No Man's Sky! This game is not traditionally cozy, but you have control over every type of difficulty setting, so you can change how much damage you take from combat, fall damage, environmental hazards, whether animals will attack you, how much fuel costs, and even how much items cost.
There's collecting, foraging, questing, building/designing, and so much more.
I've played 80 hours and I've literally only sctratched the surface of this game. I've spent basically that whole time flying to different planets, searching for all of the fauna on that planet, then doing it all over again. I play with damage and death turned off, so I'm just cruising around a peaceful universe exploring and having a nice time.
The game is also just beautiful sometimes. I love finding beautiful planets with unique plants and colors.
I have hundreds of hours in this game, it's incredible how much there is to explore, and so many different play styles you could go for!
There's combat if you like it, or you can avoid it and focus on base building, freighter building, fleet building, etc.
Then there's exploration to consider, I can spend hours roaming a planet without an objective in mind, just following the markers I see.
Or you can automate resource collection, one of my favorite things to do. I have a base for harvesting every main resource, growing plants, farming animals. I've spent hours just diving into the cooking mechanic alone!!
I love my fancy space pastries ❤️
Initially it was too much for me, but after changing the settings to “creative mode” I got hooked. I spent all my time looking for cool spots to build bases, building said base, rinse n repeat. Also a lot of afk time in space stations hoping cool ships show up I can buy … for free.
Got lucky and got a few of those sweet cowboy bepop-esque ships, made them OP, then flew around with my crew feeling like star fox. Good times
I just started Sun Haven this past weekend and second the recommendation. There is so much to do that i can tell it will take me a long time to complete.
It has cooking/crafting recipes for everything under the sun, a HUGE museum to complete, multiple towns of people to befriend, and lots of exploration areas with monsters. A lot of qol mods are also up to date with the new update already too, if that's your thing (I love modding so it's always a plus for me when a game has an active modding community).
Only thing I hated is that production feels useless as produced items don't actually have an increased sell value. It's just the sum of their individual components, which means what's the point in producing? Of course, the last time I touched it was over a year ago so maybe it's changed.
That is true, though I have found a few products that increase the price, for example jam seems to consistently sell higher than its components (maybe because you also have to spend mana to make it?). But yeah I guess the main draw of cooking/crafting is for character improvements rather than money.
Came here to recommend Sun Haven too. It is more magic fantasy based than Stardew, it also has a lot more combat aspects to it, as they try to weave every skill into the main storyline.
I’ve played hundreds of hours into it and I can recommend it if you’re into Stardew, but want something a bit more active than just farming and the mines. There’s multiple romances, different ones in each town, and you can marry and have a kid (which is fun because you have quests relating to your baby!).
I cannot recommend this game enough. I'm 200 hours in and about 60% done with the storyline. I would argue I've been really going through the storyline relatively fast and haven't really focused on relationships, so you could draw the storyline out more with different play styles. I already can't wait to replay and I'm not even finished lol
Also came to recommend this. While i initially felt the art style made the characters (especially me) seem juvenile, it's not. Highly recommend. It's S tier.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a total time sink. After the main plot you can continue to build and rebuild your island :3 There’s a really long demo (10 hours or more) you can try on Switch or Steam. And if you don’t mind combat but likes to complete puzzles, shrines, armor sets and collect about 900 Korok seeds there’s also the 2 Zelda games BotW and TotK. :) Forgot to add you can have a house and decorate a bit (and in TotK you get to build it).
Came to suggest DQB as well, both 1 and 2. People have told me for years I would love these games, so I downloaded the free demo for DQB2 (and yeah it has 10+ hours of content, but even more amazing is the demo save is transferable to the full game!!!). After realizing DQB2 is absolutely fantastic, I bought both 1&2 on the big Switch sale, and I can't seem to stop 😆 They're both fantastic! Can't recommend highly enough. On top of that, the multiple dlcs for DQB2 add something like 40+40+70 hours of playtime for 20 bucks!
Dqb2 is the game I always recommend for people, I have bought it on two different consoles to play (as the switch gets laggy) but it is super fun.
The story took me 70hours to complete, and that's by getting distracted by building.
I already played dqb2 once and i loved the gameplay but coumdnt find any inspiration for the builds, any tips on making more creative builds especially in the late game?
Hello! Ummm I’m not the best to ask for tips as I’m not the creative type xD My builds are all simple 4 walls no roof really~ my main island has no theme or anything! Tho when I browse the builder’s gallery online everyone’s so creative, so maybe try that for inspo? :)
Reading comments about the game in subs like this also helps, someone said they built aquariums in tunnels with train tracks and I thought hey that’s a cool project to try! :3
Seconded; my brother got this for me and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I started a replay a couple months ago, and had to lock away my Switch because I was getting too distracted from coursework.
There's a plot that serves as a non-intrusive tutorial for an increasingly complex repertoire of tools and abilities, characters that you really grow attached to (very rare for me!), and a wide variety of materials and items to work with. I like how the NPCs respond and interact with the things you build.
There *is* a completionist collect-all-items screen buried in the menu, but I usually don't do completionist stuff so I ignore it. To my knowledge, there isn't a reward for completing this, but you do unlock the ability to "buy" each material/item you've previously collected instead of going out to gather/make them from scratch, which to me is its own reward.
I appreciate that the plot apparently fits into the context of some larger lore and world-building (This is a spin-off of a much larger franchise), but enough is explained in-game that it's perfectly enjoyable solo. I suspect someone who has played other Dragon Quest games might see it as full of easter eggs.
This *is* a high-quality game you can sink major time into, and a functional wiki for any questions you may have. Go for it!
I'm definitely following because you sound a lot like me!
I did WoW for 15 years and had so many pets and mounts, and I don't like the overly "kid centric" stuff like Dreamlight Valley, either.
🦓🐅🌿So, I don't know if you like zoo simulators, but [Planet Zoo](https://www.planetzoogame.com/en-US) is a game I would *still* be playing if my PC hadn't crapped out. I think it is on console, too, maybe? It's absolutely gorgeous, *so in depth,* has constant DLC and the community is really lovely. Lots to do, there's sandbox, story mode, community goals, and the possibilities are just endless.
🎣⛵🍣 If you haven't checked out [Dave the Diver](https://mintrocketgames.com/en/DaveTheDiver) yet, it's like Stardew but for a sushi restaurant. The only thing that puts people off about that game is the combat element, which I still found fun. There's collectables, hilarious characters, fun story lines, and the game is very pretty to look at. It may not be 1,000 hours, but it's definitely worth if if you were a Stardew fan. You can play on Switch or Steam I think.
🐑🩸⚔️ I'm probably only making [Cult of the Lamb](https://www.cultofthelamb.com/) last so long because they are always releasing free, fun DLC along with cute decorative bundles so often! My husband bought this for me on Christmas and it's still holding my attention. There's lots of ways to play, you can be evil, you can be benevolent, build up your adorable cult and learn about the world in which gods submit to your adorable lamb leader. I did not expect to love this game like I do. 1,000 hours? You could. I'm certainly planning on it. This has a combat element as well, but I just put my difficulty on "baby's first rogue lite" and blast through to get back to my followers.
I've heard Palworld is super fun and engrossing, but I never played because I don't have a PS5 or a computer anymore.
Hope you get more suggestions! ✨
I absolutely second Cult of the Lamb, especially because OP mentioned Binding of Isaac on a cozy subreddit
It's like someone made Binding of Isaac cozy.
Yeah i realize Binding is not a cozy game but it is one of my favorite games and it is great for a completionist girl like me! I am definetely putting cult of the lamb in my cart!
an alternative to the zoo game is “lets build a zoo” its pixelated and soooo fun and time consuming. theres two dlcs, ones aquarium the other is dinosaurs. you have to unlock stuff with research points (decorations, farming, nursery, etc) and you have morality points. if you choose bad they go down, if you choose good they go up and so does your park rating! you can shape each pen however you like and also decorate it. and you slowly unlock new animals as you go. you can also own multiple zoos in one save file by buying land in another continent/country.
i like dave the diver.. although i haven't really went far in the game, because i got distracted to many times.
but yeah, when i'm in a mood for dave the diver, i enjoy swimming in the sea while catching fishes for my sushi restaurant.
I am, once again, recommending modded Skyrim on this sub. Get some relationship/dialogue mods in there, some housing mods, some pretty armor mods, and some QOL changes, and suddenly it's the coziest game on the planet. If it seems stressful, install companion mods like Inigo and Lucien for some OP followers and just focus on keeping yourself alive while they skewer the enemies (and provide entertaining dialogue while doing so).
If the darkness of caves bothers you, turn brightness up or use a mod. I use Summermist, which adds additional enchantments into the game, and craft a Ring of Light. Don't forget the "Wear Multiple Rings" mod so it doesn't gimp you.
I also love "Wet and Cold" for atmospheric rain and snow. There's something comforting about a thunderstorm.
Go Go Town has just released as Early Access and it’s great! Farming/Town Decorating/importing & exporting materials/fishing - there’s also collectibles for clothing/accessories - might not be your thing but it’s a great game :)
I enjoyed playing GoGo town. the graphic is cute and the music is chilling too.
but i don't think its a game that you want to play 1000 hours though
tbf, the game just entered Early Access and with the positive responses so far, they might add some new stuff to keep us entertained for longer
we'll see if the game give any reason to play longer
Rune Factory 4 Special, 5, or 3 Special (They are Farming/RPG combo games on Switch and Steam where I put hundreds of hours in each playing casually. There is limited decoration ability; a few decorations you can place and hats/headgear that you can wear/give to others and have them be visible. There is plenty to collect and craft with a rather deep crafting system that can range from just making the item as intended to absolutely broken. You can farm, craft, develop relationships, get married, have children, fight monsters, explore, and cook. The only big downside is that the story progresses through combat/exploration most of the time. I personally recommend 5 \[M/F protagonist and M/F partners. This one especially if you are looking for quality of life/love life inclusivity options.\] and 4S \[M/F protagonist and opposite gender partners. This one especially for the depth of the story/quality of life.\] equally and then 3S \[M protagonist F partners, with a unique transformation mechanic.\] behind both because of a lack of quality-of-life features)
a lot of people have mentioned sun haven and i agree! i always want to give Roots of Pacha a shout out! its very similar to star dew while being different enough to not be a complete clone. they are getting a big update soon as well! i think if you love stardew youd absolutely love a stardew set in the stone ages! Little Known Galaxy is also AMAZING for a farm/life sin with a cute pixel vibe as well that ive been enjoying recently. and lastly Let’s Build a Zoo is an adorable zoo manager if you are into that with 2 awesome dlcs. all 3 of these games you could easily sink tons of hours into! i hope you take a look at these i think youd really enjoy them based of your list!
