozy game recommendations.

With Steam Deck growing more and more popular, it’s more accessible than ever to play cozy games anywhere, anytime.

Table of Contents:

  1. Best Farming Sims
  2. Best Life Sim Games
  3. Best Creature-Collectors
  4. Best Dark-Cozy Games
  5. Best Business Management Sims
  6. Best Cozy Visual Novels
  7. Best Puzzle Games
  8. Best Exploration Games
  9. Best Dating Sims
  10. Best Cozy Co-op Games
  11. Best Decoration & Dress-Up
  12. Best Cozy RPGs [coming soon]
  13. Best City-Builders [coming soon]

What counts as a cozy game?

This is a question I have been asked and have asked myself so many times. For the sake of sticking to my niche, I have had to get serious about a definition—though I don’t think being restrictive here is actually all that helpful. I tend to consider games that are:

  • from a stereotypically cozy genre, like farming sims or visual novels
  • low stakes, relaxing gameplay
  • cute, atmospheric, or picturesque visuals
  • heart-warming themes, like community building and nature conservation
  • welcoming to gamers who are traditionally pushed out of the space (women, POC, LGBTQ+ folks, disabled players)

However, that list is not all-encompassing. If a game gives me a cozy vibe, I’m going to write about it and promote it. Sometimes a game has a lot of pink and pastel colors and I think to myself, “What a cozy essence!” and want to write about it.

I’m way more interested in seeking out games that my audience might enjoy than being a gatekeeper of the cozy game genre.

How this article is formatted:

For each genre section, I’ll highlight some of the best-of-the-best cozy games on Steam and explain how they work and what to expect. I focused on games I have personally experienced and played, so that my recommendations can be more detailed. I’ll point to detailed game reviews when I have them!

However, cozy games release faster than I can play and review them and I don’t want to leave anyone out! So, I’ll also provide an additional list of game names you can check out if you need more.

Best Cozy Games on Steam – Complete List

This list is far from exhaustive, but these are some of my highest recommendations for those getting into cozy games on Steam sorted by genre.

👩‍🌾Cozy Games on Steam: Farming Sims👩‍🌾

Farming sims are a cozy game genre that have some sort of…well, farming element. Typically, you’ll have a ranch, tend to livestock, and grow crops as the primary mechanics. Here are my top recommendations:

Stardew Valley – Hugely popular farming sim on many platforms

Stardew Valley is a cozy farming game where you inherit a run-down farm and get to turn it into something awesome. You plant crops, raise animals, go fishing, and explore caves to mine and fight monsters. You can make friends with the townsfolk, fall in love, and even get married. The game lets you do things at your own pace, so you can chill and decorate your farm or work hard to make it super profitable. It’s all about relaxing and creating your own little slice of farm life.

Already played Stardew Valley? Check out cozy games like Stardew Valley next.

Wylde Flowers – Own a farm and become a witch

Wylde Flowers is a story-driven farming and life sim where you play as Tara, a young woman who moves to a small town to help her grandma on the farm. You plant crops, take care of animals, and make friends with quirky townsfolk. But there’s a twist—you discover you’re a witch and can use magic to grow your farm and solve mysteries. It’s like a farming game with a heartfelt story and a touch of witchy vibes.

You can read my full Wylde Flowers review here.

Roots of Pacha – Unique Stone Age farming sim

Roots of Pacha is a farming and life sim set in the Stone Age, where you work with your clan to grow food, raise animals, and discover new tools and inventions. You can gather resources, fish, and explore ancient caves for treasures and ideas. The game focuses on cooperation and community as you help your village thrive. It’s like a prehistoric take on farming games with a big emphasis on teamwork and discovery.

You can read more in my Roots of Pacha review.

Additional Cozy Farming Sims to Try:

⚒️Cozy Games on Steam: Life Simulation & Questing⚒️

Life simulation is so hard to narrow down as a genre but it’s essentially where the player goes about their day, simulating things like chores, task lists, and community building. It can take many shapes and forms, as you’ll see from my below list.

My Time at Sandrock – Craft and sell various items to make money

My Time at Sandrock is a game where you’re a builder in a dusty desert town, fixing things up and helping the locals. You gather stuff like wood and stone, craft machines, and build all kinds of projects to make the town better. There’s farming, exploring, and even some fighting when you head out into the wild. You also get to make friends with quirky townsfolk, decorate your workshop, and uncover the story of the place. It’s all about being creative and turning a run-down town into something awesome.

You can read my full My Time at Sandrock review.

