These past few years I've gotten really into cozy games. Here are a few Steam games I recommend, based on what you're looking for: - free to play: Alpaca Stacka, At Winter's End, Emily is Away, Hamster Playground, Hidden Lands, I commissioned Some..., Jigsaw Puzzles Infinite, Kings Quest, Mimpi Dreams, Orb Flight, Palia, Ransack Raccoon, Sheepy, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, The Lion's Song, The Sims 4, There's no Socks, Woolop (both Devcats and Mens Sana Interactive have some free ones as well, and some of the idle games are also free) - building: Bubblegum Galaxy, Dorfromantik, Fabledom, Garden Galaxy, Havendock, Islands & Trains, Monterona, Mossfield Origins, Outlanders, Terra Scape, Thronefall, Tiny Glade, Tiny Kingdom, Townframe, Townscaper, Tranquil Isle - cleaning/organizing: A Little to the Left, Assemble with Care, Pieces of the Past, Tell Me Your Story, The August Before, Tidy Backpack, Trash Goblin, Undusted, Unpacking, Urban Jungle (be careful with these if you have either OCD or OCD tendencies, they will either be a great idea or a terrible idea) - color by number: Coloring Game, Coloring Pixels, Colorizing, Love Colors, Nanogram - decoration: Furnish Master, MakeRoom, Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts, Sticky Business - exploration: A Short Hike, Cloudy Valley, Fruitbus, Sky, Stray - farming sims: Coral Island, Fields of Mistria, Palia, Roots of Pacha, Stardew Valley, Wylde Flowers - gardening: Flora Corner, Garden In, Garden Galaxy, The Merry Fairy, Plant Therapy, Tiny Garden, Viridi - hidden objects: Down in Bermuda, Hidden Lands, Hidden Through Time, I commissioned Some..., Summer Paws, There's no Socks, Wind Peaks - idle: Cookie Clicker, Croakoloco, Fishlets, Forager, Mystopia, Nanomon Virtual Pet, Soggy Beans, Time is Honey, Weyrdlets - investigation: Brok the investigator, Duck Detective, Frog Detective, Loco Motive - jigsaw puzzles: Glass Masquerade (there are 3 games in total) has a nice twist on this type of game. If you prefer traditional jigsaw then check out Jigsaw Puzzles Infinite and the Mens Sana Interactive ones - painting: Chicory, Different Strokes, Eastshade, Été, Passpartout - photography: Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Out and About, Pupperazzi, Season: A letter to the future, TOEM (Dave the Diver also has photography mini-games) - platformers: Duck Tales Remastered, Never Alone, Sheepy - puzzle elements: Behind the Frame, Before Your Eyes, Carto, Projected Dreams, Prose & Codes, Sudocats, Sudokats, The Lilliput Workshop, Townframe - rhythm: Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party, Melatonin, Onde, Wandersong - games to play absent-mindedly while listening to a video: FAR, House Flipper, Journey, Little Kitty Big City, Minishoot' Adventures, Odd One Out, Tiny Bookshop, Wooloop (builders, color by number, decoration, hidden objects, idle, jigsaw, organizing, painting, and puzzle games are also good for this) - story elements: A Tiny Sticker Tale, Alba, Before Your Eyes, At Winter's End, Emily is Away, Florence, Kings Quest, The Lion's Song - short games: A Short Hike, Assemble with Care, Blanc, FAR, Journey, Ransack Raccoon, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, TOEM - long (or very long) games: Cat Cafe Manager, Cozy Grove, Dave the Diver, Epistory, House Flipper, The Sims 4, The Survivalists, Tiny Life, Wooloop, and all the farming sims Of course both the short games and the long games can become longer if you start buying the DLC. You can check an estimate of any game's length at How Long to Beat I'd also like to once again mention the Devcats games because they are cute and the profits go towards helping cats IRL. Also, the games tend to be either free or really cheap (€5 or less). Note: Before Your Eyes, Never Alone, Lost Worlds, Pine: A Story of Loss, Spindle, and Spiral are all great games, but I wouldn't recommend them to people who get triggered by references to death.