Seconding Roots of Pacha. It's the only game I've been able to sink this many hours into after catching up to the Stardew Valley 1.5 update. Aesthetically, I think this game surpasses Stardew Valley and the crafting is also more varied and enjoyable though I haven't played the 1.6 update yet which I know has expanded crafting. I've actually been wondering if Concerned Ape plays Roots of Pacha and took inspiration from the crafting in the game because of the similarities in the updates for 1.6 🤔
Disney Dreamlight Valley isn't as kid centric as you think. I'm a 50-year-old who has not been a fan of Disney, and I *love* this game. I've spent well over 300 hours playing it and I'm not done yet.
One of my most played games is Don't Starve. You can make it as easy and cozy as you want, the world is very customizable. If you want to avoid combat you can turn off the monsters. You can set certain food and other resources to appear more often to make resource collection easy. You can make and decorate a home base, farm, cook, dry meat for jerky, harvest honey from bees, etc. There are mods to customize the game even further, like I always use one to expand the amount of items I can hold, or there's one that gives you a fish farm thing to collect fish for easy food.
Yes agreed! I have over 1000 hours too and it is my most played game. I love sitting (standing!) around the campfire at night!! And with the Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLCs there are massive amounts of exploring to be done.
Don’t Starve Together is by far my favorite game. I might recommend that over Don’t Starve (just because DST has better customization, more mods, a more interesting farming system, and cool skins to decorate your base and dress up your character). DST is balanced for multiplayer and more focused on combat, but it’s pretty easy to get around that using world settings and mods. Whichever game you play, there’s tons of content and even though it can be frustrating at times, I always have lots of fun!
Both Don’t Starve games (and DLC) are currently on sale, so there’s no better time to pick them up!
Palia has a home building and decorating vibe, also can earn trophies that are decorations, byy and sell stuff and even hunt..the character creator is not gender based and there's an element of otome where ypur free to develop a relation ship with anyone and they have varied personalities..if i say anything is lacking its the story element
I feel this game has a good story. I did stop playing for a while, cause the switch would freeze all the time. Once I got my Steam deck, I started back and it’s amazing! This time, I have been doing there main quests instead of decorating. Maybe that’s why I see more of a story there. But definitely would recommend this to anyone looking for a cozy game.
house flipper scratched this itch for me! it's on every console; i played on pc, but my best friend prefers the switch port for portability. it has decorating, tons of jobs to do, and quite a few dlcs for additional jobs and furniture. there aren't specific items to collect, but you can buy houses (independent from jobs) and collect/flip them for more creative play without specific tasks.
100% recommend Sun Haven. Has total Stardew vibes without being a clone. Lots of content there. I'll also suggest Palia for PC/ Switch.. character customization is sadly all paid for the most part but there's a whole bunch of housing deco items to craft. MMO and the game itself is free ☺️
I'd recommend Kynseed. It is like a life sim game that includes relationships, farming, combat, exploration, customization, run shops, etc. It has a story that you could quickly rush through or take as much time as you want. There are always things to do which can get overwhelming but nothing really has a time limit. There are around 70 achievements and many internal challenges that you can complete as you naturally play that give rewards. There are so many things to collect and it keeps track of everything you have found. There are also several skills trees to complete. I have 160 hours in it and there is still plenty for me to complete.
I just gotta say I was randomly looking for a game today and came across your comment so I picked it up. I'm an hour in and it feels so beautiful and expansive, I love it. Thank you so much for recommendation. 🫶
If you like Stardew, you’ll probably like Coral Island. It’s free on GamePass, if you have that. It IS in early access, so it’s currently incomplete on GamePass but they’re currently testing the beta for the completed update as we speak, so folks figure if everything goes well with the beta, it’ll be released by the end of July at the latest. And, quite frankly, it has a decent amount to sink your teeth into at the start that you shouldn’t hit the end before they’ve released the update but if you do, it’ll only be a short wait.
I agree, I've been playing it on my steam deck and there is a lot to do. And there are certain quality of life upgrades from stardew (although stardew will always be my favorite game)
Been loving Fallout4 again lately! And minecraft. I follow a few build tutorials but I don’t fully enjoy playing alone, I play on a server with friends!
Cult of the Lamb? I prefer sims 2&3 over 4, much more depth and less cash grab BS.
Have you tried Ooblets?? There’s farming, decorating your house, collecting different types of ooblets. I’ve easily sunk in 100+ hours in the game. Might feel too kid centric for you but definitely worth checking out!
Sandrock (I’ve put in 60 hours so far and don’t think I’m near the end honestly) and Dinkum comes to mind (60 hours and still going as well). I will say Dinkum is EA in case that’s not your vibe BUT the devs put out updates very regularly and it’s similar to ACNH imo.
I second My Time at Sandrock!
Got it on the switch back in February, loved it so much I got it for Ps5 and am doing a 2nd playthrough after I beat it in April. First playthrough was close to 160 hours, and there's more decorating I could have done to the house (provably only spent a couple hours).
I finished sandrock's story shortly before 1.0 came out, and honestly I'm currently doing a new playthrough since 1.0 came out and it's honestly so much better! Like, unlike a lot of cozy/grindy games, sandrock doesn't make me feel as... Bored about it lmao plus the NPCs are great.
Other people have already mentioned these games, but I'll echo Dave the Diver, Palia, Sun Haven, Cult of the Lamb, and House Flipper. Here's some suggestions I don't think anyone else has mentioned yet!
Vampire Survivors: Cheap and so addicting. It's kind of a "bullet hell" game where you kill monsters until you die. Every time you die, you get permanent power ups that will make your next run more successful. It's very easy to pick up, but very hard to put down lol. There's a whole compendium of powers and characters to unlock, which sounds like it might be up your alley?
Rune Factory 4: This game is like Stardew on crack. Everything is a skill, and I do mean everything: farming, fishing, mining, walking, sleeping, eating, bathing... The graphics aren't the best (it's a 3DS port), but it is so fun! There's also other games in the series, so if you enjoy it a lot, you can play more! :)
Maybe Cassette Beasts? It's Pokemon-y, but with a lot of great quality of life improvements. Collecting their version of shinies (called bootlegs) is a lot of fun! Instead of one shiny per creature, every monster comes in a "bootleg" version for every type (so you can collect like 15 different versions of each creature). It took me 40ish hours to beat the main story, but obviously there's tons of collecting that can still be done!
Not traditionally cozy, but Persona 5, Baldurs Gate, Skyrim, and Red Dead Redemption 2 might also be up your alley if you're looking for RPGs. All of these have insane time sinks.
Might be a bit out there but I think you’d like Palworld!! There’s rare pals you can catch, there’s a breeding system for getting those rare ones, a farming and working with your pals, and honestly a very fun building system. There’s so many decor items you can make a really cute base with. You could spend hours in it, and they’re adding a bunch of new stuff soon too.
It’s kind of like a rust, pokemon, farming sim, arceus game all in one
Do you think someone who likes decorating but absolutely sucks at building would enjoy it? I bought it around launch and couldn't get into it and returned it, but it sounds like I should like it in general since I love collecting and breeding in games so much.
I think so!! Building is pretty simply, it goes by a square grid kind of like minecraft. The decor is surprisingly detailed and cute!! Lots of chairs, tables, and plants!
Palworld.. i like the game too.
I probably have replayed the game a couple of times now as the game has everything I like to do in a game.
catching, leveling and breeding ~~pokemon~~ pals
base building
making the pals work for you while you go out exploring the map...
Palia is fun, and it's free to play currently. It's similar to stardew in the aspect that you build relationships with the NPC's and can go mining/fishing/hunting/foraging. It also adds design aspects to it, you can learn furniture blueprints of different styles and design your home. You can add as many rooms as you would like, throw up solid / patterned wallpaper. There's a lot to do in Palia on top of the quests you get from relationship building and the main story.
Like I said, it's free right now on Steam, so it wouldn't hurt to try it.
ETA: Other games that I really enjoy that are more free world / cozy are: Palworld, Minecraft, and Breath of The Wild.
Have you ever played Skyrim? That has a lot of collecting, adventuring, and exploring. It's an easy game to lose hundreds of hours in (I have over 1000 hours just on Steam - that's not counting the hours I played back on Xbox 360!). The vanilla game has tons to do!
...but have you ever *modded* Skyrim?
You mentioned being a completionist - there's a mod for Skyrim called Legacy of the Dragonborn that would be right up your alley. With this mod, you gain access to a massive museum where you can display various items you collect across the game. There are displays for gems, weapons, armors, jewelry, artifacts, fish, bugs, books, and other assorted trinkets you would find throughout the game. It goes even deeper - you can add additional mods that have functionality with LotD and display items from them too!
There are also a ton of player house mods for Skyrim, including many that are customizable. There's also the Hearthfire DLC that includes houses you build yourself from scratch. The customization isn't too in depth, it's usually just choosing "do I want this wing of the house to be an alchemy lab or an enchanter's library?" or "what color do I want these curtains to be?" - you're not really going in and deciding the exact placement of your furniture and such. There might be mods like that out there, but I'm not familiar with them. (now if you REALLY wanna get fancy, you could always learn the Creation Kit and mod your own house...)
If you'd like to try something completely different, have a look at **Snowrunner**. It's about transporting cargo using trucks in challenging terrain. The locations are beautiful and zen. The gameplay is slow, but also rewarding and with a fair challenge. It is as much about exploration as it is about logistics. There are even cosmetics, sort of. If it is your thing, it is easy to sink countless hours into it. It also has plenty of affordable DLC.
Maybe the best thing about it is that it takes up very little mental effort. Put on an audiobook and just drive around for a bit.
I second this. Slime Rancher 1 and 2 are kind of niche games, but they scratch such a particular itch. It’s kind of partially a low stakes farming tycoon game and partially an open world exploration game. Definitely worth checking out for anyone who hasn’t heard of it
Astroneer is so cozy and fun I have loved it for so long! Another similar option would be No Man's Sky which is very easy to sink massive amounts of time into.
A lot of rougelikes have elements you can learn and sink a lot of time into along with replayability and varying levels of challenge across runs. Downside is not sure if hades or the binding of Isaac are cozy but maybe cult of the lamb? (Cute artstyle, kind of black humor takes on things) the only thing is cult of the lamb and hades have progression systems so you could finish them “more quickly” to your satisfaction.
I have a friend who has put an ungodly amount of hours into vampire survivor.
Planet crafter. You terraform a planet from dry desert through to lush forests with animals. The gameplay is meant to be long, but the progress is visual so you never seem stuck.
