Cozy Trophies for Cozy Gamers

[graphic_violins8]

12 hours ago, nyx770 said:

Small update 

13. Dave the Diver -fishing management game . Great game . I played both ps5 then ps4 versions ( not auto popped) Its that much fun .

14.Cat slide tiles - short 80 levels of puzzles . Later ones get bit harder .

15. Turnip boy commits tax evasion- short cute adventure . 

Glad to hear Dave the diver is good, I've been watching it.  The only concern I have is Turnip Boy.  I played that last year and as I recall it's pretty combat heavy,



@Platinum_Vice

Interaction Isn’t Explicit 

 

This free-to-play experience lasted for about 40 minutes. Based on this trailer I expected clunkier controls, far more bugs, and a far more enigmatic/arthouse story. It was a lot smoother and less buggy than expected. It wasn't a walking simulator with an actress reading a meandering script for four hours; it was a 40 minute thesis of how the developer perceives some basic gameplay mechanics. It was direct and clear in its delivery and the game allows the players to experience those mechanics via gameplay.

 

While I didn’t learn anything, the developer’s logical reasoning of how games should prioritise gameplay to deliver meaning is accurate grounding for those new to understanding the value of the gaming medium as an legitimate artform. 

 

A laidback 40-60 minute experience. 

 

So I apologize but I think I'm going to have to retroactively roll this one back.  I knocked it out last week and while I mostly agree with you, I think that combat ultimately makes up a alot of the gameplay (you have to fight enemies to proceed).

 

 

The board is updated accordingly.  Let me know if I'm off on anyone,

Edited April 29 by graphic_violins8

[nyx770]

3 hours ago, graphic_violins8 said:

The only concern I have is Turnip Boy.  I played that last year and as I recall it's pretty combat heavy,

I guess in a sense it’s combat heavy but big part of it is puzzle solving as well .i found it cozy. If you dont think it meets criteria you can take it off .  Enjoyed its sillyness and the cute hats  

Ill trade it for  one i played last night . 
Wind peaks - hidden item  puzzle game . Story about group of scouts and their adventure.

[Platinum_Vice]

9 hours ago, graphic_violins8 said:

So I apologize but I think I'm going to have to retroactively roll this one back.  I knocked it out last week and while I mostly agree with you, I think that combat ultimately makes up a alot of the gameplay (you have to fight enemies to proceed).

 

Not a problem. I'll double check the rules before my next post to make sure my "cozy" is also the event's "cozy." 👍

[nyx770]

Update 

15. wind peaks - hidden object games about group of scouts . ( replacing turnip boy)

16. Hidden cats new york - hidden object game with cats . Strangely addicting. with few hard kevels .

17.⭐️Stardew Valley⭐️ - finally got this one done . 

[ValkerianCreator]

A Short Hike should be required on this thread. It's one of the nicest cozy games I ever played outside of the top VR ones. In fact, it's probably the best one for the category outside of VR's Fujii and Astro Bot. And this comes from someone who played Abzu, Journey, Stardew Valley, Aer memories of old, The First Tree, Slime Rancher, etc., before trying A Short Hike. I finally see why it was recommended left and right in "top relaxing/happy games" videos in youtube. It is one of the best in the category. Enjoy!! ; )

 

PS: I'm seeing "Unpacking" all over the place and I never tried that one. Maybe I should! lol... I think it's going to be hard to beat A Short Hike however. It really has "happy + adventurous" vibes through the roof. It should come with a warning sign for the kids: "Be aware that hikes in real life are nowhere near this fun fellas!! A Short Hike is a cozy work of fun FICTION!" 🤣

[nyx770]

1 hour ago, ValkerianCreator said:

A Short Hike should be required on this thread. It's one of the nicest cozy games I ever played outside of the top VR ones. In fact, it's probably the best one for the category outside of VR's Fujii and Astro Bot. And this comes from someone who played Abzu, Journey, Stardew Valley, Aer memories of old, The First Tree, Slime Rancher, etc., before trying A Short Hike. I finally see why it was recommended left and right in "top relaxing/happy games" videos in youtube. It is one of the best in the category. Enjoy!! ; )

 

PS: I'm seeing "Unpacking" all over the place and I never tried that one. Maybe I should! lol... I think it's going to be hard to beat A Short Hike however. It really has "happy + adventurous" vibes through the roof. It should come with a warning sign for the kids: "Be aware that hikes in real life are nowhere near this fun fellas!! A Short Hike is a cozy work of fun FICTION!" 🤣

A Short Hike was a cute little game , i enjoyed it. Unpacking and A Little to the Left  are fun  if you like organization puzzle games . Toem  is  also good if  you want another cozy adventure.