Potion Permit – Help a small town as an alchemist

Potion Permit is a game where you play as a chemist in a small town, trying to heal sick villagers by making potions. You gather ingredients from the forest, mine for resources, and explore the area to find what you need. The town has its own characters and stories that you can get to know as you help them. It’s a mix of crafting, exploring, and building relationships while solving the town’s problems.

You can also read my full Potion Permit review.

Littlewood – Play as a hero rebuilding their hometown

Littlewood is a relaxing game where you rebuild a town as the hero of an epic adventure that has already concluded. You gather resources, plant crops, raise animals, and build homes for the townspeople. As you get to know the villagers, you help them with their requests and develop relationships. You’ll need to balance different character requests to make a town that suites everyone.

Read my full Littlewood review here.

Additional Cozy Life Sims to Try:

  • The Sims 4 – Play as unique characters, create worlds, and live virtually
  • Disney Dreamlight Valley – Easy questing in the Disneyverse
  • Cozy Grove – Do quests for spirits and friends
  • Magical Delicacy – Cook and sell magical dishes in an enchanting fantasy world
  • Potion Craft – Mix ingredients to create potions, trade, and build your alchemy
  • Bandle Tale – An adventure game set in the League of Legends universe
  • Mineko’s Night Market – Create, craft, and socialize in a whimsical night market town
  • Go-Go Town! – Build, develop, and manage your own bustling town
  • Spirittea – Run a cozy bathhouse for spirits
  • Calico – Rebuild a cat cafe surrounded by a whimsical cast of characters
  • Cattails: Wildwood Story – Be a cat and build the best cat colony ever
  • Gourdlets – City builder with cute, colorful characters
  • Growing Up – Experience birth through death in this unique narrative game
  • Pine Hearts – Help people help you as you prepare to climb a mountain
  • Room in Dream – Decorate cute rooms with no rush or objectives
  • Snacko – Rebuild a town from scratch as a purple cat
  • SUMMERHOUSE – Decorate homes and spaces with unlimited creativity
  • Whimel Academy – cozy, slow-paced game set in a magical school for witches

🐸Cozy Games on Steam: Creature-Collecting🐸

The creature collecting genre was made popular by the Pokemon franchise, although the original inspiration dates way back to the Shin Megami Tensei series. Here are some other games where you collect, care for, and sometimes even battle creative and colorful critters.

Moonstone Island – Explore random-generated island and collect critters

Moonstone Island is a cozy and fun game where you explore a big, open world full of islands and do all sorts of activities like fishing, farming, and battling monsters. You play as a young alchemist who moves to a magical island, makes friends with the local people, and uncovers secrets about the island’s past. You can grow crops, raise animals, and even make potions and items to help you in battles. The game has a cute art style and a relaxed vibe, perfect for players who enjoy life-sim games with a touch of adventure.

You can read my Moonstone Island review, though go easy on me, it was one of my very first reviews for this site!

Ooblets – Collect silly creatures and dance-battle them

Ooblets is a cheerful, fun game where you live on a quirky little farm in a world full of adorable creatures called Ooblets. You can grow crops, decorate your home, and explore different areas while making friends with the townspeople. The best part is the Ooblet battles, which are like dance-offs where you and your Ooblets face off against other teams using special moves.

Temtem – MMORPG creature-collection adventure

Temtem is a game where you explore a big world full of islands and catch creatures called Temtem, which are similar to Pokémon. You train these creatures, battle other trainers, and work to become the best Temtem tamer. Each Temtem has different types and moves, so you need to pick the right ones for battles and plan your strategy.

Additional Cozy Creature Collectors to Try:

  • Digimon franchise – Collect and battle Digimon with engaging stories
  • Ova Magica – Unique creature collector in Early Access right now
  • Ni no Kuni franchise – Train magical creatures for turn-based battles
  • Cassette Beasts – Transform into creatures using cassette tapes and battle
  • Monster Sanctuary – Monster collecting with Metroidvania exploration and turn-based battles
  • Coromon – Retro-style creature collector with turn-based combat and exploration
  • Wobbledogs – Collect silly colorful dog-like creatures and care for them
  • Whimside – Runs quietly at the bottom of your screen while you work
  • Slime Rancher – Collect and raise critters called Slimes
  • Beastieball – Turn-based volleyball RPG with collectable creatures
  • Isles of Isvenness – Relaxing idle creature-collector where you play as a dog

🔮 Cozy Games on Steam: 5 Best Dark Cozy Games 🔮

Games that have cozy mechanical elements but feature darker themes or concepts tend to fall into this category. I like to separate them out for folks who might not want to read about death and despair in their cozy game worlds. However, for those who don’t mind dipping into the shadows, these games often have the most heart to them, narratively-speaking.