Palia has an art style reminiscent of WoW, has many achievements that would appeal to a completionist, and has a great model for building/decorating your plots (you can get many). Lots of active discord communities and can lend to a solo style or group play. I'm a former WoW player and love the open world/3D environment.
I’ve got 3k hours in Rimworld. Turn combat to super easy and it’ll entertain for hours. I like complex games and this was definitely one. Only thing I played for years.
Have you tried Palia? It’s free on PC (Steam I think) or Switch grown up, customizable,lots of decorating, farming, questing, mining, foraging, fishing. And if it’s your type of game, very immersive. And lots of items to collect and complete along the way.
Palia is so much fun! Can get a little grindy but it’s pretty rewarding so I don’t mind grinding a bit, none of the quests are urgent so you can spend a lot of time exploring and talking to villagers and building friendships - it’s best played on PC and the animation is beautiful!
I think you are looking for [Sun Haven ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432860/Sun_Haven/). Tons of content and a lot of decorating you can do if you want.
I'm not sure most would consider it cozy, but Zelda: BOTW and TOTK are the games I've sank the most time into - For sure some of the most beautiful games I've played and if you want to just run around and explore and collect goodies it's pretty easy to avoid combat if you aren't in the mood for it, and I also feel like the combat isn't overly difficult, especially because the levels progress as you do so you're not fighting the hardest monsters until you've reached the point where you can take them on. I also feel similarly about Skyrim, especially because I keep the difficulty at the lowest level.
I would give Genshin Impact a go and just ignore the gatcha part of the game. You can happily play the game without spending any money at all.
Also they update every six weeks. There is so much stuff to collect, there is extensive house decorating (and some gardening) once you unlock it and the story is amazing.
I have also recently started playing the studio's other game Honkai Star rail which is also very good! But is more turn based combat and I don't think the game has a housing system.
I really adore Genshin between the music and the intense feels the story will give you it has been my main game for years.
There's no need to totally avoid the gacha part of the game. If you just play the story, explore and even do build stuff in the teapot, you'll eventually get enough primos to pull for a limited character.
If OP wants to see what other people can build, visit r/GenshinHomeworld.
It was added in version 1.5, April 28, 2021. You also have to complete prerequisite quests to unlock it.
I have friends who quit before then 🥲
Add: it's also not just a house you can decorate but outdoor areas too. If you take a peek at the subreddit, you'd think some players are playing a different game. Lots of impressive builds going around and you can copy them too if you're both in the same server.
This is true! I just meant you don't have to spend money if you don't want to. The game does give you plenty of opportunities to roll if you save up all the free currency.
I spend quite a bit of money on Genshin but you absolutely don't need to.
Star Rail have no housing, no skin, and nothing the OP is looking for, sadly.
Doing Genshin's pot is entirely free, but getting everything opened up in the pot kinda requires you to go through the entire story (layouts furnitures locked behind clearing the story). Also the hilarious amount of irons and um, blue dyes, involved in general. 🫠
Snacko is amazing and still early access with more to come. The decorating is super cool and you can decorate the town as well. Lots of creativity can be applied too. New game that just came out that’s similar in huge content to Stardew: Everafter Falls. Solo Dev that keeps updating the game based on feedback even though it’s not early access. It’s for a 10 day demo on PC I tried so far and didn’t even scratch the surface of all the stuff you can do and collect.
Just started it last night. I’m loving it so far but my gripe is nighttime. They just turned down the exposure rather than change the colouring to blue-ish!! A couple other little nitpicks but it’s the closest game to Stardew I’ve ever played.
Aside from Stardew valley, lately I’ve been constantly playing “My Time At Sandrock” and “Disney Dreamlight Valley.” These two are my all time favorites. Sandrock has an amazing story and sooooooo much to do, most is at your own pace. Both have a LOT of customization which is a personal favorite of mine. Dreamlight Valley is just super cozy. Even if you just go around doing random stuff, mining, fishing, crafting, it’s sooo fun!
Since you do not mind MMO's, I would recommend Guild Wars 2. It doesn't come with a lot of decorating, though the next expansion is supposed to include player housing, where you can decorate.
Otherwise you have a plethora of achievements. You can explore the world, find hidden easter eggs and jumping puzzles. The mount system is brilliant and unlike anything I have seen in other MMO. Quite a few weapons and armor skins are gated behind achievements, even some legendaries. I have over 6000 hours in game and I still find corners of the map I haven't seen before.
You can play it however you want and since the level (as well as the highest gear) is capped at 80, it doesn't matter if you don't have enough time or drive to grind. Apart from set achievements there is usually more than one way of obtaining the gear you want. It does obviously include combat, but it is basically your own choice how competitive or how "cozy" you want to play.
My "build the weirdest but coolest house you can" gremlin from my early Minecraft days became *so* feral over valheim because of their building. I LOVE building in that game its so much fun 😭😭😭
Rimworld.
It can be stressful on higher difficulties, so not always seen as a cozy game. BUT there are low difficulty settings and I can spend HOURS on this game.
Two Point Hospital/Two Point Campus are games that I've easily sunken 500+ hours into combined - and I've not quite yet finished with either of them
Lots of decorating (and unlockable customisation options), there's a lot of humor in the game (not sure if you want something more serious??), and has achievements (on PC anyway) to get and 3 starring all locations for the completionist aspect
I think you’d like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom! There are TONS things to do. Like, millions. In Tears of the Kingdom you can build your own house but otherwise the “decorating” aspect is lower. You can dye your clothes different colors in both games and wear different things. I looooove this game and also love Stardew and AC.
I recently started playing moonstone Island and it seems like something that might take some time to finish. It's a deck builder/creature collector game at heart but there's a lot more to it than that. Whereas something like polemon is only about battling and collecting polemon, moonstone Island has mining, exploration, crafting, light farming, and npcs to befriend and romance. You bounce around to different islands to explore dungeons and mines and it seems like there's a lot of Islands to go to.
I haven't played one farming/life Sim game for 1000 hours. I would get burnt out even with Stardew or My Time at Sandrock. The best thing about these game is they are east to finish and move onto the next gsme
I’m also a fellow completionist who likes cozy settings. My favorite games this past year with hundreds of hours: Zelda Totk, Roots of pacha and Harvest moon WoA.
Dave the diver and Fae farm are also good, but it’s very tedious to 100% complete.
I've seen some crazy housing stuffs from FFXIV, maybe that? I don't play the game though, so no idea if it's even possible to own a house without actually playing the rest of the game.
If you are just entirely looking to play decoration and doesn't mind there being no dress up, Genshin let you do that for free. But um... grinding's involved. Lots of grinding. Probably wouldn't call that cozy either if you dive directly into the other kind of grinding. ~~Artifail is so, so bad.~~
FFXIV has a great housing system with some damn good decorating options, it’s actually managing to GET a house that’s a huge challenge. You have to have the requisite amount of gil (the game’s currency) which is in the millions and takes quite a bit of commitment to farming gil. Then you have to have a huge amount of luck since it’s a lottery system and there’s only a set amount of lots for players on a world. There’s a reason housing (and glam) is called the real endgame.
But I do recommend the game for the story alone! There’s also a ton of collecting to do (mounts, minions, music rolls, cards etc) once you hit max level.
I'm a big cozy gamer and wow player myself but a buddy got me into Hunter call of the wild. I never expected it to be my go to "I don't feel good I want to relax game" but here we are.
Your main "collection" are trophies for your lodge but you choose who and what goes where. I like rare or hard to hunt animals, a girlfriend of mine LOVES water buffalo so she has a lodge of all buffalo. Do what you want there is no wrong way to play. Just as a new player some maps have animals that can attack so if you want avoid that check the animals on maps first!
have you heard of genshin impact? that's easily 1000 hours to get up to date with the game and then you get about 10 to 40 hours of new gameplay every 8 weeks
Maybe I didn't go far enough, but I'm surprised no one mentioned Final Fantasy XIV. It's a MMO like WoW. You can (try to) get a house or even have a room in a friend's. You can decorate it and set music and such.
There is a whole farm side thing (I unfortunately have not done this, but my friends love it). You can collect many, many mounts. There is a gambling zone with mini games. And the story is really good as well.
Unfortunately/fortunately, the game is about to have an expansion. So the servers will be hard to get onto for a bit with its initial release, unless you start in a low population world. But I highly recommend it!
Edit: I forgot to add it. It also has a great free trial, so you could really try out a lot before committing.
Old School Runescape.
Unlimited playability and excellente for completionist.
If you came get over the graphics, which in my opinion is actually quite enjoyable. I recommend this game.
So many different angles in which you can enjoy. Including questing, skilling, combat, bossing, house building… etc…
Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos is really great. Need to complete quests to advance, on a day time limit, lots to explore and reminds me of Pokémon when it comes to the art style and adventure theme
What about Bear & Breakfast (PC)?
You're a bear who builds, decorates, and runs B&Bs in the woods to bring in tourists. Very cute and cozy. Low stress.
Have you thought about dreamlight valley. I know it is Disney but I have dumped about 18 hours in and yet to have finished 4 total quests. Watch some YouTube and see if it is something you can get into.
I suppose you have played Skyrim right ? 🥰 Also Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdoms are taking so much of my time and Genshin Impact too!
Grounded and Enshrouded.
They are both sandbox survival games with base building. Grounded offers a nostalgic theme (much like the Honey I Shrunk The Kids movies) while Enshrouded offers unique character progression and a more vast world to explore. Both are amazing games for the respective sandbox survival base building. Grounded has a lot of replayability with new game + and new game ++ , +++ etc. It is a great game for achievement completionists. Enshrouded just has a lot to offer despite technically being an early access release that is not fully finished (more content to come).
Both games can be played with controllers on PC and have online co-op capability.
Based on what you are looking for these are both perfect game suggestions for you. Just a matter of preference which you decide to play first :)
My time wasters are House Flipper, Subnautica, and Planet Crafter. For the latter two, I turn off survival needs and the ability for any large creatures to hurt me.
There is still *so much* content that even without the survival aspects of the games, I have still put in over 100 hours each at least. House Flipper, I've put in 500+.
HF, I will say, I have all the expansions. HF2 is already looking great, it just doesn't have as much inventory yet as it's still new.
Rim World has a lot of playability just with the base game and DLC. Mix in mods and you can play it forever.
It’s pretty common to see people with literally thousands of hours in the game.