[Hurricane_Tanya]

A few more cosy games done. Although I should really stop saying what I’m working on next. I always change my plans lol

 

Last Stop was a weird walking simulator type game. It follows 3 people in London as they encounter supernatural events. It’s another very British game, it’s more like watching a soap rather than the weird Monty Python esque humour of I Am Dead. I had an alright time with it though, at least until the last chapter. The ending felt very rushed to me

 

Teacup is an incredibly cute game about an introverted frog who needs to find ingredients in the village she lives in. There are a lot of mini games to do, and also some nice chill moments. My one complaint is that the platinum pops before the game is over. The end of the game where you need to make tea with all the ingredients you found was my favourite bit.

 

I also completed Ravenous Devils, a time management game about running a tailor shop and a pub simultaneously. I’m unsure about including it as a cosy game though. There’s no combat, and time management games are definitely cosy for me, but this is a game about cooking people so…

 

Anyway that brings my total up to 13 or 14 if Ravenous Devils is allowed

 

Submerged

Firewatch

Tinykin

Mineko’s Night Market

Submerged: Hidden Depths

Sable

Mystic Pillars

Arcade Paradise

Coffee Talk

I Am Dead

Afterparty

Last Stop

Teacup

Ravenous Devils?

Edited May 11 by Hurricane_Tanya

[Breakingthegreen]

May I sign up if I didn't notice this event before? Because I've got some games that are already pretty cozy done:

 

#1 The Artful Escape (PS4)

 

 

 

Now as per usual I'll give a review, and l want to talk about Uncharted. Uncharted is a good game, but I often see on Twitter that people call it a movie with gameplay begrudgingly put it. I think that criticism is dumb, cutscenes have been a thing since the SNES era, and the only reason why many modern games are getting called movies is because technology has caught up to the visions of the developers. All that being said, The Artful Escape is a movie with gameplay begrudgingly shoved in. Now that may seem catty, but in truth, I don't think that's a bad thing, but if you are playing this because you're expecting a new Guitar Hero, don't.

 

The game is a 2D platformer/interactive experience, and it's not hard, I don't wanna talk about gameplay much, because there's very little to say, I'll just say that the guitar mechanics felt too limited, and you can only play one riff while you're platforming.  All the "boss fights" are a game of Simon Says, but there's no penalty for making a mistake. 

 

So music is important to the game, is it goo... YES! I don't know much about music, but I enjoyed both the small amount of folk music and the glorious space opera that the game swiftly shifts into.

Graphics in the game are also very pretty, I first thought the game used paper cut out animation, but I realised on this playthrough that they use 3D models that look like paper cut outs, and it looks really good. Especially when the scenes start to become truly insane.

 

Speaking of insane, I would say the turning point is when Mark Strong starts interviewing you in a very referential style. Everything is very creative in this game, but in my mind they throw too much at the player, the game is 4 hours long and I played it all at once and it was overwhelming. Maybe if I split up my session into two, it would have been whelming. 

 

The story is a fairly well worn, expectations vs self expressions, but the aforementioned insane scenes make you forget any tropes... because now you're having a strum off with a giant moth. It's a very fun time and I highly recommend it.

 

#2  I Am Dead (PS4)

 

 

 

In this game you explore the memories of the past in a stylised water themed location. Where a big personalitied older person has been dead for some time.

 

And I this game you are a dead man (but the peaceful poetic kind, not the condemned sort) and as a ghost, you have the ability to investigate your surroundings inside and out in a very literal sense, cutting into the items like an x-ray. And you need to collect the elements of the dead to find someone who can save the island from the volcano that is getting ready to explode.

 

Basic structure of the game is thus. You see a slide show of an object important to a character, and you then try to find the item in the room that you saw the story in.  And this is repeated 30 times in the game, it's very chill and easy. 

 

There's another thing to find, Grenkins, in most rooms you'll be shown a cross section of an item to find, this again is easy since once you locate the item, the game will confirm it's right before asking you to find the cross section, it's slightly trickier than the main quest, but still a very easy puzzle.

