The best cozy games on Nintendo Switch offer both approachability and comforting visuals that stray from reality. The Switch is one of the best platforms for relaxing games due to its portability. It’s perfect for enjoying in docked mode on the couch or anywhere cozy while in handheld mode.
Our list of the best relaxing games on Switch combines the greatest indie titles alongside some heavy hitters developed by Nintendo.
Here are the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch you can play right now.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers a cozy escape to island life
The Animal Crossing series and coziness often go hand-in-hand. These games are known for their acoustic soundtrack and friendly villagers. This helps it have all the elements of a perfect cozy game on Nintendo Switch.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’ll start as a new resident on an uninhabited island. It’s up to you to turn that island into a dream destination. You can do various things on your island, such as decorating and upgrading your home, completing quests for your neighbors, gathering resources, and collecting wildlife for the local museum. New Horizon’s game loop offers an escape to a fictional world when you need it. The game clock corresponds with the real world, with certain events only being available at certain times of the day.
Bear and Breakfast puts a spin on management sims resulting in one of the most relaxing Switch games
The quirky premise of Bear and Breakfast is part of what makes it cozy. As the owner of a bed in breakfast in the middle of the woods, you have to manage different aspects to make your visitors happy. Each room in your inn is customizable, and there are plenty of furniture and décor options to make the space it’s own. These management games are perfect for simulating that feeling of slowly completing projects over time without any of the real world repercussions of failing.
You are also a bear, which itself is a major selling point.
While it may seem like a simple management simulator at first, you’ll uncover mysteries in Bear and Breakfast as you upgrade your inn and progress through the story.
The world is your canvas in Chicory, one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch
Not many games come in black and white, but Chicory best uses that palette. Upon naming the protagonist after your favorite food, you find out they work as a janitor for the kingdom’s hero, Chicory. She wields a magical paintbrush that can paint the world, and due to unforeseen circumstances, you come to inherit that paintbrush and go on a journey of self-discovery.
Chicory is a Zelda-like that allows you to paint every screen you move to. You can paint as little or as much as you want, and the game won’t penalize you. Along your journey, you’ll meet many quirky characters named after different foods. The game is supported by an uplifting soundtrack composed by cozy veteran Lena Raine. Chicory features several accessibility options that can fine-tune your experience to make it as comfortable as possible.
It is an easy inclusion on our list of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch.
Stardew Valley is one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch
Playing at your own pace helps define farming simulator Stardew Valley as one of the best cozy games on the Nintendo Switch.
You’ve just inherited your grandfather’s plot of land, and you get to turn it into a lively and growing farm. Choose which crops you want to grow, which animals you want to grow, and who from the local town you want to romance. You can do all of these things at your own pace as the seasons and the needs of your farm change.
Stardew Valley has received praise for the new ideas it brought to the genre and its LGBT representation, as you’re able to marry any gendered townsperson.
Coffee Talk lets you brew up a conversation and becomes one of the most relaxing Switch games
Coffee Talk takes place in a fictional Seattle populated by fantasy creatures like orcs and elves. In this visual novel game, you’re the barista at a hip coffee shop that attracts some of the most chatty folks in the rainy city. Your job is to fulfill customers’ coffee orders.
Some may be direct with what they want, while others will be vaguer and require some thinking about what you think they would like. As you make your drinks, you can eavesdrop on customer conversations or help create discussion yourself.
Through these conversations, you’ll learn a lot about your customers and the politics of a world inhabited by different species of humanoid creatures. Customers may have other discussions based on what you serve them. Being a barista may sound stressful to some, but Coffee Talk makes it a cozy experience by incorporating a laid-back conversation system.
Your conversations are accompanied by pleasing pixel art graphics and a lo-fi soundtrack. It’s a perfect game to play while enjoying a coffee while wrapped in a warm blanket.
Get lost in the world of the award-winning Gris
Gris could be described as a meditative experience. That could be due to its ethereal soundtrack or visuals taken straight out of a watercolor painting.
The indie game won many awards for its pleasing visuals following its 2018 release. Gris is described as a game “free of danger, frustration, or death.” In other words, it’s the perfect stress-free experience for cozy players.
You play as Gris, a girl on a journey of self-discovery. It’s a more approachable platformer with less room for error and no possibility of death. It even has some light puzzle elements.
Spiritfarer makes helping souls cross to the other side one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch
A game about death shouldn’t sound cozy, but Spiritfarer delivers as one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch.
Stella is a rookie ferry master to the dead, who appears in the form of animals. They’ve taken the reigns from Charon, a figure from Greek mythology who transported the dead to the afterlife. It’s your job to ensure their final moments between death and the afterlife are enjoyable.
Spiritfarer is a management game where the vessel that brings its spirit passengers to the afterlife is yours to take care of. Many of the passengers are individuals that Stella knew. Each one has their own desires and needs that Stella has to fulfill from managing various aspects of the vessel.