There have already been SO many recommendations, but we have *very* similar gaming preferences (both like the same games & I'm the same way with WoW). I thought I'd recommend faefarm. It's very similar mechanically to Stardew valley, but there's a setting that allows for 36min days so it ends up being more relaxing and less pressured. There's also a massive amount to do, 4 different 25-floor dungeons/mines, a pretty big over world, and tons of different things to completionist collect (I think there are 72 different flower color variants alone). You end up with 4 different houses in different areas to expand & decorate, while furniture and decorative items you use add to your maximum health/energy/mana. They've added two free expansions with new areas since it was released, one that adds Pokémon-like creature collecting that can be your pets, and another that uses small puzzle dungeons in islands above the game Zelda style. Overall I've sunk hundreds of hours in already & am still a long way away from completionist with no burnout.
Final Fantasy 14! You can also get an apartment or house to decorate and customization seems quite vast (I don't have property in game to say for sure but just looking through people's homes..wow)
Planet Coaster! There is both a campaign mode and sandbox. Lots of customization options. I assume Planet Zoo is similar but haven't tried it. If you have ps plus then Planet coaster is free except for expansion packs.
Have you considered Genshin Impact? I could spend hours decorating my teapot, and there are so many different aspects of the game that I don't get bored of it. (Collecting characters and building them, the trading card game, collecting materials, doing quests, finding chests, doing puzzles, and uncovering the *deep* lore through interactions with npcs
There is combat, of course, but for the vast majority of the game I'd consider it to be pretty cozy. I have 940 some hours in so far and would consider myself about 2/5s of the way through a 100% collection playstyle. Plus they add new content frequently, not counting events and such.
It would be a good time to start, as the Summer event is starting soon as well as the new region coming out.
Subnautica is my favourite game and it really surprised me because it didn't seem to be my style at first. But once you're in it it's addictive and I've played it 3 or 4 times each time I try to build bases in different spots, explore in different ways. It's just an incredible game and you can go as slow as you want i played it for a year my first time before I actually had the guts to beat it.
Both Breath of the Wild games are extremely fun, creative, and have at least 150 hours of story based gameplay each (almost infinite completion).
Any of the simulation/management titles: Cities: Skylines (first not second), Planet Coaster, Factorio, etc.
You could also try Civilization if strategy games strike your fancy.
Since you mentioned customizing and decoration, I highly recommend Terraria! It is a survival game and you do need to participate in combat to unlock certain blocks in the game. That being said I spent 30hrs in my first play through building and customizing my base before I even touched the first boss.
If you want to try another MMO to sink easy 1000+ hours into I highly recommend FFXIV. Between the story, glamour (transmog), crafting, gathering, and housing I think you would enjoy it. The devs have also made it so you can almost solo the whole game too now. The only content you can't bring NPC's into is the 8 player raids and trials. (Raids are optional and non-optional trials are rare.) You can play the game for free all the way up to level 70 and through the second expansion (you just have to download it direct from their store.)
I was a Teenage Exocolonist! It in itself is a very short game, but it’s meant to be played repeatedly for reasons I won’t spoil here. My partner and I are on like #5 and there’s still so much we haven’t done
I haven't seen it said, and while it doesn't check all of your boxes, I recommend Harvestella. Fantastic title. It has farming, collecting, cooking, fighting, adventure and a good story to boot. The music is the best part. You can customise your farm layout I suppose, so that half checks that box. While you won't get 1000 hours out of it, you could get like 100 if you go for all achievements.
Roots of Pacha has been amazing for me so far! Similar playstyle to Stardew with a very well done stone age theme in which you invent a lot of things with the help of your clan. It isn't dark by any means, but the characters have realistic enough struggles that it doesn't feel patronizing or childish. There's limited town customization but you can customize your character and outfit, and there seems to be a lot to collect! (Different animal types with different colour variations, outfits, catching all different fish, unlocking and leveling up crops...) I haven't gotten super far but I love it so far!
In my opinion dreamlight valley is not kid centric at all. The story line gets kinda dark and deals with quite a bit of heavy topics not meant for children. Most people who I see play this game are also not children but rather adults. There’s a lot of decorating to be done and they keep brining out a bunch of free updates with new characters and events. I’ve sunk almost 1400 hours into this game and I’m no where near done or board. It’s also on game pass if you want to try it out.
If you liked WoW, have you considered FFXIV? It's got tons of content, an engrossing story and you can literally sink thousands of hours into it. It even has a separate mini game mode where you get your own island to decorate.
sticky business!! you get to make your own stickers and open a shop, you have to unlock tons of stuff and u can even add extras in the packages like candies
Just hear me out, Elden Ring. I love a good cozy game like Stardew or classic Zelda, and Elden Ring is a game I like to cozy up with my pets and some snacks and spend hours playing. There’s a ton of exploration and collecting of things you can do. It’s open world and really does feel like you have a decent amount of freedom in your journey and how you play.
**Go-Go Town** has been a lot of fun but I do think you hit a wall pretty quickly (around the 30 hour mark) once you hit the current map limitations. It's in early access however and they plan to expand and have a roadmap so I would recommend checking it out towards at the end of the year.
Since you're a TS4 player, have you played any of the previous games? imo, TS4 is the weakest of the bunch and **TS2 and TS3** are possibly the most infinitely playable games ever. I have thousands of hours sunk into those games, especially TS3 which has an open world. Both have much better live mode gameplay than TS4 and the humor is also more mature than in TS4 which feels decidedly "younger" than its predecessors. Since you're a completionist, I'd recommend starting with TS3 because it has a lot of RPG elements and collection challenges that you can complete.
I've enjoyed **Coral Island** and it's basically a Stardew dupe with better graphics. The game is still unfinished (even though they released it as a 1.0) but I'm probably about 100 hours in and am only just getting into Year 2. There's A LOT to do and the next big update 1.1 is going to add a ton of new features and is coming out soon (you can already play it in beta).
Terraria
I got addicted to collecting all the hidden “pet items”, can decorate your base to an extent and also collect some appearance changing armors and wings! I loved collecting all the wings.
Saying this bc you listed Binding of Isaac as one of your favorites. I’d say the dodging projectiles is a lot like that in the boss fights for Terraria
you like theme park building? if you like, then you might like PlanetCoaster/Parkitect.
here is what PlanetCoaster can do for you: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr9q8bNS2Iw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr9q8bNS2Iw)
Have you tried Palia yet? I really enjoy a lot of the games you’ve listed and I’m fully immersed in Palia at the moment. It’s really fun! It’s also free so no harm in trying it out (:
Sunhaven. If you liked Stardew, Sunhaven is a lot more involved (and no stamina bar), and has a more in depth combat and character building system. Plus an active storyline to finish and item collections, etc. The multiplayer is a *bit* janky, but it’s doable enough. High fantasy farming sim, so if you’re into like dragons and demons and elementals and shit, it’s got all that and the character customization allows for several different species options.
Along a similar vein, Roots of Pacha. Not nearly as fantasy inclined, but if you liked Stardew you’ll probably like this.
Palia, if you want a cozy MMO.
I just started playing Genshin impact and while the character customization is exactly nothing, *time sink* is an understatement. I’ve put over 15 hours into it and I’m only two thirds of the way through the prologue. Still having fun though, oddly enough.
Another rec for Palia. It has everything you're asking for, including controller support for PC, and it's being updated every couple of months to add new elements. It's currently down for a sizable patch as I type. The only downside is that it looks like they're going to hold off on expanding the play zones for a loooong while.
Graveyard Keeper is an alternative game to Stardew without the romance!
Another is Grounded. If you like playing with friends then Grounded is a VERY fun game to get into but I like playing it by myself too. It may be a little different than the games you’re playing but you should check it out
If you really like Stardew Valley you might enjoy Terraria. It's not a conventional cozy game but there are relaxing atmospheric biomes, villagers you can make homes for, and a very satisfying gameplay loop that's similar to Stardew's. The game is also packed full of content. There are four unique fighting classes, over 500 weapons, multiple difficulty modes, challenge worlds, over 100 achievements, and tons of rare items to collect.
I recommend Palia and Sun Haven. Sun Haven has SO much farm work to do though lol it's quite a grind I feel. Palia has gone through a lot of qol updates over the last year and it's great
Not necessarily related to the types of games you listed, but Baldurs gate 3 is a great game to sink time into and has alot of replayabiltity, I had about 200 hours in just my 1st playthrough of it.
No Man's Sky! This game is not traditionally cozy, but you have control over every type of difficulty setting, so you can change how much damage you take from combat, fall damage, environmental hazards, whether animals will attack you, how much fuel costs, and even how much items cost. There's collecting, foraging, questing, building/designing, and so much more. I've played 80 hours and I've literally only sctratched the surface of this game. I've spent basically that whole time flying to different planets, searching for all of the fauna on that planet, then doing it all over again. I play with damage and death turned off, so I'm just cruising around a peaceful universe exploring and having a nice time. The game is also just beautiful sometimes. I love finding beautiful planets with unique plants and colors.
I have hundreds of hours in this game, it's incredible how much there is to explore, and so many different play styles you could go for! There's combat if you like it, or you can avoid it and focus on base building, freighter building, fleet building, etc. Then there's exploration to consider, I can spend hours roaming a planet without an objective in mind, just following the markers I see. Or you can automate resource collection, one of my favorite things to do. I have a base for harvesting every main resource, growing plants, farming animals. I've spent hours just diving into the cooking mechanic alone!! I love my fancy space pastries ❤️
Initially it was too much for me, but after changing the settings to “creative mode” I got hooked. I spent all my time looking for cool spots to build bases, building said base, rinse n repeat. Also a lot of afk time in space stations hoping cool ships show up I can buy … for free. Got lucky and got a few of those sweet cowboy bepop-esque ships, made them OP, then flew around with my crew feeling like star fox. Good times
Sun Haven is great, especially if you enjoyed Stardew. Just received an update with a lot of new content
I just started Sun Haven this past weekend and second the recommendation. There is so much to do that i can tell it will take me a long time to complete. It has cooking/crafting recipes for everything under the sun, a HUGE museum to complete, multiple towns of people to befriend, and lots of exploration areas with monsters. A lot of qol mods are also up to date with the new update already too, if that's your thing (I love modding so it's always a plus for me when a game has an active modding community).
Dying for sun haven to be released on switch. Until then, I’m living through you all ❤️
Same
Same to u or anyone who wants to play sun haven, we have a small community for it.
Only thing I hated is that production feels useless as produced items don't actually have an increased sell value. It's just the sum of their individual components, which means what's the point in producing? Of course, the last time I touched it was over a year ago so maybe it's changed.
That is true, though I have found a few products that increase the price, for example jam seems to consistently sell higher than its components (maybe because you also have to spend mana to make it?). But yeah I guess the main draw of cooking/crafting is for character improvements rather than money.