 

One final side objective is riddles, where you are given a vague description of a single object in the map, and you have a short time limit to find it. For these you basically have to have already found the item, and be able to link it to the oddly worded description. I did try to get these without help, but in the end I needed a guide; some of the areas that you need to check are just so big it's effectively luck if you think you'll be able to guess within the time limit (and I don't fancy your odds). 

 

The graphics are simplistic and charming, but the voice acting is where this game shines, every character has such a fantastic naturalistic performance and I was always looking forward to learning about characters from there own perspective after hearing about them the whole level from other characters.

 

My main gripe is that the main plot point that prompted this journey just sort of ends. It's odd since it does get frequently brought up throughout the game, but was dropped in the final minutes.

 

#3 Dordonge

 

 

In this game you explore the memories of the past in a stylised water themed locati... (wait a sec... no no it's a different game). Where a big personalitied older person has been dead for some ti... (hmmmm...)

 

You play as Mimi, both as an adult and as a child in her memories. Mimi is trying to establish what happened 20 years before after she lost her memory. While you do this you'll do scrap booking by collecting a whole lot of words, photos, stickers and sounds. 

 

Over the 8 chapters you'll explore and re-explore the environment along the Dordogne river. But it's not really open world at all, you can re-explore the house but the any of the locations that get added to your map are only there for aesthetics, you'll never go to the Market after going their in chapter 3 even if you want to.

 

Gameplay is definitely where this game is lacking, this is a story first game, and don't get me wrong, the story was good, but it had three threads which when interwoven, don't feel they have the room to grow, these threads are surrounding the Gran, the father, and the thief. Because of this the final two chapters go so fast.

 

There's an elephant in the room that I've been ignoring, because it's a good elephant, like an elephant that has made a red velvet cake. The game is beautiful, it has a water colour style akin to Beyond Eyes and Gris, but I'd say that this one is the best. There were moments that I thought that I assumed an object was a 2D background item, but you interact with it and it's revealed to be a full 3D object. The game looks stunning. 

 

Presentation is just generally solid, motion capture looks so fluid that I genuinely didn't realise it was used until I saw it in the credits and the music was also a relaxing experience.

 

Overall it is a relaxing game that I'd recommend, even with the weaknesses that I've mentioned, a solid narrative whose presentation sells the experience.

 

[nyx770]

18. Last stop - interactive story game following 3 stories . Was alright game but a little weird overall imo. 

19 . gone home -  another interactive game .found this surprisingly short and really obnoxious speedrun trophy ( hate that door) .

[esstee11]

I platted a couple of games that I didnt play intentionally for cosy, but maybe they count. Up to you boss!

 

Taxi Chaos - A crazy taxi clone. Pretty chill just pick people up and drop them off. They could of upped the humour, but there was a lot of repeated dialogue so it unfortunatly got kinda boring for me. All easy, apart from one technically hard mode thing where it wants you to learn the streets for a 3 minute trophy without the arrow taking you there, but if you drive irl, you dont need sat nav every time you go to the same shop, you know the way, so it's not hard. Was loads of collectables too I just used a video guide for those to get it done. Conclusion: Wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. But it wasnt horrible either.

 

Liberated - trailer looked cool, reality was the game and graphics looked nice, but the gameplay was... uninspired. Basic and monotonous. The game is a comic book, where the occassional square is playable, by playable I mean, walk right and shoot someone. Or walk right and hide while someone walks past you. Or maybe a connect the pipes/circuits/code ez minigame. There was no penalty for death, I played on an easy mode called 'reader' which still unlocks all trophies, all easy just one part with a quick QTE is the supposedly hardest part. Again the game wasnt bad, but it wasnt great either (unless you just want to read a comic book then yea its pretty good).

 

Edited Monday at 12:33 PM by esstee11

[graphic_violins8]

14 minutes ago, esstee11 said:

I platted a couple of games that I didnt play intentionally for cosy, but maybe they count. Up to you boss!

 

Taxi Chaos - A crazy taxi clone. Pretty chill just pick people up and drop them off. They could of upped the humour, but there was a lot of repeated dialogue so it unfortunatly got kinda boring for me. All easy, apart from one technically hard mode thing where it wants you to learn the streets for a 3 minute trophy without the arrow taking you there, but if you drive irl, you dont need sat nav every time you go to the same shop, you know the way, so it's not hard. Was loads of collectables too I just used a video guide for those to get it done. Conclusion: Wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. But it wasnt horrible either.