Unpacking lets you organize different rooms throughout your life
Unpacking aims to recreate that nostalgic feeling of unpacking prized possessions after a move. You play as a character who unpacks across different moves throughout their life.
Remove these items from the boxes and use your Tetris skills to make them fit next to each other. The cozy parts of this game are that there’s no timer for putting these items away and a delightful soundtrack from award-winning composer Jeff van Dyck.
You’ll never see the face of the protagonist you’re controlling, but you’ll find out there’s more to the game than just putting away personal belongings.
Ooblets is about farming and dancing and is one of the best relaxing games on Switch
Ooblets is a farming simulator inspired by series like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. A quirkiness to it helps make it one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch.
You can foster relationships with the local town’s residents while cultivating your farm. The crops you grow can be sold in town along with other items. One of the bigger features of the game is that you can collect little creatures called Ooblets that can be used in dance battles against other Ooblets.
Yoshi’s Crafted World is one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch
Yoshi’s Crafted World offers a cozy escape into a bright and colorful space. It combines unique visuals with a Nintendo formula that makes it very approachable. The game’s art style evokes that sense of child-like wonder you may get from a storybook or scrapbook.
As Yoshi, you must collect important artifacts across stages to save the world. It features side-scrolling platforming similar to the classic Yoshi’s Island but puts its own spin on it as stages can sometimes be played in varying ways.
Experience the coziness of Yoshi’s Crafted World with someone else who can play as another Yoshi. Breeze through levels from start to finish or make more out of them by finding their many collectibles.
Find out what happens in the dark in Night in the Woods
Night in the Woods is a more narrative-heavy game, but its lack of intense gameplay makes it cozy. The children’s storybook visuals separate it from other narrative games in the genre.
Mae has just dropped out of college and is returning to her hometown to reconnect with her past. She needs to discover what’s happening in the town by conversing with its many residents through traditional dialogue tree gameplay.
There are light exploration elements in Night in the Woods, but the developers intended it to be more of a narrative game.
Sucking up everything in Donut County is more relaxing than you realize
Donut County was made for those who want to know how much matter a sinkhole can consume.
The game’s main premise is to fit every item on a level into an expanding hole. You’ll do this as a raccoon named BK who has created a remote-controlled hole that expands as it consumes trash. Light puzzle mechanics require you to problem solve and figure out which items to consume before others. The order in which you consume items can also unlock interesting responses from the game.
There’s something satisfying about dropping different-sized items into a massive black hole. It’s a feel-good gameplay loop that developer Ben Esposito nailed.
ABZÛ’s exploration of the ocean depths makes it one of the best cozy games on Nintendo Switch
Finding out what lurks beneath the ocean is the foundation of ABZÛ, an underwater exploration game with very little combat. You can scan and learn about the many types of marine wildlife you encounter. As you explore and dive deeper, you’ll find remnants of an old civilization that provide the hook of the game’s story. Renowned composer Austin Wintory lends a soundtrack that makes ABZÛ feel like a National Geographic documentary at some points.
The ocean can be one of the most beautiful places in the world, but its deep depths aren’t accessible to most. ABZÛ does a great job at recreating that beauty in its fictionalized underwater world as you explore. Some games can make underwater traversal unbearable, but ABZÛ simplifies it enough to make things easy to control.
A Short Hike’s calm demeanor makes it one of the best relaxing games on Switch
A Short Hike is an exploration game developed by a single person, Adam Robinson-Yu.
The game’s main objective is to reach a mountain’s peak to get cell phone reception. Like its premise, A Short Hike features simple graphics and simple gameplay. Hike, swim, and climb up the mountain and meet other travelers along the way who may ask for your help.
There are signs along the way, but A Short Hike’s freedom to explore means there are different ways to get to the top of the mountain.
Go behind the lens in New Pokémon Snap
Photography can be an incredibly relaxing experience, and New Pokémon Snap takes full advantage of that.
It allows you to take photos of over 200 different Pokémon while exploring a vibrant world. Like the original Pokémon Snap on Nintendo 64, you’re tasked with completing other photography objectives on each level and will be rewarded for completion.
The positioning of Pokémon and the overall composition of your photos will contribute to your score. You can share your pictures with the game’s online features and get inspiration from photos that others took.
Minecraft can be a cozy experience depending on how you play
Minecraft is one of the most popular games on the planet. That may be because it appeals to both hardcore and cozy audience of gamers, depending on how you play. The game’s survival mode may not be a comfortable experience for some.
Its creative mode is perfect for when you want to relax and build something out of virtual blocks or explore someone else’s created world. You’ll find countless examples of self-expression through Minecraft on the internet. The game features a cozy soundtrack and features Lena Raine, Gareth Coker, and Kumi Tanioka as guest composers.
Wrapping up
So what did you think of our list? Let us know in the comments. We’d also like to know your cozy gaming time rituals.
