It’s a stressful time on planet Earth. We all need to escape the weirdness of reality every now and again. Video games, famously, are one excellent method for doing so. But if you’re a Nintendo Switch owner, the intensity of, say, Metroid Dread may not be your preferred vibe.
As such, here’s a list of the most comforting games available on the Switch. From chill action games to life-sims to low-stakes puzzle games to a three-hour game about hiking, whatever you’re craving, there’s a lot to choose from.
Yes, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an action game filled with some relatively intense enemies. After all, the threat Calamity Ganon poses on Hyrule is no joke. No one’s going to forget their first surprise run-in with a Guardian. That’s why, despite arguably being the greatest game ever made, Breath of the Wild ranks relatively low here.
But there’s also a famously cozy, comforting aspect to BotW. This Hyrule is vast and beautiful, the kind of place where you want to turn over every nook and cranny. Whether you’re riding around Hyrule Field on your horse or climbing up a mountain, it’s a treat to listen to the gorgeous score and bask in that beauty.
There’s a real satisfaction when things fit together just so. That’s the entire premise behind Unpacking, one of the chillest puzzle games in existence. Your character has just moved into a new home, and now it’s time to unpack. Pull possessions out of boxes and arrange them in rooms however you please. Put away books, stack dishes, arrange the bed just so.
There are no timers and no scoring. Just the satisfaction of decorating a space how you like it and of a job well done. There’s even a story to put together through the game’s subtle environmental storytelling.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is an action game about trying to make the world a more colorful place. A revered artist named Chicory went missing, and all the color in Picnic Provence disappeared with her. You play as a cute little dog and Chicory’s biggest fan, wielding a magic paintbrush to bring color back to your home and find your hero.
One of the most delightful aspects of Chicory is that you can paint on anything you please. It also takes a very reasonable 10 hours to complete. So go ahead, paint that tree purple — make the world as vibrant as you please.
The Katamari series has one of the most wonderfully bizarre premises in gaming. Your father, the King of All Cosmos, has accidentally destroyed a whole bunch of stars. It’s up to you, the tiny Prince, to create new ones by rolling up a bunch of random stuff. You start out by rolling up candy, and eventually grow into rolling up chairs, then tables, then cars, then buildings. Even people.
Katamari Damacy Reroll is not a cozy game, perhaps — there are simply too many absolute bangers in the soundtrack for Katamari to be “chill.” But it is absolutely a very comforting and therapeutic experience, one which makes you satisfactorily feel ever-more powerful and in control of your environment. There is only one game series which culminates in the objective of rolling up the moon, and that’s Katamari.
Have you ever played Carcassone, the tabletop game where you create an idyllic landscape by laying down tiles? Well, what if you weren’t playing against anyone and could do everything at your own pace? That’s essentially Dorfromantik.
You can treat Dorfromantik as simply a chill, relaxing game where you’re creating a cities and controlling the flows of the rivers. Or if you want a challenge, you can try to beat the high score. Try to properly surround your windmills or put your deer in a forest with over 50 trees. Either way, you’ll have a beautiful and calming time.
What can be more comforting than surrounding yourself with flowers? Botany Manor takes place in 1890, and you play as a retired botanist finishing your book at your lovely home in the English countryside. (How is a botanist this loaded? Fantasy is comforting, too.) Research rare plants and try to grow them.
Indie darling Botany Manor is one of the best puzzle games of 2024 — and it can actually be challenging. The fact that Botany Manor can challenge you while never straying from its gorgeous, soothing, cozy aesthetic is its greatest feat.
Like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley is a life-sim. Unlike Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley was almost entirely made by one guy, even down to the music. That love and dedication seeps into the game itself, which is part of the reason Stardew Valley has become a global phenomenon.
In Stardew Valley, you inherit your grandfather’s old farm and start a new life for yourself. Raise crops, build relationships with the townsfolk, get married, cook, go fishing … Immersive coziness is all in your hands. And the “immersive” nature of Stardew Valley is not to be underestimated. The game takes between 150 and 200 hours to “complete,” but there are plenty of players who have spent thousands of hours in Stardew Valley.
For many of us, anything Pokémon is comforting by default because of its intense nostalgic value. But a mainline Pokémon game involves a cocktail of combat, chance encounters, and grinding-while-training that may not always land as “comforting.” Fortunately, there is the utterly delightful New Pokémon Snap.
In New Pokémon Snap, you’re not fighting or training Pokémon. Instead, you’re taking pictures of them (and throwing the occasional treat to get their attention). Your character is riding on a cart down a track, so all you have to worry about is working that camera. New Pokémon Snap is adorable and joyful, with a grading system that makes you feel like a million bucks when you snap a great picture.
Start your new life on a previously-uninhabited island. Build up your house and your surroundings, cultivate your relationship with your neighbors, catch fish and bugs. Animal Crossing: New Horizons the epitome of cozy. As such, it was a bonafide phenomenon when it came out in March 2020. A great deal of us were able to maintain our sanity during the early days of the COVID pandemic because of this game.
That sensation still hits, whether you’re revisiting your island (and having to do a fair amount of weeding) or creating one for the first time. Animal Crossing imagines a kinder version of capitalism, where it feels possible to thrive. You’re able to exercise complete creative control of your surroundings, designing your island with all the bizarre features you please. New Horizons is another game whose immersion has been known to create playtimes in the hundreds of hours.
As its title suggests, A Short Hike is about hiking up a mountain to get cellphone reception. But it’s a relaxing, peaceful, low-stakes hike, where you’ll meet colorful characters along the way. You can take the trail or wander through the trees—either way, things will turn out okay.
As its title additionally suggest, A Short Hike really is short. You can finish this indie treasure in a single sitting, in under three hours. For anyone feeling intimidated by a larger gaming experience, that makes A Short Hike the perfect game for an afternoon’s or evening’s escape.