The Quiet Power of Cozy Games
The Quiet Power Of Cozy Games
BY ISABEL RAVENNA
It starts with the sound of soft waves. Maybe a banjo. Perhaps lo-fi. Not before long, you’re welcomed by a raccoon in a knit sweater. There’s no timer, no chaos — just a to-do list that doesn’t make you want to cry.
For us neurodivergents, regulating after a long and stressful day at work is a full-body, everyday need. Some people unwind with a glass of wine, perhaps a bubble bath. But there’s another option: you can kick off your shoes, take off your bra, and escape to the adorable world of dandelions, strawberries, and fluff found in cozy games.
“Cozy Games” have taken the internet by storm, a genre of video game involving low-stakes missions, cute aesthetics, and soothing sounds. Think: Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and A Short Hike — really, any game that pairs well with the ambiance of a crackling fire. With their simple effects and clear frameworks, cozy games have naturally found their way into the hearts of neurodivergent gamers.
In a market of games with loud, abrasive sounds, fast-moving visuals, and often unhinged, global, online communities, these sweet, simple stories stand out by following a similar formula. Perhaps you’ve just inherited a farm in a town in need of economic growth, or maybe you’ve moved to a deserted island and want to foster a community of adorable animals in overalls. Some cozy games just throw you in a cafe’s kitchen on a rainy Sunday afternoon and tell you to get to work on those lattes.
Without sounds of assault rifles or scenes of zombies dropping from military jets,
cozy gaming is less about logging on to win and more about cultivating some slow and sweet “me time.”
As online AuDHD advocate Tyler Bacon joked, “Who needs a therapist when Stardew Valley lets you farm your existential dread into potatoes?” After all, potatoes don't judge you while you pluck them — though I’m sure there’s a game for that, too.
Naturally, neurodivergent brains are often working overtime while simultaneously masking symptoms or attempting to function in accordance with the neurotypical world. As highly sensitive people — or at the very least, occasionally overstimulated people — the world can sound and feel loud, the pressure of expectations can feel impossible, and the constraints of time can be suffocating. Cozy games, in contrast, have clear frameworks: “Plant this. Water that. Build this adorable tiny house,” as Bacon described. “Hell,
give me a game where I can organize my inventory and I’ll zen out faster than if I paid for an overpriced mindfulness app.”
Similarly, I’ve noticed a thread of ADHDers gravitating towards The Sims, a virtual world simulation where the gamer acts as its all-powerful god, watching and controlling the digital people who occupy it. One Reddit user pointed out, “The game focuses on balancing the executive functioning of Sims characters. If you think about it, autonomous Sims don’t make their needs a priority, and they struggle with being productive in ways that will help them achieve their individual goals.” Sound familiar?
“Simmers” with ADHD empathize all too well with the feeling of forgetting to eat until their stomach grumbles over the sound of a stadium or being late to something for no better reason than couch paralysis. But with our help and interference, we can manage their lives. You know, if the simulation theory were real, I'd have a strongly worded letter for whoever’s playing my character.
Les Steed, an adult with ADHD, wrote that the cozy game genre actually helps declutter his brain. “Particularly when I feel stress building up or when I need to relax in the aftermath of an intense day of hyperfocus,” he said about real-time strategy games like Age of Empires. “To my ADHD brain, the process of building up my [military] base and economy, then using it to absolutely crush any attackers brings me a sense of order, process, accomplishment, and thus, calm.”
In fact, Roblox supported a study that found that gaming helps young neurodivergent people relax, learn, feel accepted, and develop problem-solving, creative, and communication skills.
Another 2022 study published in JMIR Serious Games found that casual, low-intensity games helped reduce stress and increase emotional resilience in players with ADHD and anxiety.
In interviews with autistic gamers, Autistica found that many view cozy games as a refuge from the unpredictability of daily life, offering consistency and calm in the ways the real world often can’t
Actually, the FDA even approved a game to prescribe as an ADHD treatment — EndeavorOTC, created by a team of neuroscientists and award-winning game designers to use sensory stimuli to improve focus. And while it’s wonderful that it exists, in the spirit of ADHD, it might need a more dopamine-inducing, cozier update.
These very special and unique brains work faster than most — making communication exhausting, time management critical, and winding down a challenge. Hence, it’s easy to understand why the neurodivergent community has found safe spaces on digital islands, farms, and neighborhoods – completing normal tasks, without the pressure of real-world stakes.
“It’s not very often that you feel positively about ADHD, so it’s nice to play a game that lets you feel good about it. That encourages that within us,” YouTuber Tizzleroo said in a video ranking the games for ADHDers.
Ultimately, stuck between feeling like the world is too much, too loud, or too fast, these soft little worlds offer a radical gentleness: the chance to feel capable, calm, and in control — not just a break from the world, but a version of it that makes sense to us.
BIO: Isabel Ravenna is a culture journalist whose work appears in National Geographic, Complex, Business Insider, and others. She also writes The Ravenna Report, a weekly newsletter of sharp cultural analysis, overlooked history, and personal insight.
