Creepy-Cozy Gaming: 35 Horror Video Games That Are Unexpectedly Cozy, And Vice Versa

Previously: UI-Like Horror Games.

I know, I know: “Cozy horror” has become something of a buzzword in gaming, and it’s only a short jump from buzzword status to marketing ploy (ick). But, despite not loving “cozy horror games” as a term, I do think there’s been something interesting going on in both horror game development and cozy game development lately — namely, that they seem to be borrowing from each other more and more. If you know where to look, there’s both a whole bunch of horror games that are unexpectedly cozy out there, and rather a lot of cozy games that include elements of horror on offer, too.

So let’s talk about it, shall we?

Horror and cozy are my “inside you are two wolves” gaming genres. They’re not the only two genres I play, of course — but they’re the ones I gravitate to the most, and also the ones that I point to as a sort of “this is everything you need to know about me” indicator. As such, you can probably imagine how appealing games that combine elements of each genre are to me.

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

And, in recent years, I’ve noticed more and more games coming out that do just that: Particularly in the indie arena, I’ve been playing both an increasing number of horror games that utilize cozy mechanics, frames, or aesthetics, and an increasing number of cozy games that have what I might term “horror sensibilities” — that is, they’re spiked with darkness in some way, shape, or form, even if they’re still pretty wholesome overall.

I like this trend very much. The idea of putting horror and coziness in direct dialogue with each other is something that really speaks to me; there’s often horror in the mundane, as well as an unusual sort of coziness that can come out of an otherwise horrifying situation.

So, to that end, we’re going to look at cozy horror games here — and we’re going to do it in a few different ways: First, we’ll examine a whole bunch of horror games that utilize mechanics or other elements usually characteristic of cozy games in some unexpected or surprising ways; then, we’ll examine a whole bunch of cozy games that flirt a little bit with elements of horror.

Who are all of these games for, exactly? Well, horror gamers and cozy gamers, of course; but even if you consider yourself more one than the other, you might still find something in the other section that might appeal. For instance, if you’re generally a horror gamer, but find you’ve the enjoyed the occasional shopkeeping, fishing, or cooking mechanic when they’ve popped up in your horror games, you might find some unexpected hits in the second section; or, if you’re generally a cozy gamer, but appreciate a little thrill alongside your cute, you might find something in the first section that works for you.

Go ahead. Make yourself a warm drink. Find your favorite blanket and wrap yourself up in it. Let’s get creepy-cozy.

Part 1: Horror Games That Are Unexpectedly Cozy

The games in this first section are undeniably horror games. They’re not going to leave you feeling particularly relaxed after a session, or with a sense of wellbeing or the warm-fuzzies. They will set you on edge, and they will startle you, and they will probably make you spend a least a few minutes looking cautiously over your shoulder for something lurking in the dark behind you when you’re done playing them.

But despite that, their gameplay can be unexpectedly cozy — largely because they utilize common cozy game mechanics, framing devices, or visual cues or aesthetics. Think: Job simulators. Management games. Life sims. Cooking games, or café/restaurant management simulators. Driving games. Dating simulators. Farming sims. Games that center around other chill and repetitive “brain off” activities, like home renovation, cleaning, packing and organizing, or decorating. Or, quite specifically, think Animal Crossing: Games that feature cute li’l animals as their casts of characters. Just, y’know…. a bit cursed.

Coziness is the fuel these games run on, so to speak, even though the end result is a good scare.

Content warnings apply for most of the games in this section, so if those are important to you, be sure to look them up for any you might be interested in playing.

1. The Boba Teashop

Cozy game genres: Shop management, café simulator.

The Boba Teashop begins like many a cozy game does: You’ve grown tired of your life as a corporate drone, and subsequently quit your job in order to chase your dreams. In this case, you’re Risa, a former office worker in her 30s, and the dream you’re chasing is to run your own boba shop. The gameplay loop, too, is classic cozy game material: A café simulator, it involves greeting customers, taking their orders, serving them, and expanding your menu as business picks up.

But something is… not quite right in this boba shop. You keep seeing strange anomalies, for one. There are rumors that someone died in — or, more accurately, at the base of — the very tall building in which your shop is located. And you yourself don’t feel terribly well much of the time. Is the shop haunted? Is there… something else going on? What exactly is happening to Risa and her boba shop?

Released in 2025 by Malaysian developer Mike Ten, The Boba Teashop isn’t long — it took me just shy of an hour to complete — but it’s very effective. It does a particularly good job at building dread; it’s the kind of game that makes you sit there going “O NO O NO O NO” the entire time you’re playing. (Source: Me; that is exactly what I did.) There’s a demo available on both Steam and Itch.io, if you want to give it a quick try before springing for the full game.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

2. Moving Houses

Cozy game genre: Packing and organizing.

Gordon Little’s 2024 game Moving Houses is — surprise! — a game about moving houses. Specifically, it’s about packing all your stuff up in your old house before you move out and, presumably, into your new one — kind of like a reverse Unpacking. If you’re a person who loves checklists — or more specifically, a person who loves crossing things off on those checklists as you complete each task — there’s a lot here to love; the game assigns you plenty of tasks for every room and all sorts of things you have to get done before you move on.

But as the sun goes down, things start to get… weird. Since when has this house had a bedroom downstairs? Wasn’t that door a window before? Wait, there’s a second floor? This house doesn’t look like it should have a second floor. Why do the rooms seem to be multiplying? Why is there just more and more stuff to pack up, instead of less? What in the House Of Leaves is going on in this house???

Or… maybe… what happened in this house?

Or… what happened to the people who lived in this house?

This isn’t really a game about moving.

Or, at least, not about moving house.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

3. Regular Home Renovation Simulator

Cozy game genres: Cleaning simulator, home renovation and decoration.

More into House Flipper than Unpacking? Give Regular Home Renovation Simulator a try. It asks, as I noted in 2023: What if House Flipper, but extremely cursed?

It’s just as satisfying as the House Flipper games are; you’ll spend your time with this one cleaning up, patching holes, painting, and dealing with the wiring.

But, uh… there’s… something odd about this house, and about your work on it.