Spiritfarer – Help spirits pass on in death

Spiritfarer is a cozy, heartwarming game where you play as a character named Stella, who helps guide lost souls to the afterlife. You sail around in your boat, meeting and making friends with different spirits, each with their own stories and needs. You take care of them by fishing, farming, cooking, and building things on your boat. As you spend time with each spirit, you help them complete their final wishes and say goodbye when they’re ready to move on.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood – Tarot card narrative adventure

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a game where you play as a witch named Fortuna, living in exile on a small asteroid. You make and read tarot-like cards that tell stories, predict the future, and help you guide the lives of people in your space community. You use these cards to help solve problems, form connections, and make choices that shape the story. The game is about finding your place, making friends, and dealing with tough choices, all with a beautiful, hand-drawn art style and a deep, magical storyline.

You can read my full Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood review.

Strange Horticulture – Craft potions and poisons for clients

Strange Horticulture is a cozy game where you run a plant shop in a small, mysterious town. You take care of rare and magical plants, learning about their uses and properties as customers come in with requests. You have to identify different plants, make potions, and solve puzzles to help people with their problems.

Additional Dark Cozy/Cult Cozy Games to Try:

  • Gone Home – Explore a house and uncover the story of a missing family
  • Graveyard Keeper – Manage a graveyard, build, and run a medieval cemetery business
  • Wytchwood – Collect materials and go questing in a dark fairytale world
  • Bokura – Co-op adventure game focusing on teamwork in a twisted world
  • Forest Quarter – Puzzle game about grief and ghosts
  • Harvest Island – Farm, fish, and build on an island with shadowy mysteries
  • Dredge – Spooky sailing & fishing game on the ocean

💰Cozy Games on Steam: Business Management 💰

Run a business with the intent to grow your audience and revenue. Exact business focus may vary!

Sticky Business – Make your own sticker biz

Sticky Business is a fun and quirky game where you run a small business making and selling sticky products like slime or glue. You start with a simple setup and need to gather ingredients, mix them to create products, and sell them to customers. As you progress, you can upgrade your equipment, unlock new recipes, and try to make your business bigger and better. The game has a playful, light-hearted vibe and is about managing your time, resources, and creativity to succeed in the sticky world of business.

TCG Card Shop Simulator – Run a trading cards shop and interact with customers

TCG Card Shop Simulator is a game where you run your own trading card shop. You buy and sell different types of cards, set prices, and try to make your shop popular and profitable. You can trade with customers, complete special orders, and keep up with the latest card trends to stay ahead of the competition.

House Flipper – Fix up houses and resell them for profit

House Flipper is a game where you buy, renovate, and sell houses to make a profit. You start by fixing up run-down homes, cleaning, painting, and repairing things like broken pipes or furniture. You can also decorate rooms, choose furniture, and make the house look appealing to buyers. The goal is to improve the house’s value and sell it for more than you paid.

Additional Business Sims to Try:

📘Cozy Games on Steam: Visual Novels📘

Point-and-click your way through a pick-you-path narrative. Great for people who love to read and enjoy deep, emotional stories.

1000xRESIST – A thrilling narrative sci-fi adventure with accolades

1000xRESIST is a thrilling sci-fi adventure. The year is unknown, and a disease spread by an alien invasion keeps you underground. You are Watcher. You dutifully fulfil your purpose in serving the ALLMOTHER, until the day you discover a shocking secret that changes everything.

Until Then – Mysterious and dramatic modern day visual novel

Until Then is an emotionally charged visual novel wound with tons of mystery, drama, and charm set upon a stunning pixel graphics post-catastrophe world. A fateful meeting will have you racing to uncover the truth behind disappearing memories in a world that seems to teeter on the edge of disaster. Coming-of-age meets high octane suspense and deeply emotion narration.

Necrobarista – Visual novel about death and moving on

Necrobarista is a game set in a magical coffee shop where the dead come to hang out before they move on to the afterlife. You play as a barista who makes drinks and talks to ghosts, with stories that mix the everyday struggles of life with supernatural twists. The game has a cool art style and tells a story through conversations, choices, and little scenes that feel like episodes in a show. It’s about friendship, loss, and what it means to be alive (or not).

