Replay. The Polish Journal of Game Studies

Negotiating Anthropocentrism and Ecologies in Cozy Games

Cozy games function as significant digital mesocosms that shape player perceptions of environmental agency and human influence.

• Cozy games function as 'mesocosms' that allow players to explore environmental themes, though they often struggle to balance the aesthetic of safety with the reality of ecological crisis.
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 2020) reinforces anthropocentric and colonialist ideologies by encouraging players to extract resources from other islands and curate nature for personal, neoliberal asset improvement.
• Terra Nil (Free Lives, 2023) subverts traditional cozy game tropes by shifting the player's goal from resource accumulation to the active rehabilitation and restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Soft Horrors: The Visual and Ludic Safety of Dark Cozy Games

Dark cozy games represent a burgeoning subgenre that intentionally juxtaposes soft, endearing aesthetics with unsettling Gothic or horror-themed narratives.

Cozy Heterotopias in JRPGs: A Foucauldian Perspective on the Spatiality of Coziness

Cozy aesthetics in Japanese Role-Playing Games function as heterotopias, serving as distinct, ritualized spaces that exist apart from the primary game world while remaining deeply connected to the player’s emotional experience.

• Michel Foucault’s concept of 'heterotopia'—spaces that function as a respite from societal crises—provides a framework for analyzing how cozy aesthetics in JRPGs allow players to safely process real-world anxieties.
• Cozy JRPG elements, such as the detailed food systems in Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, serve as heterotopian tools that provide comfort through abundance and nostalgia.
• The water tower sequence in Final Fantasy VII Remake functions as a situational cozy heterotopia, using nostalgic character-driven narrative and atmosphere to offer players a respite from the game's broader, more intense conflict.

Comfortably Numb: An Ideological Analysis of Coziness in Videogames

The rise of cozy gaming represents a significant shift in interactive entertainment, yet these experiences often function as a form of utopian escapism that reinforces rather than challenges existing socioeconomic structures.

The Duality of Cozy Games: Cozy Agency, Neoliberalism, and Affect

Cozy games operate as a complex duality, functioning simultaneously as a sanctuary from the pressures of modern life and as a subtle mechanism for reinforcing neoliberal ideologies.

“Drown Your Troubles in Coffee”: Place, Heterotopia, and Immersion in the Coffee Talk Series

The Coffee Talk series functions as a profound exploration of spatial design and emotional resonance, positioning the in-game coffee shop as a heterotopia of compensation.

Gry przytulne i opór poprzez troskę

This analysis explores the emergence and academic conceptualization of cozy games, a genre characterized by low-stress mechanics, pastel aesthetics, and a focus on safety, abundance, and care.

Cozy Games and Resistance Through Care

The rise of cozy games represents a significant shift in digital entertainment, moving away from traditional industry focuses on violence and competitiveness toward themes of safety, abundance, and emotional well-being.

No Uglies: Rejection and Utopia in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons functions as a complex site of tension between its marketed identity as a cozy, utopian simulation and the aggressive, exclusionary behaviors adopted by its player base.

Nostalgic Fanworks: Explanation of the Demake Category

Demakes represent a distinct form of fan-driven creative expression that reimagines contemporary video games through the aesthetic, mechanical, and technical constraints of historical hardware.

Educational Video Games in a Cultural Perspective: The Example of the Series “Komputerowa Gratka 3D”

The educational video game series Komputerowa Gratka 3D, published by Egmont Polska between 2006 and 2010, serves as a critical case study for understanding the intersection of pedagogy and digital entertainment.

Ludic Don Quixotes Rewritten: Hobbyist French Game Ports as Reconstructions of Former Game Culture

Hobbyist game ports and demakes function as essential historical reconstructions that transcend simple restorative nostalgia.