What makes a cozy game? : A study of three games considered cozy

Sammanfattning

In recent years the video game industry has seen a rise of the term “cozy games”. In an attempt to explore this new term, this thesis closely looks into three games commonly associated with the label – A Short Hike, Unpacking, and GRIS – to find the essence of what makes them be perceived as cozy. By performing a qualitative analysis, where we played through all of the games two times each, deconstructing and analyzing the different components through the lens of gameplay, visuals, and narrative, we aimed to reach a further understanding of this new term. Our hope is to aid both players as well as developers to gain a better grip of this term, potentially supporting in the process of establishing cozy as a genre of its own. Reaching a concrete result proved difficult. These games that are perceived as cozy are seldom only cozy, the aesthetic being achieved by a combination of several components. These components could be things such as a compelling narrative and visual style, or simple gameplay embracing mundanity and nonviolence.