It’s that time again for another cozy games roundup and wouldn’t you know it… we had another wacky month over here on our side of things. We had to deal with evacuating from Hurricane Milton and then immediately came down with colds that swept through our home. So, the list isn’t going to be super flush with reviews.

Good news, however, is that we did get some work done, so the list isn’t empty!

There were quite a few games that we enjoyed playing last month, so there’s a fair bit in here to rifle through and add to your game libraries!

October Cozy Games

Reviews

I know, horror isn’t for everyone, but maybe it can be. Grunn is a horror exploration game that doesn’t overdo the spooky. There’s enough to feel suspense, but you’re really just someone poking around, finding secrets, and figuring out mysteries.

If you’re a fan of turn-based combat games, Necro Story is going to be right up your alley. Personally, I usually leave the turn-based genre on the table, but I never experienced the feeling of slogging through with Necro Story. It’s not the best in pacing, but it’s far from the worst.

Honestly, I don’t have anything bad to say. Minami Lane is short and sweet, but it’s delightful the whole way through.

While Fruitbus had a few bugs and challenges, it’s a pretty good game that I think a lot of people will enjoy playing. With no timers, you get to explore as you want and bop around the island making food, foraging for ingredients, and completing quests.

Wilmot Works It Out is a fun addition to your gaming library for jigsaw enthusiasts. While I wish the controls were a bit better, I enjoyed getting the chance to work with multiple puzzles at once and found displaying them on our walls to be a charming detail.

The CRKD Nitro Deck+ is a fantastic all-in-one solution for Nintendo Switch owners who need versatility and customizability. It just also happens to be pretty heavy for those wanting to play it like a Nintendo Switch Lite.

Cozy Games Previews

While Let’s Cafe is visually cute with its pixelated style, it’s not balanced in the least. The only thing I got from it is a bit of wrist strain from dragging items all around my screen over and over again.

Lists, News, and Press Releases

• 5 Cozy Halloween Games for the faint of heart
• Animal Crossing Pocket Camp ends November 28th, stand-alone Complete edition coming December 3rd
• Press Release: Graveyard Dude Brings Eerie Puzzle Adventuring To The NES Today

Other

Garden of the Sea: While Garden of the Sea is a fun game, it has some quirks. You’re not given much in the way of tutorial. Dotted around the islands are little wooden signs that have pictures on them that you’re supposed to infer the meaning of.

In a game that requires you to gather resources either by finding it, planting it, or crafting it, this can be pretty frustrating. In addition to the signs, you can find recipe pages around, but you’re not getting more info on those either. Some of the items required need to be crafted and, oftentimes, it won’t tell you what equipment is needed.

There’s a lot of trial and error that you’ll eventually figure out, and when you do, Garden of the Sea is great. You get to explore islands and unlock the secrets buried in them. But, even those are more about stumbling on what you’re meant to be doing as opposed to being told.

I loved the art and once I learned enough on my own, it was charming. I just wish there had been more focus upfront of letting you know what to do. You guys know me, I hate tutorials, but they’re a necessary evil.

Whimel Academy: I can’t even begin to express the amount of frustration that Whimel Academy inspired in me. Not only did the Godot engine fail twice resulting in the game shutting itself down before it could even properly boot, but I got myself stuck in a game-ending way TWICE more.

Maybe if you don’t need the tutorial, this wouldn’t happen. But, as someone who needs to be able to regurgitate the information, tutorials are a bit required for me. So, booting up the tutorial, you’re very much on the rails, which is perfectly fine. However, the game kept locking me out of progress. It simply would not register that the task it was teaching me was something I’d already done, sometimes multiple times.

I had to restart and create three new saves before I could properly get into the game and, by that point, I’d gone through about 45 minutes of frustration. I’ll be honest here, I was so irritated that everything was starting to annoy me. This situation was the opposite of cozy.

Maybe you won’t have the same issues as I did, but I can’t recommend a game that I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to boot up properly.

Hidden in my Paradise: While I do enjoy playing hidden object games, I felt like Hidden in my Paradise missed the mark with what made it unique. In this game, you’re not just finding the hidden objects, you have the ability to move items around and can recreate images that it prompts you to make.

It sounded like a fun and cute gimmick, but the reality is stale. It kind of put a stop to the flow of the game instead of integrating with it. Not bad, not great.