Cozy Grove Gets Physical Release Through iam8bit
Indie Game Cozy Grove was one of my favorite games I played on Nintendo Switch last year. (It was actually released in 2021 for Nintendo Switch but I didn’t play it til 2022). I do a lot of gaming on the go, and Cozy Grove’s chill vibe, ink and watercolor style, friendly whimsical characters, and soothing soundtrack made it the perfect game for me.
The premise is you’re a spirit scout who ends up on a haunted island filled with adorable bear spirits. All your dead bear friends need help coming to terms with their ghostly existence, but luckily you’re a spirit scout, so this is kinda your forte. A lot of what you do for the inhabitants is the stuff of a crafting/resource-gathering/fetch quest variety, but dang it all feels so calming and rewarding.
There’s a catch though. Only so much can be done in one real-time day. Eventually, the bears stop giving quests, or the island will be depleted of the resource you need, and the player must wait until the next day for everything to reset. It’s a little something that kept me coming back every day. Some days I’d play about 60-90 minutes, sometimes just 15 minutes, but all in all, it felt good to hang with my bear pals every day,
Spry Fox has continued to build on this game since its release with one additional DLC and seasonal events for the game. I know saying they executed the idea of what Animal Crossing: New Horizon should have been might be a bold statement, but it’s not an incorrect one either.
And finally, thanks to iam8bit, physical versions of both the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 5 versions are now open for preorder! Available for $34.99 American buckaroos, this physical edition includes a blind bag with one random bear ghost pin, an exclusive cover sheet, and best of all, the game in physical form. It should be noted if pins are your thing, there are options to add on more pins up to all 28 bears. The preorders are set to ship in the Q2 2023.