That’s where the “extremely cursed” part of the equation comes in.

Originally released on Itch.io in 2022, this one is quick to play — around 15 minutes for your first go-round, though you can and probably should go through it more than once — but the version that’s currently available is also now considered a prototype. Developer SubstandardShrimp is currently working on an expanded, remade version that’ll eventually release on Steam, although there’s no date for that one as of yet.

Ready to get flipping?

Available on Itch.io.

4. Rental

Cozy game genres: Narrative adventure, Animal Crossing (sort of).

Here’s the first of our Animal Crossing-like games: Rental, a short horror game about a family of bunnies that discovers the cabin they’ve rented for their family vacation is… not at all what they thought they were signing up for. It’s up to older sister Umi to explore the cabin and uncover its secrets — and, hopefully, save them all in the process. There are, after all, vacation nightmares, and vacation nightmares.

I should note here that typically, when horror games are compared to Animal Crossing, it’s usually due to the fact that the characters are anthropomorphic animals more than anything else. This is very much true of Rental: The gameplay is absolutely nothing like Animal Crossing, but boy, do Umi and her family look like GameCube-era Animal Crossing rabbits.

From developer Lonely House — an iteration of Smarto Club, a group of Chilean developers who also made cozy games Teacup and Bubblegum Galaxy — Rental was originally dreamed up during the 32bit GameJam. (I haven’t played Bubblegum Galaxy, but Teacup is adorable.) It went briefly viral on its release in 2024, and it’s no wonder: It’s a quick, thrilling experience costing zero dollars that ticks both the horror and nostalgia boxes.

Indeed, thanks to Rental’s success, there’s also another Lonely House game in the works: Mircea, which seems to take its cues from the human player character design of old-school Animal Crossing, rather than the villager design. It looks as if we’ll be exploring some hellish subway tunnels in that one, and as someone who has spent the decades of my adult life relying heavily on subway systems to get around, I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like.

Available on Itch.io and Steam.

5. Easy Delivery Co.

Cozy game genres: Delivery simulator, chill driving and exploration game, Animal Crossing.

2025’s Easy Delivery Co. has, like Rental, drawn a lot of Animal Crossing comparisons due to its cast of anthropomorphic animal characters — but that’s not all it has going for it on the horror-but-make-it-cozy front. It also taps deeply into another common cozy game frame: In essence, it’s a mail delivery game. You’re a delivery driver, spending your time ferrying packages to and from the residents of the strange, snowy landscape in which you all live, upgrading your truck as go… and descending further and further into some kind of weird, low-poly nightmare where not everything is as it seems with each new delivery.

Have you played Lake? How about Mail Time? Catto’s Post Office? Things like that? Easy Delivery Co. is sort of like that, but with a Death Stranding feel and an Animal Crossing-gone-slightly-wrong aesthetic. It’s very chill, and also very eerie. It’s highly satisfying and very enjoyable; based on the strength of this one, I’m looking forward immensely to seeing what developer Sam C. comes up with next.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

6. Grunn

Cozy game genres: Gardening game, cleaning simulator.

Cozy games love gardening. Not just farming; gardening specifically. And particularly in recent years, there’s been a big uptick in gardening-focused cozy games: Think Garden Life, Garden In!, Plantabi, Horticular, and more.

And then there’s Grunn.

Grunn, from developers sokpop and Tom van den Boogaart and released in 2024, looks like a cozy gardening game. That’s how it starts, after all; you arrive in a new town for a job as a gardener for one of its villagers. And, initially, you do, in fact, garden. You trim grass. You neaten up yards. You help get the greenery and flowers looking their best. That sort of thing. The game play is perhaps more comparable to something like Power Wash Simulator than Garden Life — you’ve got a little percentage meter that keeps track of your progress, and once you’ve fully cleaned up an area, you get that glorious little dopamine hit of the meter hitting 100 percent — but either way, it’s a soothing, calming experience… for a while, at least.

The deeper you go, you see, the more ominous things get. And all is not as it seems here.

Unlike a lot of the games I’ve included in this particular section, Grunn has some clever deception going on in its visual presentation: It’s bright; it’s colorful; it’s serene — it is, in fact, exactly the kind of aesthetic you’re likely to find in a cozy game. We’re not looking at the grunginess of The Boba Teashop or Rental; we’re looking at the friendly color palette of something like Ooblets or Tiny Bookshop. It lulls you into what ultimately turns out to be a false sense of security, and the contrast between what the game looks like (at first, at least) and what’s actually going on in it works beautifully.

A non-zero number of Steam reviews note that it scratches the Outer Wilds itch. Do with that what you will.

Available on Steam.

7. Kiosk

Cozy game genres: Cooking game, restaurant management.

We’ve all worked our fair share of menial jobs (or at least, most of us have), so for many, the setup for 2025’s Kiosk, from developer Vivi, will look familiar: You’re the new cook at this odd little standalone burger kiosk in the middle of a park. You’re also the only employee, meaning you’re responsible for everything inside the kiosk while you’re on shift. Also, you work the night shift. ALSO, the last guy who had your job vanished mysteriously. Your customers are weird. The atmosphere is dreadful. But there are burgers to flip and hot dogs to cook, and eventually things like pancakes to make and nuggets to fry, and well… is the pay worth it? You’d better hope it is, because there’s more than just a few burgers on the line here.

Okay, so, uh, it’s… not entirely familiar, even if you have spent some time flipping burgers for money.

Story mode for this one is pretty quick; it only takes about two and half hours to complete. Neither is the gameplay particularly complicated; the mechanics are simple and a little silly, and the horror mostly comes from jump scares.

But it’s eerie in that low-poly, PS1-type way, and when I say the mechanics are a little silly, I mean that in a complimentary way. One of them in particular has some satisfying payoff in the end. (No, I will not be elaborating on how.) And hey, when you’re done with the story, you can also just keep trying to satisfy your customers in endless mode, or even just chill and cook in relaxed mode, if you like. Very cozy, once you get past the threat of imminent death!

Check out the demo on Itch.io if you want to give it a quick try first.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

8. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm

Cozy game genres: Cooking game, restaurant management.

