5 Hidden Gems for Cosy Winter Gaming

Discover a selection of charming and lesser-known winter-themed games that bring warmth and whimsy to cold nights.

Written by Terry Ross

About a year ago when temps started dropping, I was staying more indoors and the urge to dive into a cosy game about Winter was suddenly impossible to ignore. I thought it couldn’t be that hard to find a game that scratches my itch, yet after a quick google search I found the top recommendations disappointing. There are genuine “cosy Winter games” lists out there that include Batman: Arkham Origins, Skyrim, and Frostpunk. I may be an outlier here, but a dark, brooding survival sim about the threat of frostbite is not “cosy” to me!

It took several months of digging, trying, collecting and recollecting, but I’m happy to report there are a number of excellent cosy Winter games out there, and I refuse to let them fly under the radar! Below are 5 excellent titles that you may not have tried yet; These are cosy games that take place almost entirely in a snowy or Winter setting, so I’m not including those that just have a good Winter season (sorry, farming sims!) or a few levels in a Winter biome. I have played all of these games myself to guarantee freshness, and I included a variety of genres so hopefully you can find at least one that you like.

Marvin’s Mittens

(Steam)

I found Marvin’s Mittens totally by chance on Steam and didn’t think much of it at first; It does suffer from an art style that unfortunately gives “student project” vibes. I am now so glad I played it anyway, because it totally dazzled me. Marvin is the protagonist whose mittens have been swiped by a mysterious creature, so he embarks on a daily quest out of doors in the hopes of recovering what was lost. The gameplay consists of light puzzle platforming and exploration. To progress, you have to find and collect magical snowflakes that increase your jump height and give you access to new areas. The twist is there’s a time limit to how much you can explore each day; as the sun starts to set your mother will call you back home (and that woman can throw her voice very far!) If you’ve ever enjoyed the excellent Minit, or have always longed for the exploration of a metroidvania without all the tedious monster grinding and levelling up, Marvin’s Mittens is a game you’ll really enjoy. Without delving into spoilers, I want to reiterate that this game has several charming surprises in store for you–don’t expect to spend your entire game in a simple Wintery backyard! It’s got the perfect balance of challenge and relaxation, it’ll fill your heart with Cocoa and marshmallow sprinkles and all that wonderful stuff that you want during the holidays, and I highly recommend it.

A Good Snowman is Hard to Build

(Steam, Apple Play, Google Play, Nintendo Switch)

Talk to me long enough about video games and I will eventually bring up my longstanding hostility towards Sokoban games. But I know some of you cosy gamers are little freaks who want to be choked and stepped on by your puzzle games and actually enjoy the genre. I think A Good Snowman is Hard to Build is the perfect game for you. Several years ago, the developer of A Good Snowman put a call out on Twitter for players to bug test the game. I saw the photos, found the art adorable, and signed up. I naively believed this game would not obliterate my brain for a weekend.

In this game, as you push snowballs across the level, they grow in size. The goal is to stack three differently sized snowballs on top of each other to make a snowman. You’ll quickly learn that a good snowman is very f***ing hard to build this way. The fact that I was on the verge of a menty b multiple times during playtesting (particularly when I discovered the extra secret levels) but did not quit the game altogether is a testament to how good of a puzzle game this is. Snowman doesn’t time you or punish you for making any mistakes, and you also have the freedom to wander around and try different puzzles at your leisure. Just because cosy games are expected to be relaxing, they sometimes fall into the trap of not challenging the player to do anything, which can quickly lead to them becoming boring. You may be frustrated many times trying to finish A Good Snowman is Hard To Build, but never bored!

Bunny Hill

(Steam)

Brendan Roarty, the insanely skilled artist and solo developer behind y2k-inspired games like Roarstar, Cavern, and Bunny Hill absolutely needs to become a household name in gamedev, and I for one am doing my part to spread the good word. For those of you who miss the days of getting insane combos on SSX Tricky’s slopes, Bunny Hill is a creamy, dreamy tribute to those old-school snowboarding games you’d play on your friend’s sticky xbox after school. I know racing games don’t often get labelled as “cosy,” but Bunny Hill nabs it for me by keeping each race kind of silly and low-stakes. Watch your bulbous little low-poly avatar do a ridiculous front flip off of a ramp and you’ll see what I mean.

An interesting differentiator between Bunny Hill and other skiing games is that all the courses are randomly generated, so you’ll rely largely on your own navigational skill and a little bit of luck to fly down these absurdly dangerous slopes. There are a limited number of maps and characters that you can get familiar with in a few hours, but I believe this game really shines in couch competitive mode. I haven’t been able to get anyone together to try this as a group, but the reviewers on Steam who have say it’s a great party game. The good news is Bunny Hill’s last update added online play, so even if you can’t convince your friends to brave the snow to come to your house you can still get some sessions in.

Emperor Penguin

(itch.io)

Is this a meme entry? A goofy little game jam game with a few good jokes in it and short playtime? Nope! Emperor Penguin was a very small game but it was fun, and it sure as hell qualifies as a cosy Winter game.

I stumbled upon Emperor Penguin while going down a late-night Club Penguin research rabbit hole, and very happily killed about 30 minutes with it. You play as a large, somewhat lazy penguin king whose sole responsibility is to listen to his piebald subjects prattle on about their problems. You must accept or decline requests they make to you, and each decision affects a particular stat of the kingdom’s welfare. Victory is achieved when you max one of these stats while avoiding letting any others dwindle to zero. The twist is, you only have 10 seconds to listen to each request and make a decision, and sometimes it’s hard to decipher just what the penguins are asking for. Of course, if you can risk it, it is worth listening to a few dialogues in their entirety because they are quite chuckle-worthy.

The ultra-simple mechanics of this game make it hard to imagine how it could be expanded without becoming avian Reigns, but playing Emperor Penguin has reminded me: it’s okay to just enjoy small things as they are. This is a free game, so crack it open and enjoy it for the duration of your evening tea.

Wintermoor Tactics Club

(Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One)

I saved the best for last. I don’t even remember how Wintermoor ended up in my Steam library; it markets itself as a strategy game, which I and likely many other cosy gamers tend to avoid. I’m happy to report that the mental strain required for most strategy games is not necessary here. The turn-based combat sessions peppered throughout are less of a gameplay challenge and more of a metaphor for the game’s narrative conflicts. They are really there to underpin Wintermoor Tactics Club’s best feature: its story.

You play as Alicia, a member of the After School Tactics Club at Wintermoor Academy. One day, the mysterious principal announces that there will be a mandatory snowball fighting tournament amongst all school clubs. Whichever club wins the tournament is allowed to continue running throughout the year, but all others will be disbanded indefinitely. Alicia must use her knowledge of tabletop tactic games to keep her club alive.

It’s impossible to expand just how much more is going on in the story besides this overarching premise without adding several more paragraphs to this entry, and doubly so if I were to gush about how well done it all is. The mystery of the snowball tournament was fascinating, the side quests were charming and fun, and every single character in the game’s large cast had a distinct, memorable personality. Personally, I haven’t seen video game writing done this well since Double Fine’s Psychonauts, which if you know me, means this game is absolutely unskippable.

So, that’s the list! Even though it took some time and a little bit of effort to find them, I enjoyed playing these cosy Winter games that I probably would have otherwise overlooked. I hope one or several of them draws enough interest to fill your game collection and your late-night hours this Winter!