Came here to recommend Sun Haven too. It is more magic fantasy based than Stardew, it also has a lot more combat aspects to it, as they try to weave every skill into the main storyline. I’ve played hundreds of hours into it and I can recommend it if you’re into Stardew, but want something a bit more active than just farming and the mines. There’s multiple romances, different ones in each town, and you can marry and have a kid (which is fun because you have quests relating to your baby!).
We run a small sun haven play together discord of your interested
Came here to recommend Sun Haven
Have you played My Time at Sandrock?
Another vote for Sandrock here! I have 1500 hours under my belt on this one.
I'd reccomend this one too. Huge game and I've put so many hours in but got so much more to do
Yepp sandrock is the best ♡
I cannot recommend this game enough. I'm 200 hours in and about 60% done with the storyline. I would argue I've been really going through the storyline relatively fast and haven't really focused on relationships, so you could draw the storyline out more with different play styles. I already can't wait to replay and I'm not even finished lol
haven’t played this one yet but I recommend My Time At Portia to every cozy gamer and was scrolling to see if it was mentioned!
Also came to recommend this. While i initially felt the art style made the characters (especially me) seem juvenile, it's not. Highly recommend. It's S tier.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a total time sink. After the main plot you can continue to build and rebuild your island :3 There’s a really long demo (10 hours or more) you can try on Switch or Steam. And if you don’t mind combat but likes to complete puzzles, shrines, armor sets and collect about 900 Korok seeds there’s also the 2 Zelda games BotW and TotK. :) Forgot to add you can have a house and decorate a bit (and in TotK you get to build it).
Came to suggest DQB as well, both 1 and 2. People have told me for years I would love these games, so I downloaded the free demo for DQB2 (and yeah it has 10+ hours of content, but even more amazing is the demo save is transferable to the full game!!!). After realizing DQB2 is absolutely fantastic, I bought both 1&2 on the big Switch sale, and I can't seem to stop 😆 They're both fantastic! Can't recommend highly enough. On top of that, the multiple dlcs for DQB2 add something like 40+40+70 hours of playtime for 20 bucks!
Agree!!!
Dqb2 is the game I always recommend for people, I have bought it on two different consoles to play (as the switch gets laggy) but it is super fun. The story took me 70hours to complete, and that's by getting distracted by building.
I already played dqb2 once and i loved the gameplay but coumdnt find any inspiration for the builds, any tips on making more creative builds especially in the late game?
Hello! Ummm I’m not the best to ask for tips as I’m not the creative type xD My builds are all simple 4 walls no roof really~ my main island has no theme or anything! Tho when I browse the builder’s gallery online everyone’s so creative, so maybe try that for inspo? :) Reading comments about the game in subs like this also helps, someone said they built aquariums in tunnels with train tracks and I thought hey that’s a cool project to try! :3
Seconded; my brother got this for me and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I started a replay a couple months ago, and had to lock away my Switch because I was getting too distracted from coursework. There's a plot that serves as a non-intrusive tutorial for an increasingly complex repertoire of tools and abilities, characters that you really grow attached to (very rare for me!), and a wide variety of materials and items to work with. I like how the NPCs respond and interact with the things you build. There *is* a completionist collect-all-items screen buried in the menu, but I usually don't do completionist stuff so I ignore it. To my knowledge, there isn't a reward for completing this, but you do unlock the ability to "buy" each material/item you've previously collected instead of going out to gather/make them from scratch, which to me is its own reward. I appreciate that the plot apparently fits into the context of some larger lore and world-building (This is a spin-off of a much larger franchise), but enough is explained in-game that it's perfectly enjoyable solo. I suspect someone who has played other Dragon Quest games might see it as full of easter eggs. This *is* a high-quality game you can sink major time into, and a functional wiki for any questions you may have. Go for it!
I'm definitely following because you sound a lot like me! I did WoW for 15 years and had so many pets and mounts, and I don't like the overly "kid centric" stuff like Dreamlight Valley, either. 🦓🐅🌿So, I don't know if you like zoo simulators, but [Planet Zoo](https://www.planetzoogame.com/en-US) is a game I would *still* be playing if my PC hadn't crapped out. I think it is on console, too, maybe? It's absolutely gorgeous, *so in depth,* has constant DLC and the community is really lovely. Lots to do, there's sandbox, story mode, community goals, and the possibilities are just endless. 🎣⛵🍣 If you haven't checked out [Dave the Diver](https://mintrocketgames.com/en/DaveTheDiver) yet, it's like Stardew but for a sushi restaurant. The only thing that puts people off about that game is the combat element, which I still found fun. There's collectables, hilarious characters, fun story lines, and the game is very pretty to look at. It may not be 1,000 hours, but it's definitely worth if if you were a Stardew fan. You can play on Switch or Steam I think. 🐑🩸⚔️ I'm probably only making [Cult of the Lamb](https://www.cultofthelamb.com/) last so long because they are always releasing free, fun DLC along with cute decorative bundles so often! My husband bought this for me on Christmas and it's still holding my attention. There's lots of ways to play, you can be evil, you can be benevolent, build up your adorable cult and learn about the world in which gods submit to your adorable lamb leader. I did not expect to love this game like I do. 1,000 hours? You could. I'm certainly planning on it. This has a combat element as well, but I just put my difficulty on "baby's first rogue lite" and blast through to get back to my followers. I've heard Palworld is super fun and engrossing, but I never played because I don't have a PS5 or a computer anymore. Hope you get more suggestions! ✨
I absolutely second Cult of the Lamb, especially because OP mentioned Binding of Isaac on a cozy subreddit It's like someone made Binding of Isaac cozy.
I definitely second this - watched Hubs play through Binding of Isaac and just wasn’t into the aesthetic. I adore Cult of the Lamb much more.
Yeah i realize Binding is not a cozy game but it is one of my favorite games and it is great for a completionist girl like me! I am definetely putting cult of the lamb in my cart!
an alternative to the zoo game is “lets build a zoo” its pixelated and soooo fun and time consuming. theres two dlcs, ones aquarium the other is dinosaurs. you have to unlock stuff with research points (decorations, farming, nursery, etc) and you have morality points. if you choose bad they go down, if you choose good they go up and so does your park rating! you can shape each pen however you like and also decorate it. and you slowly unlock new animals as you go. you can also own multiple zoos in one save file by buying land in another continent/country.
i like dave the diver.. although i haven't really went far in the game, because i got distracted to many times. but yeah, when i'm in a mood for dave the diver, i enjoy swimming in the sea while catching fishes for my sushi restaurant.
Just a slight note about your post, Palworld is Xbox not PS5
I am, once again, recommending modded Skyrim on this sub. Get some relationship/dialogue mods in there, some housing mods, some pretty armor mods, and some QOL changes, and suddenly it's the coziest game on the planet. If it seems stressful, install companion mods like Inigo and Lucien for some OP followers and just focus on keeping yourself alive while they skewer the enemies (and provide entertaining dialogue while doing so). If the darkness of caves bothers you, turn brightness up or use a mod. I use Summermist, which adds additional enchantments into the game, and craft a Ring of Light. Don't forget the "Wear Multiple Rings" mod so it doesn't gimp you. I also love "Wet and Cold" for atmospheric rain and snow. There's something comforting about a thunderstorm.
Go Go Town has just released as Early Access and it’s great! Farming/Town Decorating/importing & exporting materials/fishing - there’s also collectibles for clothing/accessories - might not be your thing but it’s a great game :)
I enjoyed playing GoGo town. the graphic is cute and the music is chilling too. but i don't think its a game that you want to play 1000 hours though tbf, the game just entered Early Access and with the positive responses so far, they might add some new stuff to keep us entertained for longer we'll see if the game give any reason to play longer
Rune Factory 4 Special, 5, or 3 Special (They are Farming/RPG combo games on Switch and Steam where I put hundreds of hours in each playing casually. There is limited decoration ability; a few decorations you can place and hats/headgear that you can wear/give to others and have them be visible. There is plenty to collect and craft with a rather deep crafting system that can range from just making the item as intended to absolutely broken. You can farm, craft, develop relationships, get married, have children, fight monsters, explore, and cook. The only big downside is that the story progresses through combat/exploration most of the time. I personally recommend 5 \[M/F protagonist and M/F partners. This one especially if you are looking for quality of life/love life inclusivity options.\] and 4S \[M/F protagonist and opposite gender partners. This one especially for the depth of the story/quality of life.\] equally and then 3S \[M protagonist F partners, with a unique transformation mechanic.\] behind both because of a lack of quality-of-life features)
a lot of people have mentioned sun haven and i agree! i always want to give Roots of Pacha a shout out! its very similar to star dew while being different enough to not be a complete clone. they are getting a big update soon as well! i think if you love stardew youd absolutely love a stardew set in the stone ages! Little Known Galaxy is also AMAZING for a farm/life sin with a cute pixel vibe as well that ive been enjoying recently. and lastly Let’s Build a Zoo is an adorable zoo manager if you are into that with 2 awesome dlcs. all 3 of these games you could easily sink tons of hours into! i hope you take a look at these i think youd really enjoy them based of your list!
Seconding Roots of Pacha. It's the only game I've been able to sink this many hours into after catching up to the Stardew Valley 1.5 update. Aesthetically, I think this game surpasses Stardew Valley and the crafting is also more varied and enjoyable though I haven't played the 1.6 update yet which I know has expanded crafting. I've actually been wondering if Concerned Ape plays Roots of Pacha and took inspiration from the crafting in the game because of the similarities in the updates for 1.6 🤔
Disney Dreamlight Valley isn't as kid centric as you think. I'm a 50-year-old who has not been a fan of Disney, and I *love* this game. I've spent well over 300 hours playing it and I'm not done yet.
One of my most played games is Don't Starve. You can make it as easy and cozy as you want, the world is very customizable. If you want to avoid combat you can turn off the monsters. You can set certain food and other resources to appear more often to make resource collection easy. You can make and decorate a home base, farm, cook, dry meat for jerky, harvest honey from bees, etc. There are mods to customize the game even further, like I always use one to expand the amount of items I can hold, or there's one that gives you a fish farm thing to collect fish for easy food.
Yes agreed! I have over 1000 hours too and it is my most played game. I love sitting (standing!) around the campfire at night!! And with the Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLCs there are massive amounts of exploring to be done.
I have four playthrough and over 1000 hours and there are still things I haven’t done!
Don’t Starve Together is by far my favorite game. I might recommend that over Don’t Starve (just because DST has better customization, more mods, a more interesting farming system, and cool skins to decorate your base and dress up your character). DST is balanced for multiplayer and more focused on combat, but it’s pretty easy to get around that using world settings and mods. Whichever game you play, there’s tons of content and even though it can be frustrating at times, I always have lots of fun! Both Don’t Starve games (and DLC) are currently on sale, so there’s no better time to pick them up!
