2025 has had a huge wave of cutesy, wholesome, cozy games already, and we're only eight months in. There's even a silly amount coming out in August, too, and I'm desperately hoping that they live up to expectations. Not every entry to the cozy roster has been good recently - in fact, it feels like it's skewed toward the negative.
Handhelds are faring even worse in terms of the quality of cozy games, too. Recent releases that just don't feel finished or like a project made with love include Sugardew Island, Tales of the Shire, and Amber Isle. But the list doesn't stop there - that's just the Nintendo Switch (and Switch 2!) list. Some Steam games released in 2025 so far have received negative reviews for a plethora of reasons.
So, what's so wrong with these wholesome games? Let's dive into some case studies, shall we? First up, Tales of the Shire. More like Fails of the Shire, am I right? Sorry - it's not that bad on PC, I just wanted to make myself laugh through the pain. While the basis for a good game is there if you enjoy low-stakes, meandering gameplay, the game runs and looks so bad on Switch that it's not even funny.
After so many delays, you'd think that it would be great, but no. It looks alright on a Steam Deck, but if, like me, you were looking forward to it on Switch or Switch 2, forget about it. There have so far been no updates or response from the developer about the performance, which doesn't fill me with confidence.
Next, I'm looking at Little Sim World. As the name suggests, it's a cute life-sim with friendship, home decoration, and seasonal events. It came out as an early access game in May on Steam, and while 'playable' on Steam Deck, the whole game has issues. Early access shouldn't be an excuse for a bad experience, and the mixed reviews echo this. Even some of the positive reviews mention issues with the game, for some reason. Mx. Nixi mentioned in their positive review that there was a bug with the NPCs.
I understand early access is a time to work out kinks in a game, identify areas that need work, and add new features slowly, but releasing it in a state where there are so many bugs that you can't really play isn't fair to consumers. Hopefully, the game will get significant improvement before full release.
Next up is Pixelshire. Two months since release, and it's currently sitting at a 'mostly negative' rating on Steam. The idea of Pixelshire is to start a farm, fish a little, and eventually build up the town to a prosperous place. However, it kinda sucks. This should be an early access or even demo stage release at this point. It has some confusing tutorials and lacks depth, but more than that, there's a whole plethora of bugs that hinder your progress. All these red thumbs-down reviews sum it up pretty well.
A game that did come to Nintendo Switch as well as Steam, and disappointed me, is Sugardew Island. This had been on my list for a while, as I'm clearly a sucker for any life sim and farm game, but it fell short of my expectations. It's a bit basic with only farming to do - there's no fishing or foraging, and not even any seasons to change up the gameplay. Plus, it unfortunately doesn't run particularly well on the Switch, with crashes and optimization issues aplenty.
Though it didn't release in 2025, I also want to point out Infinity Nikki. What started as a really cute, dress-up-focused game turned into a disappointing grindfest that costs too much money to get all of the items. Essentially, the gacha rates changed to include 11-piece outfits, costing potentially 220 pulls. That's a darn lot. We have an interview with the Infinity Nikki team, which I recommend reading to get more of a gist of what's happened. Other issues, including retconning the story and changing rewards, made the game a worse experience overall.
Despite these disappointments, it's not all doom and gloom. There are some excellent games out already - or just about to release - on both Steam Deck and Switch. Hello Kitty Island Adventure and Echoes of the Plum Grove are both really fun games that run well and include plenty of content. Upcoming Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is fantastic while being an engaging entry into the Harvest Moon series. I also recommend Tiny Bookshop as a cute shop sim with mini character stories, and a pettable dog.
Though this just makes me wonder even more what happened to the previous titles. Is it a drive to push the game out as soon as possible, to capitalize on the current trend of 'coziness', while studios have endless issues like Weta while developing Tales of the Shire? Granted, I don't make games myself, so I haven't got the full idea of how hard it is, but there's a clear disparity between the quality of Story of Seasons and Tales of the Shire, two of this year's biggest cozy releases.
I guess I just hope that the next few wholesome games, including the very, very long-awaited Witchbrook, hold up to expectations and don't also suffer from bad performance or boring gameplay.
If you're in the market for a new game, we recommend some cozy Switch games releasing this summer. You can also check out our interview with Nookazon's creator, all about the cute Galactic Getaway game he created.