These past few years I've gotten really into cozy games. Here are a few Steam games I recommend, based on what you're looking for:
- free to play: Alpaca Stacka, At Winter's End, Emily is Away, Hamster Playground, Hidden Lands, I commissioned Some..., Jigsaw Puzzles Infinite, Kings Quest, Mimpi Dreams, Orb Flight, Palia, Ransack Raccoon, Sheepy, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, The Lion's Song, The Sims 4, There's no Socks, Woolop (both Devcats and Mens Sana Interactive have some free ones as well, and some of the idle games are also free)
- building: Bubblegum Galaxy, Dorfromantik, Fabledom, Garden Galaxy, Havendock, Islands & Trains, Monterona, Mossfield Origins, Outlanders, Terra Scape, Thronefall, Tiny Glade, Tiny Kingdom, Townframe, Townscaper, Tranquil Isle
- cleaning/organizing: A Little to the Left, Assemble with Care, Pieces of the Past, Tell Me Your Story, The August Before, Tidy Backpack, Trash Goblin, Undusted, Unpacking, Urban Jungle (be careful with these if you have either OCD or OCD tendencies, they will either be a great idea or a terrible idea)
- color by number: Coloring Game, Coloring Pixels, Colorizing, Love Colors, Nanogram
- decoration: Furnish Master, MakeRoom, Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts, Sticky Business
- exploration: A Short Hike, Cloudy Valley, Fruitbus, Sky, Stray
- farming sims: Coral Island, Fields of Mistria, Palia, Roots of Pacha, Stardew Valley, Wylde Flowers
- gardening: Flora Corner, Garden In, Garden Galaxy, The Merry Fairy, Plant Therapy, Tiny Garden, Viridi
- hidden objects: Down in Bermuda, Hidden Lands, Hidden Through Time, I commissioned Some..., Summer Paws, There's no Socks, Wind Peaks
- idle: Cookie Clicker, Croakoloco, Fishlets, Forager, Mystopia, Nanomon Virtual Pet, Soggy Beans, Time is Honey, Weyrdlets
- investigation: Brok the investigator, Duck Detective, Frog Detective, Loco Motive
- jigsaw puzzles: Glass Masquerade (there are 3 games in total) has a nice twist on this type of game. If you prefer traditional jigsaw then check out Jigsaw Puzzles Infinite and the Mens Sana Interactive ones
- painting: Chicory, Different Strokes, Eastshade, Été, Passpartout
- photography: Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Out and About, Pupperazzi, Season: A letter to the future, TOEM (Dave the Diver also has photography mini-games)
- platformers: Duck Tales Remastered, Never Alone, Sheepy
- puzzle elements: Behind the Frame, Before Your Eyes, Carto, Projected Dreams, Prose & Codes, Sudocats, Sudokats, The Lilliput Workshop, Townframe
- rhythm: Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party, Melatonin, Onde, Wandersong
- games to play absent-mindedly while listening to a video: FAR, House Flipper, Journey, Little Kitty Big City, Minishoot' Adventures, Odd One Out, Tiny Bookshop, Wooloop (builders, color by number, decoration, hidden objects, idle, jigsaw, organizing, painting, and puzzle games are also good for this)
- story elements: A Tiny Sticker Tale, Alba, Before Your Eyes, At Winter's End, Emily is Away, Florence, Kings Quest, The Lion's Song
- short games: A Short Hike, Assemble with Care, Blanc, FAR, Journey, Ransack Raccoon, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, TOEM
- long (or very long) games: Cat Cafe Manager, Cozy Grove, Dave the Diver, Epistory, House Flipper, The Sims 4, The Survivalists, Tiny Life, Wooloop, and all the farming sims
Of course both the short games and the long games can become longer if you start buying the DLC. You can check an estimate of any game's length at How Long to Beat
I'd also like to once again mention the Devcats games because they are cute and the profits go towards helping cats IRL. Also, the games tend to be either free or really cheap (€5 or less).
Note: Before Your Eyes, Never Alone, Lost Worlds, Pine: A Story of Loss, Spindle, and Spiral are all great games, but I wouldn't recommend them to people who get triggered by references to death.