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The article talks about how coziness is an aesthetic for games and gives the example of animal crossing. Coziness refers to how strongly a game strongly evokes the fantasy of safety, abundance and softness. We then get an explanation as to why people want to play cozy games, cozy games can fulfil needs, its a means of satisfying unmet needs and its a form of safe practice. We then learn about the factors that negate coziness a few examples are Danger, fear, threat, Responsibility, Intense stimulus and Confinements. Coziness overpass with quite a few aesthetics and themes for example childlike, cute, romance, small world, home, party and politeness. But coziness has a unique identity separate from the few examples.
Cozy games make people feel good they help players explore their higher order needs. the article talks about how games motivations were directed towards young men and never met the motivations women, people from non-western countries, older generations and people with children. Newer models today such as tend and self-determination theory describes a more broad and diverse set of player behaviours and motivation. The article talks about how people who play comfy games usually don't want stress or conflict and how there is a process to remember, 1. Mechanics generate emotion 2. Emotions attract players 3. Social norms spread 4. Developers reap what they sew.
We learn about the general cozy design principals, Cozy is an adjective, Coziness is player dependant and Coziness thrives on authenticity. The aesthetics of cozy are abundance, smooth transitions, Protection and Support, Focus, Mundanity, Refuge and escape, Human-centric, Welcome, Seasons and Ritual. Cozy visuals include Colours, Light, Natural Materials, Space and contrast. Cozy Audio includes the obvious music which needs to be gentle and acoustic and sounds must be soft fro example a cat purring water running down a river and fire crackling. Cozy locations have to be calm and not have a sense of danger to them. Cozy items are usually found in cozy spaces e.g. a fishing rod, flowers and wooden blocks. The article talks about cozy mechanics and gives an example about how when the trees shake it makes a nice sound when you are trying to get fruit and makes the experience pleasurable.
Optional activities is a must in cozy games gives the player freedom and a sense of security. the article then talks about safe rituals and how repeated low risk tasks allow players to relax. Patterns of cozy narrative it tends to exhibit certain qualities e.g. low pressure and non-violent. Nrratives tend to center around "it takes a village", "immigrants hour" and a few more. Cozy characters have to be friendly they tend to be easy to befriend in a way and portray the cozy aesthetic. There can be a challenge with cozy interactions online because it can be dehumanizing. Cozy unlike other game aesthetics that usually few others as enemies, cozy wants to attract a better community. Conversations should ramble with cozy games.
We learn about the different types of gifting and how they are not all equal. Forcing cozy in social interactions can cause it to fall apart. There is a lot of design patterns in building a cozy game that cam be applied to any game created, it was very insightful to read this article and learn about a design process in so much detail.
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