The full time job of keeping up with cozy games always gets double difficult during the big demo-rama Steam Next Fest Events. It's extra hard this year because yikes there's a lot of AI junk in the store these days. I've waded through hundreds of cozy store pages, dodged the AI disclosures, downloaded 20 demos, and am coming to you with the five cozy games that I'm actually adding to my own wishlist after a busy evening of taste testing.
Fields of Aaru
Release date: TBA
I wasn't keen on the visual style of this ancient Egyptian afterlife farm sim based on its trailers but the low framerate animation and the soft, cohesive environment lighting actually really charmed me once I was hands-on with the demo. The characters have a lot of personality right off the bat and managing hydration to explore the desert is neat too. I also enjoy how, like Roots of Pacha, this one goes for a more abstract currency (memories) and daily objectives instead of high key capitalism.
Farm & Feast
Release date: November 11
I think this cute farming-plus-restaurant sim may click with me the way Travellers Rest didn't. The serving is actually pretty detailed, with making substitutions to menu items on each order, serving drinks, and typing receipt totals into a handset.
Logisticats
Release date: TBA
I really enjoy a chill city builder, but none have grabbed me since Fabledom. Logisticats seems like a real contender though, hitting that same intersection of semi-deep resource management with cute characters.
Beastfolk Barber
Release date: TBA
Think Coffee Talk, but haircuts. It's mostly a visual novel with some hair styling minigames and a "gaining regulars to fulfill a demon bargain" plot. I didn't ever gel with Coffee Talk, actually, but in Beastfolk Barber's demo I was really drawn to the insightful writing about a world where humans live alongside fantasy creatures and all the very real-sounding interpersonal hurdles that entails.
Apple Crumble
Release date: December 3
I always want to get a little cozy horror into the mix and this weird thriller about a dramatic family gathering where someone's got it out for grandma on her 84th birthday looks like a gem. It's like Knives Out if Daniel Craig was a black sheep daughter instead. The full game is planned to only be about 60-90 minutes, the devs say, which is exactly the kind of snack-sized horror story I want.
