Lauren Morton
Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.
Latest articles by Lauren Morton
Even 'cozy' gaming's biggest fans can't decide on its definition, but they aren't worried: 'There's a whole lot of grey area, and that's what makes it interesting'
By Lauren Morton published
Cozy Consensus As the cozy game genre grows, it remains one of the most challenging to define.
Creatures of Ava is the cozier version of Palworld: A 'creature saver' co-written by Rhianna Pratchett
By Lauren Morton published
News Creature collecting is cozy again.
Sims 4 players hate its obtrusive new store button so much that a modder has already removed it
By Lauren Morton published
News The DLC purchase tooltips are getting a bit incessant.
The Sims 4's new Crystal Creations DLC basically gave me craftable cheat codes for boosting my mood, love life, and defying death
By Lauren Morton published
Gem Goddess Is this what we mean by toxic positivity?
The Palworld breeding bug that was causing all Cattivas to be born cowards, and other species trait dominance, has been fixed in a new patch
By Lauren Morton published
News Let the coward Pals breed in peace.
Side-scuttling strategy game Crab God will let you amass a crustacean congregation
By Lauren Morton published
News This enormous crab also has aspirations for real world activism.
Finally, a farm sim that will let me date hot demons and also collect capybaras
By Lauren Morton published
News Tales of Seikyu is a yokai shapeshifting farm sim planning to launch this year.
Cozy MMO Palia is threatening players with an increasingly enormous stuffed frog if they keep wishlisting it on Steam
By Lauren Morton published
News To celebrate Palia's launch on Steam next month, Palia is rewarding players with "Giga Frogbert."
6 reveals from the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC trailer that had us shaking in our greaves with excitement
By Harvey Randall published
SHADOWS LIFTED It's finally here, weary tarnished.
Minecraft just launched add-ons, which are mods, not to be confused with the previous add-ons that were also mods, and won't replace mods for Minecraft Java
By Lauren Morton published
News Minecraft Bedrock now has community-made mods to download in the Minecraft Marketplace.
Survival games are having another viral moment, making PC players the tastemakers once again
By Lauren Morton published
Survivor Bias The genre that just can't stop producing hits is still entirely the territory of PC gaming.
Palworld breeding guide and the best breeding combos
By Sean Martin last updated
Matchmaking Learn how to combine your most powerful Pals.
Islands of Insight has a great gauntlet of logic puzzles that overshadows its beautiful but aimless world
By Lauren Morton published
This shared world puzzle game is a little too open-ended to feel compelling.
Minecraft commands list: all the best cheats
By Lauren Morton last updated
Give Diamonds Tailor the sandbox to your liking with this list of the must useful Minecraft commands you should know.
The Sims 4 free update adds vitiligo skin details in continued effort for more inclusive character creation
By Lauren Morton published
News Maxis has invited fashion model and vitiligo activist Winnie Harlow to share her decor inspo and a Sim inspired by her.
We're in a golden era of game demos
By Lauren Morton published
Sea of free We're spoiled for choice in an unending tide of free game trials.
Lightyear Frontier makes mechs cozy with its low-stress approach to alien planet environmentalism
By Lauren Morton published
Final Frontier This colorful open world makes farming a well-oiled endeavor.
Paralives will enter early access in 2025 and will never have paid DLCs, only free expansions
By Lauren Morton published
News Paralives shows off its live mode features with group activities and "together cards."
This Townscaper-like building game on 'the dark side of cozy' is the perfect lock screen photo designer
By Lauren Morton published
News Dystopika's new demo in the Steam Next Fest is photo mode gold.
This cozy cooking platformer is so sweet that I went back for seconds of the demo
By Lauren Morton published
News After snacking on this cooking game I'm totally hungry for a full plate.
Sims competitor Life By You delayed to June to refine gameplay and 'add more life' to character faces
By Lauren Morton published
News Paradox Tectonic outlines a list of improvements and player feedback it wants to spend time addressing.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Everything we know
By Lincoln Carpenter, Lauren Morton last updated
Smile, Jack Everything about Bloodlines 2's development, setting, clans, dancing, and more.
I accidentally bred one of the rarest Palworld pals, but they have the most ridiculous stats
By Lauren Morton published
News I found a shockingly easy way to breed a Kitsun, but now he's just stuck manning my kitchen.
I wish I could stomach Immortal Life's clunky controls long enough to fall in love with a cultivation fantasy farm sim
By Lauren Morton published
Spiritual Struggles After almost two years in early access, Immortal Life still isn't sleek enough to set the standard for cultivation farm sims.
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