I’ve been on a cozy game kick for the last few weeks. I’m just done with hard games. It’s taken me quite a while to realize that I don’t really like ‘hard’ games for a variety of reasons. I play FromSoft games for the exploration, the exquisite level design, and for the lore. I suffer through/put up with the difficulty because the rest of it makes up for it.
I don’t know for how much longer because I’m getting older. I know we all are, but in this specific case, I mention it because I had terrible reflexes even before my medical crisis. And very little depth perception. After my medical crisis, it’s just gotten worse and worse.
It’s been a relief to play games that are cozy and casual. Nothing to stress me out and nothing that makkes me feel sad/bad because I can’t do it. (Holds back massive treatise on FromSoft and the current state of the company.) I am looking to be comforted in my gaming, and the indie/cozy game devs are showing up in spades.
During the Wholesome Direct of 2025 which was a few months ago, I downloaded a bunch of demos (one thing I really love about indie games) on Steam to try. One of them was Tiny Bookshop (neoludic games), and it immediately grabbed my attention. I had considered buying a bookstore once upon a time, and I was attracted to the idea of leaving it all to open a tiny moving bookshop in a small town where everyone knew each other.
I eagerly checked out the demo, and to my dismay, I did not gel with it. I loved the vibes, the visuals, and everything about the enviroment. I just did not click with the characters in the game or the actual gameplay. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t fall in love with it the way I thought I would.
One thing that stressed me out was that a customer would ask me for a recommendation, and if they didn’t like what I suggested to them, they would be upset. That didn’t really matter as far as gameplay. Well, I mean, it might have, but that wasn’t the reason I was upset. I just didn’t like when I didn’t get it right or when I didn’t have a book I could recommend.
I was sad when I uninstalled the demo, but it just wasn’t for me. Then, it was officially released ten days ago, and a friend of mine in the RKG Discord (we joke that we are the same person) mentioned it to me that I might like it. I decided to check the demo out again, and to my surprise, I liked it quite a bit this time.
I decided to buy it. This is one of the great things with small, indie games. This game was $19.99 at release and already 10% off. That means I bought it for $17.99. At that price, I’m willing to gamble on a game with a big heart that is made by an indie developer. I recognize it as an absolute privilege, but I don’t mind if I don’t love a game or play it for more than a few hours if I spend less than twenty dollars on it.