Ready for a longer burger flipping nightmare? Boot up Happy’s Humble Burger Farm. The full-length version of the hour-long prototype Happy’s Humble Burger Barn, this 2021 cooking and restaurant management sim from Scythe Dev Team is truly A Ride. Unlike in Kiosk, you’ve got a full restaurant, not just, y’know, a kiosk; you also get to leave the restaurant from time to time and engage with a wider world.

You, uh… just might not realize how wide that world is until it’s maybe a little too late.

I had a WILD time with the original Itch.io version, which is still available both there and on Steam for free; the full-length version, meanwhile, has also broken containment and hit most other platforms, too. I highly recommend this one, particularly if you like “WTF JUST HAPPENED”-style plot twists.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

9. Birds Watching

Cozy game genres: Creature collection, exploration.

No, no. Not birdwatching. Birds… watching. Birds Watching. You’re not watching them — not really. Even though it seems like you’re birding with the best of them, looking out for an array of feathered friends and logging them in your bird compendium. There’s no one else to interact with, after all; the world has burned, and you’re the only human left.

Or so you think.

Be mindful: The birds may help you, or not, depending on how you treat them — and you need them to help you if you’re going to survive.

This 2026 pick from Studio Ortica is, like many of the games on this list, not terribly long; it’ll only take you an hour or two to work your way through it. But boy, are those hours worth it.

If you like Pokémon, or if you’re into games like Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, or if you love Firewatch, this one will hit those buttons for you… while also giving you a dose of the shivers.

Available on Steam.

10. Order 13

Cozy game genre: Packing and organizing.

Order 13 has a pretty simple premise: You work in a packing warehouse. Orders come into the office. You go into the warehouse. You find the items ordered. You bring those items back to your office. You pack them. You ship them. You take care of your cat. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But although you’re the only staff member there… you’re not alone in the warehouse.

And I’m not just talking about your cat, either.

There’s… something else out there, too.

Best not let it see you.

From Cybernetic Walrus, this 2025 game scratches the same itch that puzzle games like A Little To The Left and Ship, Inc. do, plus a little something extra to keep things… interesting.

Repetitive? Maybe. Soothing? Well, the packing is. So is getting to play with and hang out with your cat. But everything else?

…Pack carefully.

Available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

11. Ravenous Devils

Cozy game genres: Shop and restaurant management, cooking game.

Ravenous Devils is basically Sweeney Todd: The Game, except instead of a barber shop and a pie shop, the two businesses working in horrible tandem here are a tailor shop and a pub. It’s shop management! It’s cooking and restaurant management! It’s murder! There’s a little something for everyone here, in a manner of speaking!

What makes this 2022 business sim from Bad Vices Games a challenge is that it requires you to manage several businesses at once: You have to run your tailor shop, making clothes and murdering clients; you have to manage your pub, serving up meals and keeping your customers happy; and you have to actually do the cooking, so you have the meals to serve — which, of course, includes all the preparation involved in getting a… former tailor shop client ready for the oven. And, of course, you have to do it all without getting caught.

Someone might be on to you, you see.

How long can you outrun them?

Gruesome and hectic, Ravenous Devils is perhaps an acquired taste — but then again, isn’t everything, really?

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

12. Dredge

Cozy game genre: Fishing game.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Dredge here; it’s been a major player in the wider conversations we’ve been having for the last few years about where cozy games and horror games might overlap. So although it’s arguably the best known and most mainstream option in this section, it’s still worth bringing up.

In the event that you missed it when it came out in 2023, Dredge sees you captaining a small fishing vessel sailing strange waters, selling your catches as you unravel a terrible mystery threading its way through a series of not-quite-right islands and environments. There’s a deep sense of dread that gets even deeper as you go; this world is full of unsettling citizens and eldritch creatures, and all is, as you may have guessed, not as it seems.

Here’s the thing: Although Dredge was developed as a horror game, it struck a chord with a huge number of both cozy gamers specifically and people who don’t really consider themselves horror fans more broadly. The sailing, the fishing, the inventory management, the upgrading of the boat — that’s actually all surprisingly soothing, as long as you can overlook the hallucinations rearing up out of the fog at you if you make the mistake of staying out on the open waters too late.

Developer Black Salt Games even ended up adding a passive mode a few months after Dredge’s initial launch, making the sailing-fishing-selling-upgrading loop more accessible — perfect for those times when you just want to fish and chill, rather than fish and run from eldritch horrors.

Pick your poison.

Maybe literally.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and mobile.

13. Chilla’s Art games

Cozy game genre: Job simulators.

Japanese indie dev team Chilla’s Art specializes in short, low-poly horror experiences — usually ghost stories, although not always, often based on well-known Japanese legends or phenomena.

Many of them are also job simulators of various types. It’s true that they do often play more like first-person walking simulators than full-on job sims; there’s not a lot of the repetitive gameplay that characterizes job sims as a genre, and the work scenario is often more a framing device than anything else. I still think they belong here, though, and, well, this is my list, so I get to decide the rules.

Games that particular fit the bill here include:

• Umigari: A harpoon fishing game that might hit the same buttons Dredge does.
• The Convenience Store: Work the midnight shift at a maybe-haunted convenience store.
• The Closing Shift: Work the late shift at a slightly-off café.
• Night Delivery: Work as a late-night package courier for a variety of unsettling customers.

If you’re at all interested in indie horror in particular, these folks should definitely be on your radar.

Available on Steam and Itch.io.

14. Doki Doki Literature Club

Cozy game genres: Visual novel, dating simulator.

Alongside Dredge, Doki Doki Literature Club is likely one of the best-known games on this list. It made a huge splash when its original incarnation was first released (for free!) by Team Salvato in 2017; an expanded version, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, came out a few years later, in 2021; and ever since then, it’s been a mainstay of the highly specific Games That Mess With Your Actual Life subgenre.

I highlight the visual novel aspect here because they’re often popular with cozy gamers, although it’s also worth noting that not all visual novels are cozy. Indeed, the format is actually full of straight-up horror, if that floats your (eldritch fishing) boat. Some personal favorites of mine, for instance, include The Letter, the Paranormasight series, and Raging Loop.

