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“Ooof”. If we had one word to describe 2020 so far, it would be “ooof” (Is ‘ooof’ a word? I don’t care, it is now). These past opening months of 2020 have been undoubtedly stressful. We don’t like being stressed and anxious. What do we do when we want to relieve stress? Play video games, of course!

The Nintendo Switch in particular is a delightful little system with a massive library of wonderful games that are (almost) all playable on the go! When times get stressful, we like to escape into the comfiest, coziest games on the market. That means when Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases on March 20th, 2020, you can expect to find us curled up in our beds, with our Switches, shakin’ trees and catchin’ bugs like our lives depend on it.

“Hey!” you may say “2020 is stressful NOW and I need something comfy and cozy to play NOW!” Well, fret and cry no further, friend. In this article, we will highlight some of the comfiest and coziest switch games you can purchase and play at this very moment! To determine comfiness-levels, we will be looking at a combination of challenge, immersion and escapism for each game. So fluff your pillow, light a candle, put on some lofi and throw a frozen pizza in the oven because we’re about to get comfy!

Golf Story

Golf Story is an adorable little indie sweetheart from Australian developer Sidebar Games. This pixel pariah sees the player making their way through a world where everything revolves around golf. Imagine your typical adventure role-playing game, but instead of murdering defenseless slimes to progress, you golf. Instead of building a party of wacky outcasts with a common goal and call to action, you golf. Instead of learning world-ending spells and defeating an ancient evil being, (you guessed it) you golf.

Now at this point you may be wondering why in Cloud Strife’s name would I want to play an RPG where all I do is golf? Because it’s heckin’ cozy, that’s why! Golf Story’s low stakes, delightfully pixelated graphics and chill soundtrack make for an immersive, comfy little escape from our stressful lives. (Did we mention there’s disc golf too? There’s disc golf).

Minecraft

It’s impossible to do a cozy game’s list without mentioning Minecraft. Minecraft, developed by Notch and purchased by Microsoft in 2014, drops players into a blocky world where crafting and building is arguably the only goal. We don’t even have to tell you how much of a phenomenon Minecraft has become. As of March 2020, it remains the best selling game of all time. Allow us to explain to the uninitiated what makes this game so relaxing.

Essentially, Minecraft is a game you can play at your own pace. Want to build a house? Go for it. Want to mine for gold? Hey, it’s your time, dude. Combined with an ambient soundtrack and iconic sound effects, Minecraft does an excellent job of immersing the player in a delightful world where the level of challenge is up to you.

Luigi’s Mansion 3

“Whaaaat?! A spooky game about ghosts is comfy?!” You read right. We’re going there. We unapologetically declare Luigi’s Mansion 3 one of the comfiest games on Switch. Developed by Next Level Games and published by the big N themselves, Luigi’s Mansion 3 puts the player in the shoes of the titular Loogi on his epic adventure through a haunted hotel. But what could possibly make a game about ghosts comfy?

To put it simply, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is beautiful. The animations are smooth and the graphics scream with cartoony charm. The ghost catching gameplay may seem repetitive at first but speckle in light puzzles and interesting boss encounters and you’ve got yourself one heck of a comfy game. Ultimately, the smooth gameplay mixed with the smoother animations makes for a delightful little escape within this haunted hotel.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Is it possible to have any Switch list without including Breath of the Wild? Nah. Is Breath of the Wild arguably the comfiest Zelda game? Arguably. Wait, yes it is! This is easily the comfiest Zelda game. Now, one could definitely argue that Wind Waker or some other 2D Zelda is comfier, but we’d have to respectively disagree.

Breath of the Wild is a masterpiece. The sprawling scale of this iteration of Hyrule fills any eager player with excitement to explore. And boy, exploring has never felt cozier! Picture this: you’re riding a horse, whom at one point was a wild but has been your only companion for a few days now. As you ride up and along a mountain path, a light piano motif chimes in to remind you of Zelda’s past. You realize Link is getting cold, hop off your companion, and cook a nice spicy fish kabob from the morning catch and some peppers you found growing on the side of the road. After resting by an abandoned wok, you hop back on your friend and continue your adventure up the mountain, unknowing what danger lies ahead. This is the heart of the immersion of Breath of the Wild. This is the comfiest Zelda.

Stardew Valley

Alright, I’m sure many of you saw this coming. Developed by living legend ConcernedApe, Stardew Valley is easily the most bang for your buck you can get on the Switch when it comes to comfiness. In Stardew Valley, the player is tasked with bringing a farm from zero to, well, not zero. Grow crops, raise animals, get married and even explore dungeons in this insanely immersive indie masterpiece. This game is like Harvest Moon on steroids.

When it comes to immersion, challenge, and escapism, Stardew Valley is unmatched. With a killer comfy soundtrack and an endless number of satisfying tasks at hand, the only game we could see dethroning Stardew as the king of comfy would be the upcoming New Horizons. Until then, we’ll have to stay tuned and see if Animal Crossing: New Horizons saves us from the stress of 2020 and brings in a new era of comfiness.