I am going to recommend GRIS.

It is a jump’n’run riddle game about a person in a magic dress dealing with loss.

Palia is basically 3d multiplayer stardew. Free to play on both PC and switch. It IS very early access tho so you will occasionally run into some very game breaking bugs which might kill the cozy and make it frustrating.

Super wholesome community too.

I recently discovered this adorable little indie point and click adventure game called Read Only Memories. The basic plot is that you’re a struggling freelance journalist living in a crappy apartment in Neo-San Francisco in the year 2064. Human genetic and cybernetic modification is widely available, and some jackasses have decided to spend their time protesting outside the clinics that provide it. They claim it strips away the very things that make us human, whatever that may mean (editorialism mine – the game, strangely, goes to great lengths to allow the player to choose either, or neither, side in this conflict through dialogue options, although the vast majority of characters you meet will have the same opinion I did). Also, ROMs (personal voice-activated robots – think ChatGPT with legs) are fairly commonplace and can be seen everywhere from individual households to the police force. They’re highly conversational though not particularly human.

Anyway, one day, you wake up, and one of these robots is standing at the foot of your bed. You’re somewhat surprised by this, since you’re way too broke to afford one. The robot introduces themself as Turing, a top-secret project to create a truly sapient ROM, who has just witnessed their creator being kidnapped and broke into your apartment during the night to ask for your help to solve the case.

I’ve only gotten to the second chapter so far, but I’m loving it. It is very cute and very queer and does not shy away from the gritty realities of its subject matter. I don’t want to spoil too much, but there’s one conversation where you find out why the genetically modified person who’s been a bit of a dick to you got genetic modifications and the major struggles they went through to get it, and I do not think the allegory could have been more obvious if the entire screen turned into a giant trans flag.

Also Turing is adorable. And you can hug them. Also the music is incredible.

It’s an incredible game and you should totally play it ^^

I haven’t played it in years, but I remember getting really cozy vibes from “VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action”. You basically just talk to customers and hear their stories while serving drinks. I didn’t end up playing all the way to the end, but I remember it being really chill and laid back.

Come to think of it, since I didn’t know I was trans back when I played it, I’m now wondering if some of the cozy vibes came from diffuse, unrecognized gender euphoria via the female protagonist. Been meaning to play it again to see how it strikes me now.

Actually, this is getting me kind of hype to play it; I think I’ll fire it up.

I assume you already played it but since it hasn’t explicitly been mentioned I definitely have to call out Celeste, basically one of the most iconic transfem games out there!

Terraria can be pretty comfy if you’re in the mood for it, and Clone Hero is the perfect rhythm game if you have Guitar Hero nostalgia!

Cozy:

• Slime Rancher is super cute.
• Forager is pretty nice, but the controls suck on anything other than keyboard/mouse.
• Outpath is kinda like a 3d Forager with a dev who doesn’t have staff he can’t pay.

Rythm:

• Geometry Dash is great.
• ADOFAI is awesome.

Hey! Sorry you’re feeling shitty. I just finished Cassette Beasts while I was down with COVID. It’s a fun, different take on the Pokemon formula with a cool aesthetic. Perhaps not the absolute coziest, but still cozy in my book.

If you’re a fan of rhythm games, have you ever played Rhythm Heaven? :) RH Fever for the Wii, and RH Megamix for the 3ds are some of my faves in the genre. They’re standouts and somewhat unconventional rhythm games based around animations. Very cute and fun and towards the end of the games challenging. I believe emulators are available for both on Debian. Dolphin for Wii emulation, Citra for 3ds. Citra has officially been discontinued by the original dev team, but forks are around for it.

On switch there’s Animal Crossing, Yoshi’s crafted world, Super Mario 3D world and Odyssey are both fantastic and cozy. Let’s go Eevee and Pikachu are incredible and have a very warm idyllic vibe imo.

Townscaper is a good one for just sinking yourself into mindless building. No resource limits, just making a city in an ocean. It’s also a fairly cheap game - About Five bucks if I recall?

Haven Park and A Short Hike are both pretty cute and cozy

Play Citizen Sleeper - it’s an uber-cozy sci fi narrative game. If you want cozy rhythm games, try Melatonin. ~ fellow transfem

I am a fan of rhythm games and cozy games like stardew valley

how about Minecraft and/or Terraria?

Not sure if anyone mentioned it already, but The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is really cozy and nice. You play as a witch that got exiled and is mentally not in a good place but then you get to do all kinds of badass witch stuff. It is inclusive of trans women and I had to cry a lot when I found out midgame.

Dinkum is fucking great if you’re a fan of stardew and animal crossing

Also, I’m not sure if this one is up your alley since it’s neither a rhythm game nor like stardew valley, but Rain World is such a beautiful piece of art and atmospheric. It feels alive and brutal. Even then, I still find a lot of cozy moments in this game.

I know it’s a bit of a clique at this point, but if you enjoy platformers, and especially if you want an emotionally compelling story, I’d reccomend Celeste, there’s also a lot of trans allegories within the game, if you’re up for that. It’s on Steam and Switch, among other things, and is a pretty good indie game made by a trans woman