Dating sims, however, fall very firmly on the cozy side of things. And dating sim visual novels specifically? They’re a highly popular genre for a reason: They scratch a lot of itches for many cozy gamers.

Doki Doki? It looks like a dating sim visual novel… at first.

It’s not, though.

And in the event that you’ve not already experienced it… that’s all I’ll say on the matter.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and iOS.

15. Pacific Drive

Cozy game genres: Exploration, chill driving game.

I suppose 2024’s Pacific Drive, from Ironwood Studios, is maybe more a survival game than a horror game; I think there’s enough that’s horrifying in it, though, to make it count as horror, too. Think Annihilation with a station wagon.

The premise here is that you’ve become trapped in an area of Washington State that’s now an exclusion zone due to science run amok. It’s not safe. It’s full of anomalies. And all you have to protect yourself as you move through is your trusty station wagon.

Driving, at least, lets you relax a little, even as you try to dodge the little blips in your reality. It’s very chill, driving is.

Of course, as is the case in Dredge, the environment you’re driving through in Pacific Drive can be decidedly not chill; there are anomalies aplenty, and some areas can be… let’s call it less stable than others. Or they can become less stable, even if they used to be relatively safe to go through.

Drive. Upgrade your car. Drive. Upgrade more. Survive the exclusion zone. Drive. Upgrade. Drive. Drive. Drive.

Available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

16. Berry Bury Berry

Cozy game genre: Cozy incremental game.

There’s a hole. There are berries. You have to put the berries in the hole. You collect the berries. You put them in the hole. The hole gets bigger. You get a vacuum. There are berries. You have to put the berries in the hole. You collect the berries faster, thanks to your vacuum. You put the berries in the hole. The hole gets bigger. There are more berries. There are more berries. There are more berries. You have to put the berries in the hole. The hole gets bigger. The hole gets bigger. The hole gets bigger.

But what the heck is in the hole in the first place, and why does it need so many berries?

Welcome to Berry Bury Berry, an incremental game about putting berries in a hole.

But actually, it’s not about that at all. There is… more going on here. And it is exceedingly ominous.

Similarly to what I pointed out about visual novels a little further up, it’s true, of course, that incremental games aren’t inherently cozy; indeed, they’re often not cozy at all. But this particular one has a couple of things in common with… well, maybe some other games that aren’t best classified as incremental, but which are cozy all the same.

First, Berry Bury Berry’s gameplay loop of vacuuming up items (in this case, berries) and delivering them to a specific holding location (the hole) is very reminiscent of Slime Rancher’s gameplay loop. A much-beloved cozy game series, the Slime Rancher games also involve vacuuming up items (this time, slimes) and delivering them to a specific holding location (pens and habitats — you’re a rancher, after all), and, well… it’s easy to draw a line from point A to point B here, isn’t it?

And second, Berry Bury Berry’s whole… uh… hole situation? The “put things in the hole; make the hole bigger; put more things into the hole; make the hole even bigger; and so on and so forth” thing? That’s very Donut County — and, as in Donut County, what makes the hole mechanic so great is the fact it’s not just a hole for a hole’s sake; it’s in service of a truly gripping story.

There’s a reason this pick from Get(Color) Games became a surprise hit upon its release in early 2026.

Put the berries in the hole. Put the berries in the hole. PUT THE BERRIES IN THE HOLE.

Available on Steam.

17. Dead Letter Dept.

Cozy game genres: Job simulator, mail sorting.

Have you ever received a letter (yes, in the actual mail) addressed with handwriting so inscrutable that you wondered how it even made it to you in the first place? That’s the job you do in Dead Letter Dept.: You look at letters; you decipher the mailing addresses on them; and then you type and submit those addresses into your computer’s system, so as to help these dead letters make it where they’re supposed to go. Easy, right?

Hilariously enough, postal service games — games where you’re sorting or delivering mail (or both) — have become a staple of cozy gaming; from story-driven narrative games like Lake to cute little platformers like Mail Time and from bite-sized adventures like Catto’s Post Office to multi-player chaos machines like KeyWe, mail-themed games are everywhere if you know where to look. Like most job sim cozy games, the draw of a postal service game is the repetitive, task-based nature of the whole thing: Even though sorting mail might be a tedious job in real life, it’s extremely soothing within the context of a video game.

Here, we’ve got something a little different — something probably closer to mail-based data entry (and it is, in fact, a real job!) — but the idea is the same as it is with your average mail-themed cozy game: Dead Letter Dept. involves repetitive, task-based gameplay where you type in what you see and submit, and type in what you see and submit, and type in what you see and submit… until things start to get a little odd. Unsettling. Weird. Something else is going on here, and it turns out that these letters may be dead in more ways than one.

I originally encountered this game from developers Mike Monroe and Belief Engine in one of the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc compilations on Itch.io; I was later thrilled to find that it received a full release on Steam in 2025. It really makes an impression. Highly recommended.

Available on Steam.

18. Welcome To Elderfield

Cozy game genre: Farming and life simulator.

Welcome to Elderfield. Or, rather, welcome back. You left for school. You came back. You didn’t want to, but here you are. Time to get working. The farm needs farming. The fish need fishing. The friends need friending. The Old Gods need your devotion and love and sacrifice. You know. Just normal things.

Normal things.

Totally normal things.

Tooootally and completely normal.

Yep.

Available on Steam.

Part 2: Cozy Games With Horror Sensibilities

The games in this second section are games I classify as either cozy-leaning or just straight-up cozy, but which also have dash of horror somewhere in their DNA: They’re a little weird; their worlds are a little unusual; there’s something a little dark tarnishing all the cuteness; that kind of thing.

Sometimes, it’s about the aesthetics or visual style of the game. Sometimes, it’s about the ideas with which the games engage. Sometimes, it might even be something a bit less… quantifiable. It’s more about vibes than anything else — how the games feel when you play them. Cozy, but make it horror: You might not be able to define it, but you know it when you see it.

Content warnings are probably slightly less important in these ones, but the usual caveat of looking them up if they’re useful to you still applies.

19. Creature Kitchen

Creepy game genre: Cooking game and creature collection, but make it weird.