Additional Cozy Visual Novels to Try:

  • Tavern Talk – Run a tavern in a D&D-inspired fantasy world
  • Venba – A cooking story about family, memories, and finding your place in the world
  • Frog Detective – Silly froggy detective game
  • Phoenix Wright franchise – Courtroom drama as a defense attorney proving innocence
  • Steins;Gate – Time-travel adventure with complex characters and intriguing plot
  • LoveChoice – Sweet dating sim in visual novel format
  • Clannad – Heartwarming story about family, friendship, and love
  • Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds – Romance and samurai in historical Japan with supernatural elements
  • Disco Elysium – Dark, edgy mystery with visual novel storytelling
  • Slay the Princess – Hand-drawn choices matter psychological horror tale
  • A Memoir Blue – An evocative journey through turbulent childhood memories
  • A Space for the Unbound – Story-rich, emotional coming of age tale
  • Emily is Away – Visit a retro chat room in this free, choices matter narrative game
  • Zipp’s Cafe – “Noir and chill” game about a café with animal and insect customers
  • Storyteller – Tell fairytale stories using only pictures
  • Coffee Talk – Listen in on coffee shop guests

🧩Cozy Games on Steam: Puzzle Games🧩

Solve puzzles of various shapes and forms. Many are point-and-click puzzles, figuring out what goes where to progress. Others have you manipulate shapes, physics, or the world to move forward. This is a subgenre with so much variety!

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo – Story-driven point-and-click puzzle game

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a heartfelt narrative adventure set in a vibrant, liminal afterlife. You play as Kulebra, an undead snake with a smile and no memory, exploring a whimsical world full of lost souls, quirky characters, and hidden truths. A blend of point-and-click exploration, light puzzles, and a strong emotional core, emphasizes themes of acceptance and purpose into a cozy yet thought-provoking journey through death that feels anything but grim.

Read my full Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo review here.

The Star Named EOS – Story-rich puzzle adventure built around photography

The Star Named EOS is a puzzle adventure game full of story, where you use photography to solve a family mystery. You recreate old photos to find out what really happened. You play as Dei, a young photographer following the path of his missing mother. When Dei was little, he got letters from her with pictures of places she visited, but one day he notices something strange in the photos that makes him question everything he thought he knew.

Unpacking – Find places for belongings as life changes

Unpacking is a game where you move into new places and unpack your stuff. It’s simple—you take things out of boxes and find where they go in each room. The game isn’t about time limits or scores; it’s more about exploring and figuring out where each item belongs. As you unpack, you learn about the character’s life and story through the things they own, like their hobbies, interests, and memories.

Additional Cozy Puzzle Games to Try:

🌎Cozy Games on Steam: Exploration Games🌎

These are games that are about meandering around, enjoying your surroundings and seeing the sights. There may be puzzles or foraging or other gameplay elements, but they primarily stand out for being open and easy-going worlds to explore.

Journey – A quiet, meditative adventure with strangers

Journey is a simple but beautiful video game where you play as a robed traveler exploring a vast, desert landscape with the goal of reaching the top of a distant mountain. You don’t speak or have any weapons, just your own character and the ability to glide around. Along the way, you can find glowing symbols that help you move faster or regain energy.

ABZÛ – Peaceful and scenic underwater exploration

ABZU is a peaceful game where you play as a diver exploring the ocean. You swim around beautiful underwater environments full of colorful fish, coral, and giant sea creatures. You can interact with the sea life and even ride some of them. The goal isn’t to fight or complete challenging tasks but to enjoy the beauty of the ocean and solve puzzles that help you move through the story.

Europa – Gentle puzzle platformer with no perma-death or resets

Europa is a game where you explore a beautiful, ruined world on a moon near Jupiter. You play as Zee, a young robot boy, traveling through crumbling buildings and green valleys toward a floating paradise, following his father’s last wish. With special tech on his back, Zee can fly, hover, and glide over the landscape. The world looks amazing, like something from a Studio Ghibli movie mixed with a bit of Breath of the Wild. The game is about solving puzzles, platforming, and finding hidden secrets, but it’s also relaxing to just float around and enjoy the view.

You can read my full Europa review here.

Additional Cozy Exploration Games to Try:

❤️Cozy Games on Steam: Dating Sims❤️

Dating sims are pretty self-explanatory as a genre. The primary mechanic should be meeting and wooing a variety of eligible romance candidates. These games may be visual novels, idle clickers, or even puzzle-type games with dating and romance as a central theme.

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator – Be a dad dating other dads

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a lighthearted and funny game where you play as a single dad who moves to a new neighborhood with his daughter and meets other hot dads. The main goal is to build relationships with these dads and possibly date them. You go on dates, have conversations, and make choices that shape how the story unfolds, with plenty of humor, heart, and dad jokes along the way. It’s a game about friendship, romance, and finding your place in a community, all wrapped up in a silly and sweet package.

