Games I’ve Enjoyed Recently

I have been in a really bad head-space mentally. I was ill for a few days, and then it just spiraled from there. I have been coping by escaping into several very different worlds. Each of these games I would identify as cozy, and easy on the mind for PTSD sufferers like me. I included prices as accurately as I could find as of the date and time of publishing this article. I know that the market changes and fluctuates and most games do change prices or go on sale or off sale often. With that in mind I have included games that I are relatively cheap. The most expensive game on this list clocks in at $40, but the hours of gameplay you get out of it could justify the cost.

Maybe one of these games will be interesting for you. I assure you that I am not sponsored and am giving these recommendations of my own accord. I just want to share them because they have helped me dig myself out of a hole, and I hope to spread that as far as I can. Let me know if you have any cozy game recommendations down below in the comments!

Regular: $19.99
Steam: on sale NOW until 11/11 for 20% off
Nintendo Switch: on sale NOW until 11/19 for 10% off

Tiny Bookshop
Developer: Neoludic Games
Publisher: Skystone Games
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch
Release: August 7, 2025
Genre: casual game, role-playing video game, simulation
Mode: single-player

Tiny Bookshop is so much fun. You start the game by taking a small trailer that you have converted into a bookshop-on-the-go and stop in a small town by the sea. You cater to sailors, cafe-goers, super-market adults, and families by the beach. Eventually you also open up university students, park groups, and I’m sure more. (I’ve only played into a year). You get to pick from 5 genres when people request a book. This is probably the thing I love most about being a librarian so I knew this game would be right up my alley, especially when I learned that the books are REAL!! You get to sort through the books and get them something that either perfectly matches what they are looking for, or my personal favorite, give them something they least expect and you get even more points. You can also decorate and paint your tiny trailer, and I absolutely love when I can customize in-game things like that. The only thing missing from this game is romance. You get to meet all kinds of locals, I just wish your character could romance them. I absolutely love this game, it is a little sand-boxy, because there are a limited amount of books (unless they do a DLC update soon) so it does get kind of redundant once you have collected all the possibilities. And the requests also start to repeat themselves (again, unless they do a DLC update). I will say it held my attention for the first in-game year, but I haven’t played it in a while. I’ll probably go back to it when I want to scratch that itch of giving book recommendations. 

Regular: $19.99

The Roottrees Are Dead
Developers: Jeremy Johnston, Robin Ward
Artist: Henning Ludvigsen
Platforms: Linux, SteamOS, macOS, and Windows
Released: originally November 8, 2023, remastered and re-released January 15, 2025
Genre: puzzle
Mode: single-player

The Roottrees Are Dead is the best mystery puzzle game I have played in a while. You are building a family tree from scratch with only access to the web, periodicals, and the library. You have to be super specific with searching, so this also lit up that part of my librarian brain. They need you to fill out the family tree because there have been some discrepancies with the will and inheritance and you have to find all the blood-related individuals because only those with Roottree blood can inherit. It even has an even harder (but honestly more fun) second part where you are looking for any Roottrees that belong to mistresses. I love this game, because instead of gum-shoe detective work like with the Nancy Drew games, this was more just me and researching genealogy, which is something I honestly wish I had more time for on my own. Unfortunately when I hit a wall in real life, I can’t just hit a “hint” button to make it easier for me…if only! 

Apple Arcade: $4.99
Steam: $9.99
Nintendo Switch: $14.99

Mini Motorways
Developer & Publisher: Dinosaur Polo Club
Producers: Niamh Fitzgerald, Jair McBain, Navi Brouwer
Designers: Robert Curry, Niamh Fitzgerald
Programmers: Peter Curry, Robert Curry, Michael Block, Tom O’Brien, Tana Tanoi
Artists: Poppy de Raad, Blake Wood
Composer: Disasterpeace
Platforms: iOS, macOS, tvOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release: Apple Arcade: September 19, 2019, macOS, Windows: July 20, 2021, Switch: May 11, 2022. 
Genres: puzzle, strategy
Mode: single-player

Now this game I have been playing obsessively on my iPad. It is part of Apple Arcade, so you either pay for that service or pay a nominal fee to play the game. In this game you are building roadways from houses to businesses, and each are color-coded. You want to do it in the most efficient way, because if your business gets too many pins (availability for workers) and too few cars (workers) then you will lose the game. There are, so far, 23 cities, most of them European. You are given tools like tiles of roadways, traffic lights, motorways, and bridges/tunnels whenever terrain permits. You are given a limited supply at the beginning and each week you get to pick from two of these supply choices. Every week there is a global challenge, and a daily challenge. Those are fun because once you get the hang of things it’s really fun to put your skills to the test in a global setting. I have placed in the top 10% a few times, and it always makes me feel giddy. I prefer this on the iPad because I use my pencil to draw the roads and it just works so well on mobile. It would probably be a pain on your phone, but okay on a computer. I don’t know that I would play it on a console. I’ll include a few images of some crazy cities that I’ve laid out. 

An example of my Mini Motorways “New York City” layout.

An example of my Mini Motorways “Moscow” layout.

Digital: $34.99
Physical: $39.99

Tales of the Shire
Developer: Weta Workshop
Publisher: Private Division
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S
Release: July 29, 2025
Genre: life simulation
Mode: single-player

If you are a J.R.R. Tolkien fan, or just a fan of the movies you would likely enjoy this game. It is very cozy, you get to design your own hobbit character. The game-play is to garden, forage, and fish for ingredients to make dinners to invite your fellow hobbit neighbors over for. You build friendship, and probably romance (I am not very far in this one yet). You also get to decorate and paint your hobbit hole, and it is the cutest thing! If you’ve ever played Animal Crossing, it’s much the same, but the days work more like Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons rather than real-time. I know this got pretty bad reviews, but I love it. I absolutely love a good sandbox game, though I admit they aren’t for everyone. I think if you have a great deal of imagination you can enjoy this type of game a lot more.