Friends. This game is a goddamn delight.

Here’s the deal with Creature Kitchen: You’ve inherited a cabin in the woods. The cabin is a little outdated, though it’s still relatively neat and tidy. The woods are dark, though not unpleasantly so. And the little cabin’s kitchen? It’s a special one. It’s not particularly big; nor is it anything close to top-of-the-line. But it, and its cabinets, and its appliances, and its pantry, and its neatly-set table all have a number of… qualities that will make it possible for you to do the job that you’ve also inherited along with the cabin: You’re to take care of all the creatures that live in the cabin and in the woods with you.

Identify each creature. Figure out what they like to eat. Feed them their favorite meals. Like I said: Take care of them.

If you do this, the cabin and the woods and its creatures will take care of you, too.

So many of the things I love about this game, I cannot actually tell you about, because it will spoil things — and the joy of this one is really in the discovery. It’s in discovering each creature. It’s in discovering their foods of choice, and figuring out how to make them for them. And it’s in discovering how the world works — like, for instance, how your ingredients are stored, and where you can find more of each one, even if your cupboards have seemingly gone bare.

Each and every discovery is just a pleasure to find, and every time I realized I had uncovered a new piece of it all and how that piece fit into the bigger whole, I just cackled with glee.

The aesthetic of this 2026 pick from The Rat Zone is very similar to games like The Boba Teashop and Kiosk in its darkness and slightly grimy veneer — although to me, it feels less foreboding and more just… whimsically weird. It looks eerie, but it’s actually extremely wholesome. I loved it.

Available on Steam.

20. The Ghost Cage

Creepy game genre: Narrative adventure and life simulator, but make it haunted.

What would you do if you moved into an old house that turned out to be haunted? Would you ignore the ghost? Try to exorcise it? Maybe try to… become its friend? These and many more options are available to you in The Ghost Cage, a short, sweet, and — key point! — free little game that’ll give you a dose of the warm-fuzzies alongside your shivers.

Originally developed for the horror-themed game jam Spooktober Spooktacular Game Jam by SeaPhoenix, this cute little pixel art game is definitely in the choices-matter zone; numerous endings await, depending on the choices you make regarding your otherworldly housemate every day. A single run will take no more than 20 to 30 minutes, but it’s worth spending the time to see how different choices result in different outcomes. I’ve got a preferred ending, myself — but you’ll have to decide which ending is “best” based on your own metrics.

Available on Steam and Itch.io.

21. Beacon Pines

Creepy game genre: Narrative adventure, but make it… mysterious.

Yes, I know: “But make it mysterious” is incredibly vague. To be any more specific here would spoil things, though, so, uh… that’s where we’re at. “Mysterious.” It gets the job done.

Anyway, Beacon Pines sees you take the role of Luka, a small boy (or, more accurately, a small deer boy — we’re in an anthropomorphic animal world here) who lives in a seemingly idyllic town that’s been down on its luck for some time. There is, it turns out, a reason for that — and unraveling that mystery will determine the town’s fate and fortunes moving forwards.

Sounds fairly standard, right? What makes it interesting, though, is the form and structure: Beacon Pines unfolds as told through a storybook. You get to choose which words to fill in to determine what’s happening at key points — and these words will later be among your options for new choices that will make further determinations. In essence, you’re writing the story as you go.

And you know what’s neat about writing? It’s not static; nothing is set in stone — not until the final edit, at least. You can always go back and revise things, and you can do it as many times as you like.

This is true of the story in Beacon Pines, too.

Developed by Hiding Spot Games and originally released on 2022, Beacon Pines has since become a staple of the cozy-creepy overlap. Don’t be fooled by its friendly-looking art style; there’s some real darkness hiding in the shadows here.

Available on Steam, Xbox, and Switch.

22. Night In The Woods

Creepy game genre: Narrative adventure, but make it mysterious and maybe a little cult-y.

Like Beacon Pines, 2017’s Night In The Woods features a cast of anthropomorphic animals struggling to get by in their fading small town. It is, however, otherwise very different — different sensibilities, different style, different heart. (Both, though, are full of heart; don’t get me wrong about that.)

You play as Mae, a (cat) young adult who has returned home after dropping out of college due to Reasons she’s reluctant to share. But the town that she has returned to is very different from the town she remembers: Even if it sort of looks the same, somehow things aren’t the same. And as much as Mae would like to cling to how things used to be, that’s proving to be impossible… for quite a lot of reasons.

There’s something going on in the town of Possum Springs, you see. Something that’s been going on for a very long time — and which may also be the reason the town is falling apart now.

None of that really does this one any justice, though. Night In The Woods is one of those games I wish I could wipe from my memory and play for the first time all over again. It’s truly a singular experience. Don’t miss out on it.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

23. Graveyard Keeper

Creepy game genre: Farming-ish management and life simulator, but make it, y’know, a graveyard instead of a farm.

Graveyard Keeper asks a very simple question: What if Stardew Valley, but in a cemetery?

As the newly-appointed steward of the church and cemetery belonging to a strange little medieval village, you’ll perform a lot of familiar activities here: You’ll maintain the grounds by removing stumps and rocks; you’ll renovate the church and other facilities needed to do your job; you’ll do some crafting, some relationship building, some business management; you’ll participate in seasonal festivals; and you will, of course, bury people.

But there’s more to it than that, of course; there is, in fact, a story to go along with it all. And, I would argue, it’s a bit more involved than the bare bones story that Stardew uses as its extremely rough frame.

That’s not a knock against Stardew, by the way; it doesn’t really need a story. The story of Stardew is the one you write yourself as you get your farm going and become part of the community. But my point is that Graveyard Keeper has a bit more chugging in the background, story-wise, which is part of what makes it worth picking up.

Graveyard Keeper does get a little crunchy in its skill trees and systems, and it’s definitely a grind-y sort of game — but if one or both of those things do it for you, give this one a try. (Note that there are a bunch of DLCs for this one, so prices may vary depending on whether you’re looking at just the base game or at any bundles that include some or all of the DLCs.)