 

Liberated - trailer looked cool, reality was the game and graphics looked nice, but the gameplay was... uninspired. Basic and monotonous. The game is a comic book, where the occassional square is playable, by playable I mean, walk right and shoot someone. Or walk right and hide while someone walks past you. Or maybe a connect the pipes/circuits/code ez minigame. There was no penalty for death, I played on an easy mode called 'reader' which still unlocks all trophies, all easy just one part with a quick QTE is the supposedly hardest part. Again the game wasnt bad, but it wasnt great either (unless you just want to read a comic book then yea its pretty good).

 

I'd say yes to Taxi Chaos but no to Liberated.  Also, on Taxi Chaos, idk if you've ever played Simpsons Hit and Run (personal favorite), but if you have, is Taxi Chaos in that same vein?

Got everyone updated.  Also, I have a week off next week, so I'm going to be finally updating the spreadsheet.  Also @nyx770 congrats on the bonus points for Stardew Valley!  As usual, let me know if there's any issues, and I'll get things updated.

Side note, while I'm not sure I'd call it cozy, ANIMAL WELL is on ps plus and so SO GOOD!  Highly recommend.

Edited Monday at 12:42 PM by graphic_violins8

[esstee11]

@graphic_violins8 I always wanted to play Simpsons hit and run but never actually did! So I dont know other than what I said it is a clone of when you were a kid going in the arcades and playing the Crazy Taxi arcade game. 

[Platinum_Vice]

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe 

This game was a fun experience to mess around in during my first and second sessions with it as I tried to extract as many endings and jokes from it that I could. When I came back to it during my third and fourth sessions to actively collect the remaining trophies I found that I’d lost interest. The sense of humour fell off sharply when going for the trophies but I’m confident that this is a subjective take and that others will disagree.  

 

If you’re willing to accept one genuinely stupid trophy (requiring that you keep the game active on your PlayStation for the full 24 hours of a Tuesday – which I dislike purely because it is a silly thing to do to your expensive PlayStation), then just take the plunge and buy this game sight unseen. There’s far more to gain than there is to lose from an enjoyment perspective. 

 

A Short Hike 

I loved this little experience. It is perfect for this event. Anyone looking for cozy experiences is very likely to appreciate this little indie gem. For me, there was a genuinely painful trophy for playing a minigame (cooperative volleyball) where the other character was distinctly uncooperative. I struggled with it for twice as long as my time with the rest of the game combined. Other than that negative experience I enjoyed everything else... even fishing! 

 

Do Not Feed The Monkeys 

This was a super-unique experience. Your character sits at a PC with access to multiple webcam and CCTV feeds of unknowing people (“monkeys”) in their homes/workplaces (“their natural environments”/”cages”). 

 

Your voyeurism is at the request of a shady organisation that pays you to monitor the subjects to learn key things about their lives. For example, the organisation will start by asking you to figure out the home address, name and phone number of a subject and will reward you with money when you do so. Later, after you’ve been loyal to the organisation a few times, you’ll be given more complicated subjects and tasks, such as reporting the home address of a lady with a hidden safe, and then what time she leaves home every day. Successfully completing that task nets you money, but you can also see a burglar accessing the home at the time you reported. 

 

You are motivated to complete these tasks because your landlady comes to your front door every three days demanding exorbitant rent, and somehow you manage your tasks for the organisation while juggling your hunger, tiredness and health along with your time, because you also need to leave the apartment for work (lawn mowing for an hour, washing dishes in a restaurant for four hours, etc) while noting times to return to your PC at times when your monkeys perform their own regular activities inside their cages. 

 

Not only did I find it fun to juggle all of these different tasks to make it through to the end of the two weeks of each playthrough, but I enjoyed the game the most when I was “feeding the monkeys,” which was frowned upon by the shady organisation. This was just code for “interacting” with the people. An example of this is to look up a subject’s name online (in the game) and call them on your phone (in the game) to tip them off or blackmail them. This leads to the game’s secret weapon: it’s wacky sense of humour. It features a senile man in a retirement home who speaks with a German accent, has a square moustache and combover, and ushers his nurse out of the room so that he can watch old war movies. You can call him up and accuse him of committing war crimes. Another example is a pregnant woman cheating on her husband with the devil. It’s just insanely wacky and always had me questioning “what could possibly happen next.”