The Hidden Coziness of Video Games

Over the past few years, we've witnessed the cozy game genre explosion. No one can argue that. Games like Coral Island or My Time at Sandrock are recent examples. However, I've noticed that elements from this genre are pulled from, what I believe, are core facets of game design - especially in games that many would consider "un-cozy".

This led me on a journey to define some of the feelings I get while playing video games, and an exploration of the cozy side of all of our favorite video games. I hope you enjoy The Hidden Coziness of Video Games!

#cozygaming #cozygames #animalcrossingnewhorizons
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Video chapters:
Intro: 00:00
A Game's Potential: 1:11
3 Tenents of Cozy Video Games: 10:24
Why We Play Video Games: 13:18
Gaming and Need Fulfillment: 18:44
Peace Amidst Chaos: 22:35
How Horror Can Be Cozy: 26:02
Coziness is Player Dependent: 31:46
What Makes Games... Un-Cozy: 34:30
Outro: 44:12
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Web sources:
The paper that helped inspire some research: https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1709393/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Agata Waszkiewicz and Martyna Bakun paper:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349524581_Towards_the_aesthetics_of_cozy_video_games
(Unfortunately, I wasn't granted access to their paper. I was able to pull their insights from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_UWo24Day8&t=901s)

https://lostgarden.home.blog/2018/01/24/cozy-games/
https://www.yorku.ca/playces/nicksmetatext/salenzimmermanreview.pdf
https://www.polygon.com/23692974/dark-cozy-games-genre-dredge-strange-horticulture
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/what-makes-a-cozy-game-cozy
https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Play-Design-Fundamentals-Press/dp/0262240459

Video sources that weren't credited in-video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oJ1LKk-P1Q&t=529s (I didn't use footage from this, but thank you to this video for inspiring a thought process on Alien's aesthetic coziness! Please check this out it's an excellent game breakdown.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic9prLftrMg&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7XqBAmcvPg&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7DFuXDN29M&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_UWo24Day8&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJNbhekKShI&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B-XwPjn9YY&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MgUEbfrjXA&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh3bDkjmtIU&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pkNhA8hf_s&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vid7MHfYQZ0&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBm9I_C0snE&list=PL8FuqnYdCQbVz6w539lE9-BP4xG1xUqSY&index=14
https://youtu.be/K8hfK3RQs2g?si=y4ZRRT7S_DraQzbx
https://youtu.be/eNefYZI8D0E?si=DRCUqDcGp7mjn5dx
https://youtu.be/C_UWo24Day8?si=i5xcpD2Tt9wea-78
https://youtu.be/7d31wvlYokw?si=VUjLKyAtukHE_RWU
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Intro and Outro music provided by Streambeats by Harris Heller.

Other videos:

Pikmin - A Game About Letting Go: https://youtu.be/5A6G_RdSX7E

Why EVERYONE Should Play Final Fantasy IV | A Final Fantasy IV Retrospective: https://youtu.be/7VjNd9GVWV4

5 MUST PLAY Games from 2022 You Missed: https://youtu.be/bnwdhV2R8Ns

Resident Evil Remake: The Ultimate Analysis: https://youtu.be/gTEcL7s60mA

What Stray Does MUCH Better Than Other Games: https://youtu.be/rasmGLrBReY

What Claire A Does Better Than Leon A | Resident Evil 2: 24 Years Later - Part 2: https://youtu.be/6S5vUBuuU_A

Playing Resident Evil 2 For the First Time | Resident Evil 2: 24 Years Later - Part 1: https://youtu.be/xEdD9YTnjbQ

Why Final Fantasy III Is Better Than I and II: https://youtu.be/e31kqUOxmZw

Why You Should NEVER Play Final Fantasy II: https://youtu.be/d7sqBS97_h8

Returnal is STILL the Best PS5 Game in 2022 | Returnal Review & Analysis: https://youtu.be/XcVOTtS8Bto
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Inspired by content from:

Joseph Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtrAx-rVgco

Whitelight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbD-CH9SWf8

MandaloreGaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bp3ivWv7Vs

The Salt Factory: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSaltFactory

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