Monster Prom – Franchise about dating monsters and creatures

Monster Prom is a funny and chaotic dating sim where you play as a student at a high school for monsters. You have a limited amount of time to try to win the heart of one of your monstrous classmates before prom night. To do this, you need to balance your time between studying, going to class, and hanging out with friends to build up your charm, smarts, or other skills.

Boyfriend Dungeon – Date various weapons and dungeon dive together

Boyfriend Dungeon is a game where you go on dates with people who can turn into weapons. You play as a character who moves to a new city, meets potential romantic interests, and helps them fight monsters in dungeons. As you spend time with these people, you level up both your relationship with them and their weapon form, making them stronger for battle.

Additional Cozy Dating Sims to Try:

🤝Cozy Games on Steam: Cozy Co-op Games 🤝

Goblin Cleanup — Clean dungeons & survive with friends

Goblin Cleanup is a chaotic and darkly comedic co-op simulation where players become goblin cleaners tasked with restoring dungeons for the next wave of adventurers. Up to four players can work together (or not so cooperatively) to clean blood, restore traps, respawn creatures, refill loot, and rearrange dungeon objects.

 It Takes Two – Genre mashup co-op adventure game

It Takes Two is a multi-level, genre mashup co-op adventure game about a discordant couple who gets transformed into dolls and must work together (and maybe even rekindle their relationship) in order to get turned back. In every stage, each of the characters will have one of two halves of complementary abilities or equipment.

Knights and Bikes — Treasure hunting & childhood play

Knights and Bikes is a 2 player co-op about exploration, treasure hunting, childhood play and puzzle solving, and a pet goose named Captain Honkers. You may recognize the hand-drawn, paper cutout art style; Rex Crowle, who worked on Knights and Bikes, was the Creative Director for Tearaway and Tearaway-Unfolded.

Other cozy co-op games to try:

👗Cozy Games on Steam: Decoration & Dress-Up Games👗

I love a casual, chill decoration game, whether you are decorating bodies, rooms, or even camper vans. Here are some of my favorites:

Your Personal Chill Apartment — Decorating & IRL productivity

Your Personal Chill Apartment is a cozy space where interior design meets real-life motivation. It is part decoration game, part productivity tool, and all about creating a relaxing place to unwind. Build your dream apartment, listen to lo-fi tracks, and even earn in-game coins by completing your own real-world tasks.

The Merry Fairy — Decorate and design scrapbook pages

The Merry Fairy is less of a “game” and more of a creative retreat, a cozy corner where you can slow down, breathe, and decorate to your heart’s content. Your main activity? Scrapbook journaling. You can jot down your thoughts, decorate your pages with delightful trinkets, and explore a desk overflowing with magical supplies. Everything you need is ready for you, nothing locked, nothing gated. Think of it as a self-discovery tool wrapped in glitter and candlelight.

Camper Van: Make it Home – Decorate and organize a camper van

Camper Van: Make it Home is a cozy, meditative game where interior design meets emotional storytelling. Players decorate and organize a camper van using block-style spatial puzzles while traveling through tranquil landscapes like snowy plains, forests, and beachside cliffs. With each new van and destination, you uncover bits of your character’s personal journey—one filled with discovery, healing, and freedom. Great for fans of Unpacking.

Other cozy decorating and dress-up games:

  • Tiny Glade – Decorate a cozy cottage and yard to your heart’s content
  • Room in Dream – Discover, collect, and assemble furniture

⚔️Cozy Games Steam: Cozy, Casual RPGs⚔️

FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time – Farming sim with unique open world

Fantasy Life i: Girl Who Steals Time is like if Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing New Horizons had a baby. You can farm, collect, craft, build your camp, meet and recruit new friends, level up different job skills (from cook to alchemist), and explore a huge world filled with secrets. It’s a farming sim for a new generation of players looking for big changes and cool twists to the genre.

You can read my full Fantasy life i review here.

🏙️Cozy Games on Steam: Best City Builder Sim Games🏙️

The Wandering Village — Build a city on the back of a beast

The Wandering Village is a city-building simulation set in a world that has been overtaken by toxic spores. Humanity’s last hope rests on the back of Onbu, a massive wandering creature who becomes your living foundation. Your goal is simple but far from easy: build a thriving village on its back and decide what kind of relationship you will form with your colossal host.

Sign Off

Those are some of the games that jump to mind when someone asks for cozy game recommendations for Steam. However, I also feel like you can’t go wrong just looking through my list of cozy games rated Overwhelmingly Positive by Steam audiences if you need an easy win to start with.

Stay cozy, gamers!