I had a big internal debate about whether to use “cozy” or “cosy” (both are technically correct), but since the game calls itself Cozy Grove I’ll go with the US spelling for my cozy game series.

Made by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild (points for the awesome name), Cozy Grove lands your little scout on a haunted island inhabited by the ghosts of various bears and sprites. It’s not a horror game though, or even scary in the slightest – Cozy Grove is a cute exploration game where the main object is to befriend the ghost bears, complete their personal quests, and spread colour across the island. It’s a simple premise but it involves some patience and persistence as you can’t always get the things you need during one play session. Certain items spawn slowly, so it’s worth checking in each day (or as often as possible) to see if you can complete any of the fetch quests outstanding in your quest log.

This makes for a lot of replayability and as you progress through the quests you also unlock more areas to explore and more decorations for the island.

One of the things that stood out to me, particularly when I started playing, is the art – a hand-drawn, gentle watercolour style that becomes brighter and more colourful as you play. It’s really beautiful and I often found myself enjoying my surroundings while skipping around completing tasks.

One of the main reasons to play a relaxing exploration game is because, well, it relaxes you. Something else to love about Cozy Grove that really sets the mood is the folk-y and chill soundtrack (hear a sample here, courtesy Philip J. Fry II on YouTube). Composed by Jeremy Thal and Gideon Crevoshay, the score never comes across as overbearing or out of sync with island life and instead gives the perfect accompaniment to your gentle adventures. You can snag the OST on Steam here.

And sometimes, if all you want to do is log in and hug some ghost bears, you can totally do that too. Unlike games like Animal Crossing, the NPCs don’t guilt-trip you if you haven’t shown up in a while to give them attention. You can take it at your own pace and do minimal work and still have fun.

Overall, I’d recommend Cozy Grove to anyone who likes relaxed gaming. Fans of Animal Crossing will probably enjoy this one.