Cozy Grove Review
I don’t think it’s radical to say that one of the primary purposes of video games is a sense of escape from the real world. In spite of that, a lot of video games are stressful and full of tense situations calling for quick reflexes and mental acuity. I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else since I’m still playing Monster Hunter, but I think it’s also important to slow down and relax, in gaming and in life. Myself and other pursuers of the tamer side of gaming got very lucky this past week with the release of the adorable and tranquil Cozy Grove.
Cozy Grove casts the player as an ambitious Spirit Scout on a mission to graduate to a Second Degree Spirit Scout. Unfortunately, thanks to a communication mix-up and a runaway boat, the scout ends up stranded on the extremely haunted island of Cozy Grove. Not being one to shrink from a challenge, the scout sets out to explore the island and earn several much-coveted Spirit Scout badges. Inhabiting the island and helping the scout on their mission are a plethora of friendly bear ghosts who are all adorable, kind, and full of unfinished business.
Unquestionably the brightest star and best selling point of Cozy Grove is the game’s attitude. The first writing the player sees upon starting the game include “When a Spirit Scouts comes of age, they start to become more than the labels they’ve lived within” and “All those who are lost deserve kindness.” Cozy Grove is an unabashedly loving and gentle game in just about every aspect. The plants and animals players must cultivate have different levels of resource output, but that’s not decided by technology or player level. Instead, players receive higher yields when their plants and animals are happier. This is mostly done by putting furniture and decorations of their preferred styles near them, which is a delightful way of improving output. Helping the ghost bears haunting the island is similarly thoughtful and also brings the existential depression of being a lingering soul to the forefront. Jeremy Gruffle, the island’s resident handy-bear, rushes to help the scout as soon as they meet, assuming he will be free of the mortal coil with one good deed. So the scout’s first task is following Jeremy’s instructions to build a new tool. When that doesn’t work, he becomes glum and it’s up to the scout to cheer him up by taking an interest in Jeremy’s hobbies. This isn’t the first time this year a game has dealt with emotional turmoil, but Cozy Grove does it in a way that feels both understanding and sympathetic, like a consoling parent helping their child through the same kind of hardship they went through themselves.
As the scout assists their ectoplasmic islandmates and nurtures the flora and fauna of the island, they might notice similarities to the latest Animal Crossing game. The biggest similarity is that Cozy Grove synchronizes itself with the player’s clock and moves in real time, like the Animal Crossing franchise. This results in the player only being able to do so much in a given day. This isn’t kept secret or sprung on the player thanks to the game’s store page specifying that players will get about an hour of progress per day, so it didn’t bother me too much but I did wish I could get a bit more done in a session. This limitation only applies to tasks given by the game’s ghost bears, players are able to fish, craft and redecorate as much as they’d like with no restrictions. The comparison to Animal Crossing New Horizons doesn’t end there, especially with the game’s newly introduced furniture crafting system. The scout will discover all sorts of building materials from the mundane lumber to supernatural items like spirit essence. All of these can be combined to create new pieces of furniture that can be used to remodel the island to further please the animals and plants the player is cultivating. For the true completionists, the scout can cook and go fishing to help fill out a catalog of all the game’s many collectibles. I was surprised to find that there are more than twice as many fish in Cozy Grove as their are in New Horizons, keeping players plenty busy.
Though I mostly enjoy Cozy Grove, I can’t help but complain about a few small things. My biggest problem is the game’s UI. I played on PC where players have two options for controlling the scout: either by clicking on a destination and letting the AI pilot the scout there automatically, or by holding down the click and leading the scout manually. The former is much more convenient but is limited in usefulness, the player can only move so far in this way because of the game’s zoomed-in view. But the latter method isn’t ideal either because, as the scout moves near, objects will turn transparent to let players see where they are moving. This became a frustrating problem for me because I would regularly get stuck on something I couldn’t see. It’s easy enough to switch to the other control method on PC, but I worry about console and mobile players who are stuck using analog sticks to move around the island. Another issue I had was one of modern standards. This might sound like an odd complaint but this game isn’t great about letting players know what can be interacted with. While furniture and animals cause the game’s cursor to change, alerting the player to interaction potential, things like buried item sites or piles of goods that can be searched don’t receive the same treatment. It’s a small complaint but it’s compounded by the game’s tendency to have large swaths of the island devoid of color.
I don’t think Cozy Grove is a perfect game or an earth-shaking masterpiece but its attitude and low-pressure gameplay are a much needed balm in the modern world. I don’t know that it will reach the emotional gravity of a game like Spiritfarer but I’m not sure it’s aiming for that particular target. The way Cozy Grove addresses death and unfinished business with the warmth of a flannel blanket and combines that with an adorable art style and easily accessible game play makes it a great time. And at only $15 it’s an easy recommendation.
Buy this game at full price
It’s worth every penny they’re asking
