Cozy Grove (2021)

I said this game was frustrating but here I am still playing it everyday, so obviously it has enough magic to keep me coming back. I’m starting to get into the birds and making them happy with decor. I don’t usually care about decoration but I like how it serves kind of a purpose in this game. Although it’s so hard to put the birds together because one likes common things and the other hates common things. Or this one likes rustic decor but not spooky decor so it can be really tricky!

Also I’m finally getting a deer tomorrow so stay tuned.

I’m still playing this game despite my frustrations with it. Items are getting easier to find and I don’t mind paying the “finders fee” of 100 coins now that I figured out how to actually earn some money in this game.

The storage is a pain. I’ve upgraded my storage TWICE and I’m already running out of room. Also there are a lot of things not clear in this game so I’ve had to look it up. The doc on this game on the internet is pretty good I just wish some aspects were more intuitive.

The music is getting on my nerves because it’s pretty repetitive but that’s an easy fix. I’m also noticing some quests will take me many days to complete. I’m guessing that’s normal? For instance the dowsing rod apparently only can find so many relics a day.. and I need 4. So I guess that means I check back tomorrow.

There are things I like in this game, too. The fishing mechanism is so much better than Animal Crossing. I like how I actually get stuff for donating to the collection (unlike AC). And I like the supporting characters a lot more too.

So yeah.. I mean it’s definitely meant to be a boot up and play for a while and then put down kinda game. I wish it was a little meatier per day, but it’s at least something different.

Not quite a year, but I did it.

More like 10 days of playtime over 125 days.

Proud of my extensive but simple camp expansion. That effigy too.

Selling the majority of these (if you made the mistake I did) and committing to aging the adults into mature animals is my best CG tip.

It's been heartbreaking.

It's been hilarious.

In conclusion, come to me for all your Cozy Grove tips.™

I've only got about 6 "days" on this game, but my thoughts on it are pretty much all positive!

I honestly never thought that I would like the fact that there's only so much for you to do each day, but it's quite refreshing. Sure, dig spots and leaf piles respawn, and you can likely fish for a while each day, but there's a limit on your quests. Quite simply, there just won't be any more available until the next day. And that's worked out well. I can explore and do what I need to do each day in 30-45 minutes and then move on to something else. Considering the fact that I'm juggling two Animal Crossing islands and DQXI right now, it's nice to be able to add something else in that I can count on taking up less than an hour but still being a pleasant experience.

My only real complaint is the pocket space. The map is pretty small so it's not that big of a deal to go sell/donate/store items, but you're always picking up so much at once that it can get a little tedious.

I really enjoyed my time with this game. It became a part of my daily routine. I did not feel rushed at all even though I know that my access to this game is limited. It did not matter that I had to wait several days for resources to regrow or for something that I need to pop out. I'm still wondering why that is, why I approached this game so casually. All the time playing it, I wished I could have had accurately positioned objects on the ground more easily but even with items all over the place, which normally bothers me tons, I did not care much. Is it the lack of social pressure? Is it because I genuinely can't do anything about some things but to wait or just accept it for what it is?

My Apple arcade free trial ended now though, and I'm not in general in a gaming mood these past weeks (maybe that's why I didn't care) so I haven't bought the Switch game version yet even though I intended (and still intend?) to do that. Or maybe it would be best to just cap my gaming experience with this now and consider it a sweet fleeting early spring fling haha