Tiny Glade

Cozy History? Frameworks, Contrasts, and Affect in Cozy Historical Video Games

Alexander Vandewalle's paper argues that cozy historical video games, including titles with mythological content, constitute a distinct mode of "doing" history that departs from the dominant conventions of historical gaming.

• Alexander Vandewalle argues that cozy historical video games constitute a distinct way of 'doing' history, departing from the conventions of violence, conquest, technological progression, and cinematic realism typical of historical gaming.
• The paper introduces the concept of 'cozy history': an affective form of engagement in which players invest emotionally in a self-constructed presence within a loosely defined past, rather than in an authentic reconstruction of a specific region or era.
• Cozy historical titles such as Tiny Glade, REKA, Valheim, Dawn of Defiance, and Manor Lords emphasize building, nature, collectivity, and non-photorealist aesthetics while largely removing combat and stressful mechanics.