A lot of video game genres are dominated by a few specific titles that are now considered to be the gold standard that every other title should follow. For cozy games, the obvious candidate is Stardew Valley, as despite how simple it may be, it has captured the hearts of millions of players across the globe, and as a result, has become the poster child for what cozy gaming should look like. This has led to hundreds, if not thousands, of cozy games, all trying to emulate that same formula, leading to a pretty major creative drought within the genre.
While this is far from the first time a game has had such a hold on a genre, it feels as though the originality level is a lot lower for cozy games than other spaces. None of this is Stardew Valley‘s fault, and it is actually perhaps the highest praise a game can get, but one of the unintended consequences of success is the desire of many to achieve that same level of acclaim. Right now, the cozy world is hotly contested by farming sims and life RPGs, yet as stale as things have gotten, there are a few newcomers that are actually moving things away from the norm, proving that there is more out there than just Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley Accidentally Ruined the Cozy Game Genre
Cozy gaming as a concept is actually fairly new in terms of its mainstream popularity. Pre-Stardew Valley, farming games and cozy life sims were few and far between, with those genres primarily taken up by Sims, the more industrial Farming Simulator, and a few crossover titles like Viva Pinata and Animal Crossing. The wider genre of cozy gaming pretty much didn’t exist outside of those fringe examples, but that all changed thanks to one developer’s vision in 2016 with the release of Stardew Valley.
An overnight success, it wouldn’t take long for Stardew Valley to become a household name just like any other major release, but no one expected it to explode in popularity as much as it did. Within a year, it was hard to mention farming games without bringing it up, and with more people looking for a comforting way to unwind at the end of the day, it seemed like a giant void had just been filled that was previously completely ignored.
Stardew Valley has become the poster child for what cozy gaming should look like. This has led to hundreds, if not thousands, of cozy games, all trying to emulate that same formula, leading to a pretty major creative drought within the genre.
Part of what a lot of players love about Stardew Valley is how simple and easy it is to get into the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hardcore gamer or a novice looking for something on the cozier side; everyone can enjoy it for dozens of hours, creating new farm layouts and progressing through the seasons, day by day. However, due to how simple and well-executed the blueprint was, it didn’t take long for copycats to hit the shelves of varying degrees of quality and polish, resulting in store pages being flooded with pixel-art farming sims en masse over the next few years.
Nowadays, it is hard to look for new and interesting farming sims because whenever you go to sort for them on Steam or another store, you are presented with hundreds of identical games that may very well be great and fun, but it is hard not to feel as though you are just playing Stardew Valley with a different gimmick or setting. Also, if you think about things from the developer’s perspective, it is in your best interests to set yourself apart from the crowd and create something genuinely inventive within the genre, which is easier said than done, but by failing that, you may end up lost in a sea of very similar games all seeking that Stardew Valley popularity.
Many New Inventive Cozy Games Are On The Way
As bad as things have gotten, I actually think we are seeing a kind of resurgence in innovation, both in the cozy genre and gaming as a whole. There have been far too many failures in the past couple of years, so when, a decade ago, the phrase “it’s like Stardew Valley” would have given you all the hype you needed, now, only the best ideas make it to the top. For cozy games, there are plenty of upcoming titles that all show a unique side of the genre that was previously untapped, and they have the potential to really shake up how the cozy space is seen in the future.
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Image via Blumhouse -
Image via Carbonara Games -
Games like Moonfrost are leaning more into the Sims concept and combining it with more extensive RPG elements, whilst still sticking to familiar elements from Stardew Valley. Other upcoming games like Crop and Grave Seasons are leaning into darker territory, keeping farming as a primary system, but focusing more energy on wider stories, or in their case, mysteries to be solved. And of course, if you really don’t like that aspect of the genre, then I guarantee you there will be some kind of cozy game out there to satiate your needs, whether it be Nivalis Nights, Dressmaker, or ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs.
While I do believe that Stardew Valley has had a major impact on the way cozy games have evolved in the last 10 years, I do also see a lot of people out there looking to break away from the norms and prove that the genre isn’t defined by a single game. Perhaps the biggest indicator of all is ConcernedApe himself, who is currently working on Haunted Chocolatier, a more combat-focused experience with action-RPG elements. So, if the person who kickstarted this entire cozy craze is already looking to effectively move on to something else, then I think it is a sign that cozy gaming is far from a one-trick pony.
Stardew Valley
- Released
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February 26, 2016
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Developer(s)
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ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
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ConcernedApe