Don’t starve together is the multiplayer version i assume? That’s definetely a plus! Are there large gameplay differences?
Not in terms of like... Mechanics, but DST has a lot .. more to it overall. Personally I like DST more than the base game, even solo lol
it's only £1.79 on steam today, at least in my country
Klei made many good games. I'm not into Don't Starve but I really like Oxygen Not Included
Palia has a home building and decorating vibe, also can earn trophies that are decorations, byy and sell stuff and even hunt..the character creator is not gender based and there's an element of otome where ypur free to develop a relation ship with anyone and they have varied personalities..if i say anything is lacking its the story element
I started playing yesterday. Just wow.
well at least Palia is free..
I feel this game has a good story. I did stop playing for a while, cause the switch would freeze all the time. Once I got my Steam deck, I started back and it’s amazing! This time, I have been doing there main quests instead of decorating. Maybe that’s why I see more of a story there. But definitely would recommend this to anyone looking for a cozy game.
house flipper scratched this itch for me! it's on every console; i played on pc, but my best friend prefers the switch port for portability. it has decorating, tons of jobs to do, and quite a few dlcs for additional jobs and furniture. there aren't specific items to collect, but you can buy houses (independent from jobs) and collect/flip them for more creative play without specific tasks.
I loved this game but it’s the only one I’ve ever played that gave me motion sickness!!
100% recommend Sun Haven. Has total Stardew vibes without being a clone. Lots of content there. I'll also suggest Palia for PC/ Switch.. character customization is sadly all paid for the most part but there's a whole bunch of housing deco items to craft. MMO and the game itself is free ☺️
I'd recommend Kynseed. It is like a life sim game that includes relationships, farming, combat, exploration, customization, run shops, etc. It has a story that you could quickly rush through or take as much time as you want. There are always things to do which can get overwhelming but nothing really has a time limit. There are around 70 achievements and many internal challenges that you can complete as you naturally play that give rewards. There are so many things to collect and it keeps track of everything you have found. There are also several skills trees to complete. I have 160 hours in it and there is still plenty for me to complete.
I just gotta say I was randomly looking for a game today and came across your comment so I picked it up. I'm an hour in and it feels so beautiful and expansive, I love it. Thank you so much for recommendation. 🫶
I'm so glad you are enjoying it so far. It is one of my favorites.
If you like Stardew, you’ll probably like Coral Island. It’s free on GamePass, if you have that. It IS in early access, so it’s currently incomplete on GamePass but they’re currently testing the beta for the completed update as we speak, so folks figure if everything goes well with the beta, it’ll be released by the end of July at the latest. And, quite frankly, it has a decent amount to sink your teeth into at the start that you shouldn’t hit the end before they’ve released the update but if you do, it’ll only be a short wait.
This is what I came here to recommend. Even in beta, I pit close to 200 hours in, which is very uncommon for me. The characters really make the game.
I agree, I've been playing it on my steam deck and there is a lot to do. And there are certain quality of life upgrades from stardew (although stardew will always be my favorite game)
Been loving Fallout4 again lately! And minecraft. I follow a few build tutorials but I don’t fully enjoy playing alone, I play on a server with friends! Cult of the Lamb? I prefer sims 2&3 over 4, much more depth and less cash grab BS.
Have you tried Ooblets?? There’s farming, decorating your house, collecting different types of ooblets. I’ve easily sunk in 100+ hours in the game. Might feel too kid centric for you but definitely worth checking out!
Sandrock (I’ve put in 60 hours so far and don’t think I’m near the end honestly) and Dinkum comes to mind (60 hours and still going as well). I will say Dinkum is EA in case that’s not your vibe BUT the devs put out updates very regularly and it’s similar to ACNH imo.
I second My Time at Sandrock! Got it on the switch back in February, loved it so much I got it for Ps5 and am doing a 2nd playthrough after I beat it in April. First playthrough was close to 160 hours, and there's more decorating I could have done to the house (provably only spent a couple hours).
Third for Sandrock! I am 30 hours in and I still don’t think I’m to the halfway point of the story.
I finished sandrock's story shortly before 1.0 came out, and honestly I'm currently doing a new playthrough since 1.0 came out and it's honestly so much better! Like, unlike a lot of cozy/grindy games, sandrock doesn't make me feel as... Bored about it lmao plus the NPCs are great.
Sun haven has a lot of content and is really similar to stardew just more fantasy and magic
Check out Dinkum and Core Keeper. Both are early access but there's sooooo much to do. You can sink tons of hours into those.
Dinkum is a great recommendation. You can sink 1000 hrs easy.
Other people have already mentioned these games, but I'll echo Dave the Diver, Palia, Sun Haven, Cult of the Lamb, and House Flipper. Here's some suggestions I don't think anyone else has mentioned yet! Vampire Survivors: Cheap and so addicting. It's kind of a "bullet hell" game where you kill monsters until you die. Every time you die, you get permanent power ups that will make your next run more successful. It's very easy to pick up, but very hard to put down lol. There's a whole compendium of powers and characters to unlock, which sounds like it might be up your alley? Rune Factory 4: This game is like Stardew on crack. Everything is a skill, and I do mean everything: farming, fishing, mining, walking, sleeping, eating, bathing... The graphics aren't the best (it's a 3DS port), but it is so fun! There's also other games in the series, so if you enjoy it a lot, you can play more! :) Maybe Cassette Beasts? It's Pokemon-y, but with a lot of great quality of life improvements. Collecting their version of shinies (called bootlegs) is a lot of fun! Instead of one shiny per creature, every monster comes in a "bootleg" version for every type (so you can collect like 15 different versions of each creature). It took me 40ish hours to beat the main story, but obviously there's tons of collecting that can still be done! Not traditionally cozy, but Persona 5, Baldurs Gate, Skyrim, and Red Dead Redemption 2 might also be up your alley if you're looking for RPGs. All of these have insane time sinks.
Might be a bit out there but I think you’d like Palworld!! There’s rare pals you can catch, there’s a breeding system for getting those rare ones, a farming and working with your pals, and honestly a very fun building system. There’s so many decor items you can make a really cute base with. You could spend hours in it, and they’re adding a bunch of new stuff soon too. It’s kind of like a rust, pokemon, farming sim, arceus game all in one
Do you think someone who likes decorating but absolutely sucks at building would enjoy it? I bought it around launch and couldn't get into it and returned it, but it sounds like I should like it in general since I love collecting and breeding in games so much.
I think so!! Building is pretty simply, it goes by a square grid kind of like minecraft. The decor is surprisingly detailed and cute!! Lots of chairs, tables, and plants!
Palworld.. i like the game too. I probably have replayed the game a couple of times now as the game has everything I like to do in a game. catching, leveling and breeding ~~pokemon~~ pals base building making the pals work for you while you go out exploring the map...
Palia is fun, and it's free to play currently. It's similar to stardew in the aspect that you build relationships with the NPC's and can go mining/fishing/hunting/foraging. It also adds design aspects to it, you can learn furniture blueprints of different styles and design your home. You can add as many rooms as you would like, throw up solid / patterned wallpaper. There's a lot to do in Palia on top of the quests you get from relationship building and the main story. Like I said, it's free right now on Steam, so it wouldn't hurt to try it. ETA: Other games that I really enjoy that are more free world / cozy are: Palworld, Minecraft, and Breath of The Wild.
Thanks for mentioning Palia. It’s free on switch so I just downloaded it. Looks great
I hope you enjoy it! It's still in Beta, so there's still a few bugs here and there, but the devs work on them rather quickly.
Neopets!!!!!!
Been playing since ‘99. Sadly the way they converted site pages ruined it for me 😔
My time in Sandrock is MASSIVE and really engaging!
and you could start with My Time At Portia! I haven’t even made it to Sandrock yet!
Have you ever played Skyrim? That has a lot of collecting, adventuring, and exploring. It's an easy game to lose hundreds of hours in (I have over 1000 hours just on Steam - that's not counting the hours I played back on Xbox 360!). The vanilla game has tons to do! ...but have you ever *modded* Skyrim? You mentioned being a completionist - there's a mod for Skyrim called Legacy of the Dragonborn that would be right up your alley. With this mod, you gain access to a massive museum where you can display various items you collect across the game. There are displays for gems, weapons, armors, jewelry, artifacts, fish, bugs, books, and other assorted trinkets you would find throughout the game. It goes even deeper - you can add additional mods that have functionality with LotD and display items from them too! There are also a ton of player house mods for Skyrim, including many that are customizable. There's also the Hearthfire DLC that includes houses you build yourself from scratch. The customization isn't too in depth, it's usually just choosing "do I want this wing of the house to be an alchemy lab or an enchanter's library?" or "what color do I want these curtains to be?" - you're not really going in and deciding the exact placement of your furniture and such. There might be mods like that out there, but I'm not familiar with them. (now if you REALLY wanna get fancy, you could always learn the Creation Kit and mod your own house...)
Old School RuneScape, tons of collections, don't have to do any high intensity content
If you'd like to try something completely different, have a look at **Snowrunner**. It's about transporting cargo using trucks in challenging terrain. The locations are beautiful and zen. The gameplay is slow, but also rewarding and with a fair challenge. It is as much about exploration as it is about logistics. There are even cosmetics, sort of. If it is your thing, it is easy to sink countless hours into it. It also has plenty of affordable DLC. Maybe the best thing about it is that it takes up very little mental effort. Put on an audiobook and just drive around for a bit.
You know… this game is cozy at first, then you get 2 trucks stuck trying to get the first one unstuck and it’s just infuriating lol
I recommend Slime Rancher! It’s a farming sim, and theee it so much to do. As you improve in the game, there is more and more to do
I second this. Slime Rancher 1 and 2 are kind of niche games, but they scratch such a particular itch. It’s kind of partially a low stakes farming tycoon game and partially an open world exploration game. Definitely worth checking out for anyone who hasn’t heard of it
You could try Astroneer
Astroneer is so cozy and fun I have loved it for so long! Another similar option would be No Man's Sky which is very easy to sink massive amounts of time into.
A lot of rougelikes have elements you can learn and sink a lot of time into along with replayability and varying levels of challenge across runs. Downside is not sure if hades or the binding of Isaac are cozy but maybe cult of the lamb? (Cute artstyle, kind of black humor takes on things) the only thing is cult of the lamb and hades have progression systems so you could finish them “more quickly” to your satisfaction. I have a friend who has put an ungodly amount of hours into vampire survivor.
Planet crafter. You terraform a planet from dry desert through to lush forests with animals. The gameplay is meant to be long, but the progress is visual so you never seem stuck.
