Two Point Campus (Switch)

Two Point Campus is a masterclass management sim game bursting with creative new ideas and a wholly original approach to success. Its wholesome ‘invest in students and they’ll invest in you’ strategy is a beautiful way to put a positive spin on an otherwise NPC-exploitative genre.

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Kitaria Fables (Switch)

Kitaria Fables is another farming 'n' fighting game, with the added twist that A) everyone is an anthropomorphic animal and B) magic is illegal, and you're a magic user. A deep story is woven through the game, which will have you seeking the answers behind the banning of magic, defeating bosses, levelling up your equipment, and grinding. LOTS of grinding.

It's a pretty brilliant RPG, and it has more than a little in common with the cult favourite Level-5 RPG, Fantasy Life — fans of the latter should definitely check it out.

New Pokémon Snap (Switch)

Take some photos and have a nice time in New Pokémon Snap, a game that's all about just enjoying your time with and around Pokémon, instead of catching them and making them fight. If only there were more of this in the Pokémon series!

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)

Nothing's cozier than the little pink puffball who just wants to eat cake and have friends, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land is extremely cosy, with beautiful environments, adorable friends (and enemies, sob) and a ton of moments that will warm your frozen hearts. It's not challenging — Kirby games rarely are, and that's okay — but it has a thrilling momentum to it that keeps you coming back for more.

Townscaper (Switch eShop)

On launching Townscaper, you will be greeted with a blank and boundless expanse of water. A list of color swatches hangs at the left of the screen and you have a cursor that moves with the left stick – but you are not prompted to do anything. After an hour or two of our testing, curiosity overcame us and we pressed 'A'. Well! Now things were getting interesting. With a plop, a small cube appeared in the water. It was a stone construction – a little seaside wall with a railing around the top. Adorable!

Oskar Stålberg has made a charming and compelling toy for imaginative play in Townscaper. Anyone willing to project themselves into its worlds and tell stories to themselves as they build will have a great time.

Potion Permit (Switch)

Potion Permit is a sweet little social sim-meets-adventure RPG. It presents no crops to cultivate and no farm animals to tend to, and instead relies on medicinal foraging to help those around the town of Moonbury, which may be a welcome change of pace for life sim fans who've had their fill of farming.

Strange Horticulture (Switch eShop)

Strange Horticulture is set in a bizarro-style English Lake District, where real-life place names nestle amid castles, stone circles and religious cults. The player runs an apothecary dealing in specialist plants with medicinal, mind-altering, magical and even mechanical effects. Each day, a series of customers arrive at your counter in need of horticultural help. By cross-referencing what’s on your plant shelf with what’s in your plant-cyclopaedia, you identify the salves, syrups and embrocations that are needed.

A very cozy one for fans of plants, but be warned... the story might get a bit dark, with cults and poison hidden amongst its leaves.

Wytchwood (Switch eShop)

Crafting is Wytchwood's main hook.

You’ll be exploring several different areas (or biomes, if you like) and looting every nook and cranny for precious ingredients to craft all sorts of weird and wonderful objects. You take on the role of an elderly witch who needs to fulfil a contract with a demon, largely by crafting items using ingredients found in the woods.

Do you like crafting? You'll like this, too.

Mini Metro (Switch eShop)

Mini Metro (and its sequel, Mini Motorways) lets you play at town planning without having to deal with red tape and zoning laws and all that boring stuff. No, you just have to place stations, draw lines between them, and watch the passengers (abstracted as they are) zip around your beautiful creations. It can get stressful when the rush hours get real busy, but it's still hella cozy.

Ooblets (Switch eShop)

Imagine Pokémon, but the creatures are all tiny weirdos with names like "Shrumbo" and "Pantsabear", and instead of fighting, they have dance-offs. That's Ooblets, a charming, irreverent life-sim where nothing is serious and everything is cute. Puns-a-plenty and goofy writing are what you'll find in Badgetown, a little village full of people who mostly want you to complete quests for them. There's always something to do in Ooblets, and all of it's sweeter than sugar.

Bear and Breakfast (Switch eShop)

Bear and Breakfast is a laid-back management sim where you play as a well-meaning bear named Hank trying to run a bed and breakfast in the woods.

The writing is very funny, as poor Hank tries to communicate with his human guests with *bear noises*, but it's ultimately a lovely, relaxing time trying to polish up a B&B in the woods. Who could have thought that hotel management could be cozy?

Chicory: A Colorful Tale (Switch eShop)

Although the story at the heart of Chicory is one of imposter syndrome, anxiety, and pushing friends away, the story is told so beautifully and personally that you can't help but be won over through your tears. Pizza — the main character, who is named after your favourite food — is such a wonderful protagonist, and everyone you meet, from the loveable Cardamom to the weirdo Pickle is an instant favourite.

Donut County (Switch eShop)

You are a hole! Put stuff in the hole! That's the premise of Donut County, and it's VERY FUN. It sounds simple, and it is, but that doesn't mean it's not compelling. It's like the way that it's fun to pressure wash things — it's all about the satisfaction of a job well done, but in Donut County, the job is... destroying everything as a big, naughty sink hole.