Also of note: Bandle Tale is from the same developers and features many of the same systems with a lot more refinement. So, if you either liked Bandle Tale and are interested in seeing an earlier version of its style of gameplay, or you liked Graveyard Keeper and want to see a more sophisticated version of it, the pair of them together makes for an interesting duo. Graveyard Keeper 2 also recently saw release, though it looks a little more action-oriented than its predecessor.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

24. Gleaner Heights

Creepy game genre: Farming and life simulator, but make it Twin Peaks.

You’ll notice that quite a few of the games on this part of the list are “farming sim, but make it horrifying.” I suspect that’s because farming games have had such a chokehold over the cozy game arena for so long — even before “cozy gaming” was taxonomically A Thing.

In any event, developer Emilios Manolidis’ Gleaner Heights is one such “farming sim, but making it horrifying”-type game — and a relatively early one, at that. A contemporary of Graveyard Keeper, Gleaner Heights arrived in 2018, directly in the wake of Stardew Valley‘s 2016 release; but although many of the now-familiar mechanics of a well-rounded farming and life sim are present here — farming! Ranching! Crafting! Mining! Fishing! Friendship! Dating! Romance! Even a little light combat! — Gleaner Heights also brings to it a story that can only be described as Lynchian.

There’s an argument to be made that Gleaner Heights should have been in the first section of this list. In some ways, it’s a little more like Grunn, which looks like a cozy game, but is actually a horror game. I still think it belongs here, though; it’s not nearly as overtly horrifying as Neverway, and I don’t really think it’s a secret horror game, either. Maybe you disagree. That’s fine. Either way, it’s a fun pick that’s worth your time.

If you’ve ever longed for a video game version of Twin Peaks, this is as close as you’re likely to get.

Available on Steam, Xbox, and Switch.

25. Penko Park

Creepy game genre: Photography game, but make it weird.

Welcome to Penko Park! This wildlife park is full of creatures, just living their lives in their natural habitats. Feel free to take the tour; the cart will guide you through all of these areas, so you can observe these lovable beings without disturbing them. This is their home, after all; you’re just visiting. Keep your camera out — you never know when you might spot an unforgettable photo opportunity!

There’s just one thing: Penko Park… is abandoned. It has been for some time. The creatures don’t mind; in fact, they probably prefer it that way. You probably will, too, since it means you get to see them truly in their own homes, rather than ones that are carefully constructed by park staff.

Like Creature Kitchen, I’d classify 2020’s Penko Park by developer Ghostbutter not so much as scary, but as whimsically weird. And the gameplay? That’s pure coziness: Think Pokémon Snap, but just, y’know, weirder. Given how weird most of the Pokémon are when you actually think about it, that’s really saying something — but it’s also still delightfully wholesome. Say cheese!

Available on Steam and Switch.

26 – 27. Strange Horticulture and Strange Antiquities

Creepy game genre: Cozy deduction game, but make it occult.

Two of my favorite picks from recent years, this duo of deduction games is exactly what you’re looking for if you’re into gothic literature and a darkly Victorian setting and aesthetic. From developer Bad Viking, they both exist in the same universe; furthermore, although they’re perfectly enjoyable individually, they create a wonderful whole when played on each other’s feels.

They do each have their own focus, though. Strange Horticulture — the first of the two, with a release date of 2022 — sees you running a flower store and plant emporium in the town of Undermere. Your customers will come to with their problems, and you’ll have to figure out which of your plants might be imbued with the properties that will get them what they desire.

Strange Antiquities, meanwhile, which came out in 2025, has you taking on an apprentice role at Undermere’s antiques shop, examining, identifying, and cataloging various artefacts and selling your customers the artefacts that will help them achieve their goals… or not. You can, in fact, choose to send them home with the wrong items, if you like. You have your reasons, right?

I’ve classified these two as cozy deduction games — what I’d consider the gaming equivalent of an armchair mystery — but they do also tap into some other cozy game staples: A botany theme for the first; an antiquarian and item restoration theme for the second; shopkeeping; relationship building; the whole life-in-a-small-town scenario; and so on and so forth. They’re both perfect little bites of shivery fun, so if you suspect you might have been an eerie Victorian ghost child in a past life, you’ll probably get a kick out of both.

Strange Horticulture is available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

Strange Antiquities is available on Steam and Switch.

28 – 29. Crime Scene Cleaner and Viscera Cleanup Detail

Creepy game genre: Cleaning simulator, but make it morbid.

Meanwhile, I’m lumping these two together because they both scratch the same itch: The extreme satisfaction of cleaning a space up until it’s spotless. If you’re into Power Wash Simulator or Fresh Start, these ones are for you.

As long as you’re, y’know, okay with a little blood.

Okay, a lot of blood.

And other… squishy bits.

Although I’m pairing these two together, they are still different games. Crime Scene Cleaner, for instance, has a little bit more of a story — not much, but enough to provide a framework for all of the cleaning jobs to exist within. It also takes the time to teach you the mechanics in a nice, simple, clear-cut way.

Viscera Cleanup Detail, on the other hand, doesn’t really have any story to speak of, and expressly does not teach you the mechanics. It wants you just to explore and figure things out as you go. Go! Be free! Just make sure you don’t miss those bits of entrail over there in that corner!

Due to these differences, here’s what I’d recommend: Do you like a little more structure from, your games? Try Crime Scene Cleaner. Do you like just to be unleashed into an environment to do as you please, no tutorials required? Go with Viscera Cleanup Detail.

Crime Scene Cleaner is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Viscera Cleanup Detail is available on Steam.

30. Cult Of The Lamb

Creepy game genre: Life simulator and town/community builder, but make it cult-y.

There’s a lot about Cult Of The Lamb that’s cozy: You’re a cute li’l lambykins! You’ve got a cute li’l town! You build it up! You take care of your villagers! You farm! You cook! You observe and respect the circle of life! Look at you, you adorable, benevolent leader, you!

There’s also a lot about Cult Of The Lamb that makes it seem like it’s antithesis of cozy: You were literally a sacrificial lamb saved by a mysterious eldritch being! Your cute li’l town is a cult compound! You’re building up a cult! You’re taking care of your cultists! You’re farming for your cult! You’re cooking for your cult! You’re observing and respecting and sometimes manipulating the circle of life for your cult! Look at you, you charismatic cult leader, you!