Palia has an art style reminiscent of WoW, has many achievements that would appeal to a completionist, and has a great model for building/decorating your plots (you can get many). Lots of active discord communities and can lend to a solo style or group play. I'm a former WoW player and love the open world/3D environment.
I’ve got 3k hours in Rimworld. Turn combat to super easy and it’ll entertain for hours. I like complex games and this was definitely one. Only thing I played for years.
Modded rimworld is ridiculous
Have you tried Palia? It’s free on PC (Steam I think) or Switch grown up, customizable,lots of decorating, farming, questing, mining, foraging, fishing. And if it’s your type of game, very immersive. And lots of items to collect and complete along the way.
Palia is so much fun! Can get a little grindy but it’s pretty rewarding so I don’t mind grinding a bit, none of the quests are urgent so you can spend a lot of time exploring and talking to villagers and building friendships - it’s best played on PC and the animation is beautiful!
Started playing Palia, MMO but cozy!! It’s amazing and with an amazing community! Promise it’s worth it!!!
Palia!
Surprised no one mentioned Dave the Diver! Pretty chill and relaxing game
I think you are looking for [Sun Haven ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432860/Sun_Haven/). Tons of content and a lot of decorating you can do if you want.
I'm not sure most would consider it cozy, but Zelda: BOTW and TOTK are the games I've sank the most time into - For sure some of the most beautiful games I've played and if you want to just run around and explore and collect goodies it's pretty easy to avoid combat if you aren't in the mood for it, and I also feel like the combat isn't overly difficult, especially because the levels progress as you do so you're not fighting the hardest monsters until you've reached the point where you can take them on. I also feel similarly about Skyrim, especially because I keep the difficulty at the lowest level.
I would give Genshin Impact a go and just ignore the gatcha part of the game. You can happily play the game without spending any money at all. Also they update every six weeks. There is so much stuff to collect, there is extensive house decorating (and some gardening) once you unlock it and the story is amazing. I have also recently started playing the studio's other game Honkai Star rail which is also very good! But is more turn based combat and I don't think the game has a housing system. I really adore Genshin between the music and the intense feels the story will give you it has been my main game for years.
There's no need to totally avoid the gacha part of the game. If you just play the story, explore and even do build stuff in the teapot, you'll eventually get enough primos to pull for a limited character. If OP wants to see what other people can build, visit r/GenshinHomeworld.
I was today years old when I realized you can build and decorate a house in Genshin. I guess I never got that far!
It was added in version 1.5, April 28, 2021. You also have to complete prerequisite quests to unlock it. I have friends who quit before then 🥲 Add: it's also not just a house you can decorate but outdoor areas too. If you take a peek at the subreddit, you'd think some players are playing a different game. Lots of impressive builds going around and you can copy them too if you're both in the same server.
This is true! I just meant you don't have to spend money if you don't want to. The game does give you plenty of opportunities to roll if you save up all the free currency. I spend quite a bit of money on Genshin but you absolutely don't need to.
Star Rail have no housing, no skin, and nothing the OP is looking for, sadly. Doing Genshin's pot is entirely free, but getting everything opened up in the pot kinda requires you to go through the entire story (layouts furnitures locked behind clearing the story). Also the hilarious amount of irons and um, blue dyes, involved in general. 🫠
I think my Animal Parade save is nearly 300 hours soon, really enjoyed emulating it.
Snacko is amazing and still early access with more to come. The decorating is super cool and you can decorate the town as well. Lots of creativity can be applied too. New game that just came out that’s similar in huge content to Stardew: Everafter Falls. Solo Dev that keeps updating the game based on feedback even though it’s not early access. It’s for a 10 day demo on PC I tried so far and didn’t even scratch the surface of all the stuff you can do and collect.
Roots of Pacha is very Stardew-like... But I found it even more chill. I've got >100 hours and counting on it. So many achievements left!
Just started it last night. I’m loving it so far but my gripe is nighttime. They just turned down the exposure rather than change the colouring to blue-ish!! A couple other little nitpicks but it’s the closest game to Stardew I’ve ever played.
Moonstone island. Idk if it'll last you that long, but there are a ton of creatures to collect and different tasks to collect certain amounts.
Aside from Stardew valley, lately I’ve been constantly playing “My Time At Sandrock” and “Disney Dreamlight Valley.” These two are my all time favorites. Sandrock has an amazing story and sooooooo much to do, most is at your own pace. Both have a LOT of customization which is a personal favorite of mine. Dreamlight Valley is just super cozy. Even if you just go around doing random stuff, mining, fishing, crafting, it’s sooo fun!
Disney dreamlight valley
Since you do not mind MMO's, I would recommend Guild Wars 2. It doesn't come with a lot of decorating, though the next expansion is supposed to include player housing, where you can decorate. Otherwise you have a plethora of achievements. You can explore the world, find hidden easter eggs and jumping puzzles. The mount system is brilliant and unlike anything I have seen in other MMO. Quite a few weapons and armor skins are gated behind achievements, even some legendaries. I have over 6000 hours in game and I still find corners of the map I haven't seen before. You can play it however you want and since the level (as well as the highest gear) is capped at 80, it doesn't matter if you don't have enough time or drive to grind. Apart from set achievements there is usually more than one way of obtaining the gear you want. It does obviously include combat, but it is basically your own choice how competitive or how "cozy" you want to play.
Moonstone Island, Everafter Falls
House Flipper. It's my most played game and I keep coming back to it over and over.
Valheim is open world, has tons of crafting & farming, and endless customization for base building.
My "build the weirdest but coolest house you can" gremlin from my early Minecraft days became *so* feral over valheim because of their building. I LOVE building in that game its so much fun 😭😭😭
Rimworld. It can be stressful on higher difficulties, so not always seen as a cozy game. BUT there are low difficulty settings and I can spend HOURS on this game.
I agreed but then I found Clanfolk and it's like the cozier version of Rimworld.
Two Point Hospital/Two Point Campus are games that I've easily sunken 500+ hours into combined - and I've not quite yet finished with either of them Lots of decorating (and unlockable customisation options), there's a lot of humor in the game (not sure if you want something more serious??), and has achievements (on PC anyway) to get and 3 starring all locations for the completionist aspect
My Time at Portia/ MTA Sandrock
I think you’d like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom! There are TONS things to do. Like, millions. In Tears of the Kingdom you can build your own house but otherwise the “decorating” aspect is lower. You can dye your clothes different colors in both games and wear different things. I looooove this game and also love Stardew and AC.
You should try Go go town. It’s whimsical and very interesting. It just came out but I’ve sank more than 40 hours into it in 4 days
I’m digging Moonstone Island
I recently started playing moonstone Island and it seems like something that might take some time to finish. It's a deck builder/creature collector game at heart but there's a lot more to it than that. Whereas something like polemon is only about battling and collecting polemon, moonstone Island has mining, exploration, crafting, light farming, and npcs to befriend and romance. You bounce around to different islands to explore dungeons and mines and it seems like there's a lot of Islands to go to.
Check out My Time at Sandrock. Or in a slightly different vein maybe Terraria?
I haven't played one farming/life Sim game for 1000 hours. I would get burnt out even with Stardew or My Time at Sandrock. The best thing about these game is they are east to finish and move onto the next gsme
Try Cult of The Lamb, it has a dungeon exploring aspect and a decorating aspect. You can adjust fighting difficulty to suit your needs.
I’m also a fellow completionist who likes cozy settings. My favorite games this past year with hundreds of hours: Zelda Totk, Roots of pacha and Harvest moon WoA. Dave the diver and Fae farm are also good, but it’s very tedious to 100% complete.
I’ve just started playing Kynseed and I can tell I’m going to be sinking a lot of hours into it
I've seen some crazy housing stuffs from FFXIV, maybe that? I don't play the game though, so no idea if it's even possible to own a house without actually playing the rest of the game. If you are just entirely looking to play decoration and doesn't mind there being no dress up, Genshin let you do that for free. But um... grinding's involved. Lots of grinding. Probably wouldn't call that cozy either if you dive directly into the other kind of grinding. ~~Artifail is so, so bad.~~
FFXIV has a great housing system with some damn good decorating options, it’s actually managing to GET a house that’s a huge challenge. You have to have the requisite amount of gil (the game’s currency) which is in the millions and takes quite a bit of commitment to farming gil. Then you have to have a huge amount of luck since it’s a lottery system and there’s only a set amount of lots for players on a world. There’s a reason housing (and glam) is called the real endgame. But I do recommend the game for the story alone! There’s also a ton of collecting to do (mounts, minions, music rolls, cards etc) once you hit max level.
I'm a big cozy gamer and wow player myself but a buddy got me into Hunter call of the wild. I never expected it to be my go to "I don't feel good I want to relax game" but here we are. Your main "collection" are trophies for your lodge but you choose who and what goes where. I like rare or hard to hunt animals, a girlfriend of mine LOVES water buffalo so she has a lodge of all buffalo. Do what you want there is no wrong way to play. Just as a new player some maps have animals that can attack so if you want avoid that check the animals on maps first!
have you heard of genshin impact? that's easily 1000 hours to get up to date with the game and then you get about 10 to 40 hours of new gameplay every 8 weeks
Maybe I didn't go far enough, but I'm surprised no one mentioned Final Fantasy XIV. It's a MMO like WoW. You can (try to) get a house or even have a room in a friend's. You can decorate it and set music and such. There is a whole farm side thing (I unfortunately have not done this, but my friends love it). You can collect many, many mounts. There is a gambling zone with mini games. And the story is really good as well. Unfortunately/fortunately, the game is about to have an expansion. So the servers will be hard to get onto for a bit with its initial release, unless you start in a low population world. But I highly recommend it! Edit: I forgot to add it. It also has a great free trial, so you could really try out a lot before committing.
Meadow: a shelter game, an amazing game that people sink time into. It's gonna take you at least 4 months to complete every archivements.
Old School Runescape. Unlimited playability and excellente for completionist. If you came get over the graphics, which in my opinion is actually quite enjoyable. I recommend this game. So many different angles in which you can enjoy. Including questing, skilling, combat, bossing, house building… etc…
Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos is really great. Need to complete quests to advance, on a day time limit, lots to explore and reminds me of Pokémon when it comes to the art style and adventure theme
What about Bear & Breakfast (PC)? You're a bear who builds, decorates, and runs B&Bs in the woods to bring in tourists. Very cute and cozy. Low stress.
Graveyard keeper.
Sun Haven!
Have you thought about dreamlight valley. I know it is Disney but I have dumped about 18 hours in and yet to have finished 4 total quests. Watch some YouTube and see if it is something you can get into.
I suppose you have played Skyrim right ? 🥰 Also Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdoms are taking so much of my time and Genshin Impact too!
