Cozy adventure games to slow down with

Not every game needs to test you. Some nights I just want to wander somewhere pretty and let a small story unfold, and that's a whole genre worth celebrating.

Hollow Lantern is my current favorite of these. There's no timer, no fail state, just a hand-drawn town and characters worth talking to. The puzzles are gentle enough that they never break the calm.

The mark of a good cozy game is that it trusts you to explore. It doesn't slap markers on everything or nag you toward the next objective. It lets curiosity do the work.

These games are short by design, and that's fine. Four quiet hours that stay with you beat forty hours of grind you forget by morning.