And that’s before you get into all of the combat — because this one is also a roguelite. You alternate trips through dungeons with time spent building and managing your cult, and well…

Yes, it’s cozy. And yes, it’s also got horror sensibilities. We contain multitudes.

Wary of the roguelite sections? True, they’re a little less cozy than the cult management bits, although the game does have difficulty settings that can make most of the combat fairly breezy. If you just want to hit things with big weapons (very satisfying!) and not have to worry overly much about attack strategy or dying a ton, easy mode makes that possible.

Cult Of The Lamb is basically a really good horror-comedy in video game form. It’s a blast.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

31. Vampire Therapist

Creepy game genre: Narrative visual novel, but make it vampires.

One of the things I love so much about cozy games is that, generally speaking, they’re all very kind. They emphasize kindness — the radical act of being kind to each other and to ourselves — and, honestly, when our actual world seems to be getting not only more and more unkind, but straight-up mean and openly evil as each day passes… well, you can see why games that emphasize kindness might resonate.

And that’s what Vampire Therapist gets at: It’s a visual novel wherein you step into the shoes of a hundreds-year-old vampire who now finds himself acting as a therapist for other vampires. Help your community. Help yourself. And in doing so, make things… well, not all better, but even just a little bit better. One kindness at a time.

This 2024 release from Little Bat Games is both exactly what it says on the tin, and so much more. It has so much heart, and humor, and — again — kindness. If you’re a What We Do In The Shadows fan, this one might be just what you’re looking for.

Available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.

32. Whisper Of The House

Creepy game genre: Home renovation and decoration/(un)packing and organizing, but make it weird.

Whisper Of The House piqued my interest initially because I’d been looking for something to fill the Unpacking void literally since I rolled credits on it four or five years ago. Imagine how delighted I was to find not only that Whisper Of The House does, in fact, do that — by which I mean, it’s not just unpacking and organizing for its own sake, but unpacking and organizing in service of an actual story — but also that said underlying story involves all sorts of weird occult stuff! Truly an unexpected and very much welcome surprise.

In Whisper Of The House, you’ve just moved to a new town, where you’re also getting your new business off the ground: You offer unpacking, organization, and decorating services that help residents make their homes truly theirs. All is not what it seems, though, and as you unpack and organize and decorate your way through a wide variety of buildings and spaces throughout town, you start to uncover a mystery — one that, if you can solve it, might help everyone in an even bigger way than you thought.

With beautiful pixel art and a heartfelt story, this 2025 game from GD Studio has so much to offer. It’s giving Gravity Falls, which is basically the highest compliment I can give.

Available on Steam.

33. Village In The Shade

Creepy game genre: Farming and life sim, but make it haunted and maybe a little cursed.

This little villag you’ve just arrived in? It’s so cute! Everyone is so friendly! What a nice place to put down some roots and try to get farming!

Though… why are there so many rules? Why am I not allowed to go out at night? What’s going to happen if I do? Do I get fined or something? I’m an adult; why do I need a curfew?

…Oh. Oh, that’s why.

If the art style for this one looks familiar to you, you might recognize it from the Yomiwari games; Village In The Shade is from the same folks. It combines the best bits of those previous games with the satisfying systems that make farming sims so much fun, and, I mean… I may as well be holding up a sign that says “HI, HELLO, I AM YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE” here.

Although this one released on Steam in July, it didn’t have an English localization at the time; that took a little longer to arrive. But it did finally get here in October, along with a Switch version, so it’s become accessible little by little — and, truly, it was worth the wait. What a weird and delightful take on this variety of mashup. And as a bonus, you can even set it to a sort of “safe mode,” if you just want the farming and life sim stuff without the scares. (Couldn’t be me, but, y’know, it’s nice that it’s an option for folks who might want it!)

Available on: Steam and Switch.

34. Mayor May Knott

Creepy game genre: Puzzle-solving town builder, but make it haunted.

You’ve arrived on a train and landed in a strange, seemingly abandoned ghost town without a penny to your name and nothing but the clothes on your back and the functional hands at the ends of your very long braids. The only person in sight is a talking potato, and he’s kind of a jerk. He does, however, direct you towards the town hall, where you manage to find a place to rest that first night: On top of a filing cabinet. Inside the filing cabinet, though, you find something useful: The deed to the town. And with that, suddenly, you’re the mayor of this extremely odd place — and its residents, as eerie as they are, would love it if you helped them restore their home.

At its core, this one is about overcoming fear — understanding it, learning about it, and discovering that sometimes, things that look scary aren’t actually scary at all, once you get to know them. It’s weird and charming, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Heads up that a lot of the early game has jumpscares, so if you’re easily startled, this one may not be for you — but for what it’s worth, the jumpscares serve a purpose, and where they are and whether they trigger has a lot to do with how far you’ve progressed. They’re not just jumpscares for jumpscares’ sake.

Available on: Steam and Xbox.

35. My Little Café Nightmare

Creepy game genre: Restaurant and café management, but make it… nightmare-ish.

If you’ve ever wanted to run your very own café specifically for ghosts, My Little Café Nightmare is for you. You’ll set your menu, set your prices, order your supplies, furnish and decorate the place, brew your drinks, clean up after unruly ghost customers… and occasionally handle the odd anomaly. Y’know. Normal café stuff.

There’s nothing terribly innovative here in terms of the gameplay — if you’ve played one café management game, you’ve more or less played them all — but it’s got a nice visual style to it and some quirky sensibilities that are very much in the creepy-cute realm. And if you don’t want the stress of messy customers and the whole anomaly thing, there’s a “cozy” mode that lets you just chill out and brew coffee, too. Very soothing. Very zen.

A note about the controls: Definitely play this one with a mouse and keyboard. It does have controller support, but the control is scheme… extremely odd. It’s very unintuitive, and to be perfectly honest, I cannot figure out why everything was mapped the way it was. You’ll have a much better time navigating basically everything on your screen with a mouse and keyboard. Just… trust me on this.

Available on: Steam.