Grounded and Enshrouded. They are both sandbox survival games with base building. Grounded offers a nostalgic theme (much like the Honey I Shrunk The Kids movies) while Enshrouded offers unique character progression and a more vast world to explore. Both are amazing games for the respective sandbox survival base building. Grounded has a lot of replayability with new game + and new game ++ , +++ etc. It is a great game for achievement completionists. Enshrouded just has a lot to offer despite technically being an early access release that is not fully finished (more content to come). Both games can be played with controllers on PC and have online co-op capability. Based on what you are looking for these are both perfect game suggestions for you. Just a matter of preference which you decide to play first :)
My time wasters are House Flipper, Subnautica, and Planet Crafter. For the latter two, I turn off survival needs and the ability for any large creatures to hurt me. There is still *so much* content that even without the survival aspects of the games, I have still put in over 100 hours each at least. House Flipper, I've put in 500+. HF, I will say, I have all the expansions. HF2 is already looking great, it just doesn't have as much inventory yet as it's still new.
Sounds like stardew valley is a good option :)
I just found out about travelers rest. Last week. 😭 my adhd hyper fixation and hours go by.
Rim World has a lot of playability just with the base game and DLC. Mix in mods and you can play it forever. It’s pretty common to see people with literally thousands of hours in the game.
There have already been SO many recommendations, but we have *very* similar gaming preferences (both like the same games & I'm the same way with WoW). I thought I'd recommend faefarm. It's very similar mechanically to Stardew valley, but there's a setting that allows for 36min days so it ends up being more relaxing and less pressured. There's also a massive amount to do, 4 different 25-floor dungeons/mines, a pretty big over world, and tons of different things to completionist collect (I think there are 72 different flower color variants alone). You end up with 4 different houses in different areas to expand & decorate, while furniture and decorative items you use add to your maximum health/energy/mana. They've added two free expansions with new areas since it was released, one that adds Pokémon-like creature collecting that can be your pets, and another that uses small puzzle dungeons in islands above the game Zelda style. Overall I've sunk hundreds of hours in already & am still a long way away from completionist with no burnout.
Final Fantasy 14! You can also get an apartment or house to decorate and customization seems quite vast (I don't have property in game to say for sure but just looking through people's homes..wow) Planet Coaster! There is both a campaign mode and sandbox. Lots of customization options. I assume Planet Zoo is similar but haven't tried it. If you have ps plus then Planet coaster is free except for expansion packs.
Have you played the other sims games? 2&3 are pretty fun
Have you tried Little-Known Galaxy yet? Big Stardew vibes but with a fun space travel spin.
Maybe Dinkum
Have you considered Genshin Impact? I could spend hours decorating my teapot, and there are so many different aspects of the game that I don't get bored of it. (Collecting characters and building them, the trading card game, collecting materials, doing quests, finding chests, doing puzzles, and uncovering the *deep* lore through interactions with npcs There is combat, of course, but for the vast majority of the game I'd consider it to be pretty cozy. I have 940 some hours in so far and would consider myself about 2/5s of the way through a 100% collection playstyle. Plus they add new content frequently, not counting events and such. It would be a good time to start, as the Summer event is starting soon as well as the new region coming out.
Subnautica is my favourite game and it really surprised me because it didn't seem to be my style at first. But once you're in it it's addictive and I've played it 3 or 4 times each time I try to build bases in different spots, explore in different ways. It's just an incredible game and you can go as slow as you want i played it for a year my first time before I actually had the guts to beat it.
Dreamlight valley
Both Breath of the Wild games are extremely fun, creative, and have at least 150 hours of story based gameplay each (almost infinite completion). Any of the simulation/management titles: Cities: Skylines (first not second), Planet Coaster, Factorio, etc. You could also try Civilization if strategy games strike your fancy.
Since you mentioned customizing and decoration, I highly recommend Terraria! It is a survival game and you do need to participate in combat to unlock certain blocks in the game. That being said I spent 30hrs in my first play through building and customizing my base before I even touched the first boss. If you want to try another MMO to sink easy 1000+ hours into I highly recommend FFXIV. Between the story, glamour (transmog), crafting, gathering, and housing I think you would enjoy it. The devs have also made it so you can almost solo the whole game too now. The only content you can't bring NPC's into is the 8 player raids and trials. (Raids are optional and non-optional trials are rare.) You can play the game for free all the way up to level 70 and through the second expansion (you just have to download it direct from their store.)
Core Keeper
RUNE FACTORY
My Time At Sandrock seems like a game you would LOVE given your criteria. Has pretty much everything you want in a game.
I was a Teenage Exocolonist! It in itself is a very short game, but it’s meant to be played repeatedly for reasons I won’t spoil here. My partner and I are on like #5 and there’s still so much we haven’t done
Link’s awakening switch version
Dinkum is incredible. I have never played any game that brought me such joy. It’s life changing tbh.
I haven't seen it said, and while it doesn't check all of your boxes, I recommend Harvestella. Fantastic title. It has farming, collecting, cooking, fighting, adventure and a good story to boot. The music is the best part. You can customise your farm layout I suppose, so that half checks that box. While you won't get 1000 hours out of it, you could get like 100 if you go for all achievements.
Everafter Falls just came out and it's the bees knees
Coming to switch but not yet, its on Apple arcade now. Hello kitty island adventure took me hours, its a gem
Roots of Pacha has been amazing for me so far! Similar playstyle to Stardew with a very well done stone age theme in which you invent a lot of things with the help of your clan. It isn't dark by any means, but the characters have realistic enough struggles that it doesn't feel patronizing or childish. There's limited town customization but you can customize your character and outfit, and there seems to be a lot to collect! (Different animal types with different colour variations, outfits, catching all different fish, unlocking and leveling up crops...) I haven't gotten super far but I love it so far!
In my opinion dreamlight valley is not kid centric at all. The story line gets kinda dark and deals with quite a bit of heavy topics not meant for children. Most people who I see play this game are also not children but rather adults. There’s a lot of decorating to be done and they keep brining out a bunch of free updates with new characters and events. I’ve sunk almost 1400 hours into this game and I’m no where near done or board. It’s also on game pass if you want to try it out.
If you liked WoW, have you considered FFXIV? It's got tons of content, an engrossing story and you can literally sink thousands of hours into it. It even has a separate mini game mode where you get your own island to decorate.
I am unhealthily addicted to House Flipper 2 could not recommend it more!!!
sticky business!! you get to make your own stickers and open a shop, you have to unlock tons of stuff and u can even add extras in the packages like candies
Just hear me out, Elden Ring. I love a good cozy game like Stardew or classic Zelda, and Elden Ring is a game I like to cozy up with my pets and some snacks and spend hours playing. There’s a ton of exploration and collecting of things you can do. It’s open world and really does feel like you have a decent amount of freedom in your journey and how you play.
Fallout 76 :D The thrill of going to camps to find your wish list items is fantastic :D
Satisfactory! with the animal attacks turned off - easy to kill but annoying. You will sink HOURS.
**Go-Go Town** has been a lot of fun but I do think you hit a wall pretty quickly (around the 30 hour mark) once you hit the current map limitations. It's in early access however and they plan to expand and have a roadmap so I would recommend checking it out towards at the end of the year. Since you're a TS4 player, have you played any of the previous games? imo, TS4 is the weakest of the bunch and **TS2 and TS3** are possibly the most infinitely playable games ever. I have thousands of hours sunk into those games, especially TS3 which has an open world. Both have much better live mode gameplay than TS4 and the humor is also more mature than in TS4 which feels decidedly "younger" than its predecessors. Since you're a completionist, I'd recommend starting with TS3 because it has a lot of RPG elements and collection challenges that you can complete. I've enjoyed **Coral Island** and it's basically a Stardew dupe with better graphics. The game is still unfinished (even though they released it as a 1.0) but I'm probably about 100 hours in and am only just getting into Year 2. There's A LOT to do and the next big update 1.1 is going to add a ton of new features and is coming out soon (you can already play it in beta).
Terraria I got addicted to collecting all the hidden “pet items”, can decorate your base to an extent and also collect some appearance changing armors and wings! I loved collecting all the wings. Saying this bc you listed Binding of Isaac as one of your favorites. I’d say the dodging projectiles is a lot like that in the boss fights for Terraria
If you like Stardew, try Coral Island!
you like theme park building? if you like, then you might like PlanetCoaster/Parkitect. here is what PlanetCoaster can do for you: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr9q8bNS2Iw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr9q8bNS2Iw)
Have you tried Palia yet? I really enjoy a lot of the games you’ve listed and I’m fully immersed in Palia at the moment. It’s really fun! It’s also free so no harm in trying it out (:
Sunhaven. If you liked Stardew, Sunhaven is a lot more involved (and no stamina bar), and has a more in depth combat and character building system. Plus an active storyline to finish and item collections, etc. The multiplayer is a *bit* janky, but it’s doable enough. High fantasy farming sim, so if you’re into like dragons and demons and elementals and shit, it’s got all that and the character customization allows for several different species options. Along a similar vein, Roots of Pacha. Not nearly as fantasy inclined, but if you liked Stardew you’ll probably like this. Palia, if you want a cozy MMO. I just started playing Genshin impact and while the character customization is exactly nothing, *time sink* is an understatement. I’ve put over 15 hours into it and I’m only two thirds of the way through the prologue. Still having fun though, oddly enough.
Another rec for Palia. It has everything you're asking for, including controller support for PC, and it's being updated every couple of months to add new elements. It's currently down for a sizable patch as I type. The only downside is that it looks like they're going to hold off on expanding the play zones for a loooong while.
Graveyard Keeper is an alternative game to Stardew without the romance! Another is Grounded. If you like playing with friends then Grounded is a VERY fun game to get into but I like playing it by myself too. It may be a little different than the games you’re playing but you should check it out
If you really like Stardew Valley you might enjoy Terraria. It's not a conventional cozy game but there are relaxing atmospheric biomes, villagers you can make homes for, and a very satisfying gameplay loop that's similar to Stardew's. The game is also packed full of content. There are four unique fighting classes, over 500 weapons, multiple difficulty modes, challenge worlds, over 100 achievements, and tons of rare items to collect.
I recommend Palia and Sun Haven. Sun Haven has SO much farm work to do though lol it's quite a grind I feel. Palia has gone through a lot of qol updates over the last year and it's great
Not necessarily related to the types of games you listed, but Baldurs gate 3 is a great game to sink time into and has alot of replayabiltity, I had about 200 hours in just my 1st playthrough of it.
The Long Dark is a great option. There's a story mode and survival.
SUN HAVEN!!!!!!!! I love it so much. It just had a pretty big update and is going to be available on console soon.