Bonus: Upcoming Honorable Mentions To Keep An Eye On

A big pet peeve of mine is the variety of recommendations roundups you’ll find titled something like “The 10 Best Cozy Horror Games You Can Play Right Now” — and then, like, eight of them are games that haven’t actually been released yet, or are still so early in development that we’re likely not going to see them for literal years.

This section is my attempt to avoid falling into trap: The following games all look really interesting to me, but they haven’t been released yet — and, in most cases, may not even have a release year on the calendar yet, let alone a specific date.

They’re worth having on your radar all the same, though, so keep your ear to the ground!

There Are No Ghosts At The Grand

Mashup genre: Haunted cleaning/renovation/life simulator.

In There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, you’ll be cleaning up and renovating an old hotel. Also, it’s haunted. Also, no one in the game can be trusted — including the player character. Also, there are some light life sim elements. Sounds fun!

Status: Upcoming, December 2026.

Grave Seasons

Mashup genre: Farming and life simulator with a little murder on the side.

I’ve been keeping track of Grave Seasons before it was even actually in development; SON M. has been musing about what a game like this might look like since 2021. Those tweets are now deleted, but my response back then was, as you might expect: Shut up and take my money. And it still is, even if this one has been delayed a few times.

You’re familiar with the story: In an attempt to escape a life that’s no longer serving you, you leave everything behind, move to a small town where no one knows anything about you or your past, and begin a new life as a farmer, making friends and building up your business as you go. Heck, maybe you’ll even find love! Anything could happen, right? New year, new you.

The thing is, in Grave Seasons, there’s also a serial killer on the loose. They’re offing the townsfolk, one by one. They could be anyone. They could be your friends. Your neighbors. Even your romantic partner. Can you figure out who it is before it’s too late?

Status: Upcoming, release currently planned for March 9, 2027.

Fractured Blooms

Mashup genre: Cursed, time-looping farming and life sim.

In Fractured Blooms, you play as Angie, a teenage girl tasked with bringing the neglected farm and house you find yourself in back to life. Every morning, you wake up. You tend your garden. You cook. You clean. You take care of things.

Every morning, you wake up. You tend your garden. You cook. You clean. You take care of things. You notice something out of the corner of your eye.

Every morning, you wake up. You tend your garden. You cook. You clean. You take care of things. You sense something different.

Every morning, you wake up. You tend your garden. You cook. You clean. You take care of things. You can’t look at it directly, though.

Every morning, you wake up. You tend your garden. You cook. You clean. You take care of things. You’ll be punished if you do.

Status: Upcoming; no release date yet; demo available.

About Fishing

Mashup genre: Mystery fishing game, possibly weird/haunted/cursed.

You fish. But some things weren’t meant to be caught. Looks extremely surreal, 100 percent here for it. About Fishing is by the same developer who made Arctic Eggs, by the way — which, as a weird cooking game, would have probably been at home in Part 1 of this piece — so if you’ve played and dug that one, you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on this one.

Status: Upcoming, no release date yet; demo available.

Vampire Rancher

Mashup genre: Farming simulator but you’re a vampire.

In Vampire Rancher, get ready to farm, ranch, craft, quest, and drink the blood of unsuspecting humans in the town you live in so you can survive — but don’t get caught!

Status: Upcoming 2027, no release date yet.

Petunia’s Purgatory

Mashup genre: Cursed bottom-of-the-screen idle farming game.

Help cute li’l Petunia manage her farm by growing (incredibly weird) crops, taking care of cute little animals (to be used for ritual sacrifice), keeping her calm and in control (so she doesn’t start to invade the rest of your desktop)… you know. Normal bottom-of-the-screen idle game things.

Status: Upcoming 2027, no release date yet.

THE LIFT: Supernatural Handyman Simulator

Mashup genre: Supernatural disaster cleanup and renovation simulator.

In THE LIFT, There’s been an Incident at the giant research facility in town. It’s now been abandoned. You’re the handyman in charge of fixing it up. Let’s hope you survive.

Status: Upcoming 2027, no release date yet.

Neverway

Mashup genre: Eldritch farming and life simulator.

Neverway starts the way most cozy farming and life sims do, but it also… doesn’t. Sure, you — or, rather, Fiona; you’re not playing as yourself here, but rather as a specific protagonist — quit your mind-numbing corporate job in the city and move to a remote location — in this case, and island — to start your new life as a salt-of-the-earth farmer and staple of the community; but you’ve also been experiencing some… odd things in your otherwise meaningless, day-to-day life. And little does Fiona know that, as she attempts to build — or rebuild — her life and pay off her mortgage, she’ll become indebted to something cosmically vast and horrifying. An idyllic new farm life, this one is not.

The first project from Coldblood Inc., founded by Celeste pixel artist Pedro Medeiros and programmer Isadora Sophia, Neverway features all the hallmarks of a good cozy game: Farming! Fishing! Crafting! Decorating! Dating and romance!… And also, it has rigorous combat and nightmarish monsters and an increasingly dire storyline. If you like a little routine with your horror, this one is one to look forward to.

Staus: Upcoming 2027, no release date yet.

Harvest Island 2.0

Creepy game genre: Cursed, eldritch-y farming and life simulator.

I’d actually originally planned to include Harvest Island within the main body of this piece — but then I realized that the version of it that’s currently out isn’t going to be what the game actually is for much longer: Its developer is working on a 2.0 release that’s functionally an entire remake, building off of all of the feedback they’ve gotten from players since the 1.0 release in 2023. As such, it felt more apt to consider it an upcoming game, even if there’s a version of it that is currently playable in its entirety.

Anyway:

Welcome to Harvest Island. You live here with your father and your sister. You run the farm. You tend the animals. You catch bugs. You explore caves. You appease the gods.

You… appease gods?

Why are things like this?

Why is your sister getting more and more unpredictable?

Why is your father telling you increasingly obvious lies?

Why do the gods demand of what they do?

What is going on here, on Harvest Island?

Status: Upcoming; 1.0 release out now.

There. That should keep you busy for a while. Have fun, kids.

Just be careful what you dig up out of the ground.

Some things should stay where they are.

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photos via Piotr Baranowski, cottonbro studio/Pexels]