Soon, it’s going to be May and that means there will be a whole new month of cozy games for us to look forward to and the second time that I’m doing this type of list. Last time, we had a little over 30 cozy games and May has nearly hit that mark with a more humble 26.
Some of these titles may look familiar to you if you’ve seen the previous month’s list. You’re not misremembering. Some of these games were originally supposed to be released in April and had their release dates pushed back. That’ll probably be normal going forward and I’ll do my best to notate that on their listings when it happens.
As always, this list is in the order that they’ll be released from newest to latest.
We do our best not to highlight games that use Generative AI at any level of development or marketing. At the time of posting, these games have not reported or disclosed using Gen AI. Likewise, all articles are written and edited by humans… as evidenced by our occasional errors.
Cozy games coming out in May!
Midnight Ramen Shop
Midnight Ramen Shop is a job simulator game with management elements where you run a ramen shop at night. You’ll take orders from your customers and prepare the bowls of ramen to their liking. Set your own prices and with earnings, you can buy new toppings and upgrades that will allow you to better serve your customers. You can get Midnight Ramen on May 5th.
Forage Wizard
Forage Wizard is an incremental resource management game where you’ll start small and grow into a thriving base filled with resources. Build structures to refine, store, and generate objects, unlock blueprints, manage a farm, and make progress in an incremental skill tree. Do alchemy, craft chaos, and uncover hidden locations, all while managing resources back home. You can get Forage Wizard on May 5th.
Wax Heads
Wax Heads is a narrative sim where you take on the job of working at Repeater Records, a struggling record store. You’ll deal with a wide cast of characters that you can get to know and help find the record or vibe they’re looking for. When you’re not hanging with your co-workers or helping out customers, you can dive into a variety of puzzles to solve. You can get Wax Heads on May 5th.
Duck Side of the Moon
Duck Side of the Moon is an exploration adventure game where you play as Doug, an overworked duck astronaut looking for a new home. Enjoy a lazy-paced game filled with secrets and welcoming creatures. While you explore, you can find resources and craft with them back at home base. Create a home all your own and win new outfits at the funfair. You can get Duck Side of the Moon on May 7th.
The Greenening
The Greenening is a short, incremental game about reawakening a forgotten world. Wash away ash, gather resources, and build up your very own little garden on a spaceship! There are both active and passive progressive mechanics and a ton of upgrades to unlock. The Greenening was originally supposed to come out in April, but it has a May 7th release date now.
Mixtape
Mixtape is a narrative adventure about growing up and life moving in different directions from those you grew up with. You’ll play out the final party a group of friends attends, and along the way, you’ll see snapshots of their memories that led to this moment through vignettes. This game features classic music from giants like DEVO, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, and so many more! Replay the greatest hits of the teenage experience. You can get Mixtape on May 7th.
In Trusted Hands
In Trusted Hands is a narrative-driven shop simulator where you run a repair shop and help customers with their broken items. Dealing with technology that runs people’s lives can mean you sometimes become privy to private information. It’s up to you whether you keep confidences or if you sell information to those who come looking. Times are tough, will your need for money win out over your moral compass? Play in “I’ve Got Paws” mode to lessen bills, stress, and customer issues, or, if you want a challenge, choose “Normal Mode”. You can get In Trusted Hands on May 7th.
Greenhearth Necromancer
Greenhearth Necromancer is a farming sim that has semi-idling elements to it. You play as a young necromancer tending to your late grandmother’s garden. Since you don’t have a greenthumb like she did, you’ll need to tend to undead plants instead. Manage what the plants need with water, fertilizer, and fending off pests. While you figure out your flow, you can bond with your grandmother’s familiar and get to know your neighbors. You can get Greenhearth Necromancer on May 11th.
Farm to Table
Farm to Table is a farming and restaurant management sim with base-building elements. Build your restaurant from the ground up and tend to your garden out back. You’ll grow crops, raise animals, and go fishing to source the ingredients for your restaurant. As you grow, you’ll be able to build machines to help you on the farm and hire staff to help around the restaurant. In between, you’ll make recipes and serve customers. You can get Farm to Table on May 11th.
Boardwalk Builders
Boardwalk Builders is a management game where you’ll run and operate a boardwalk. You’ll build it from the ground up, adding rides, food stalls, and stores to accommodate your customers. There are several different shops to choose from, VIPs to attract, and festivals that you can hold. Be mindful of the weather and when you run out of space, combine where you can to create something bigger and better. You can get Boardwalk Builders on May 11th.
Outbound
Outbound is an open-world survival craft game that you can play solo or with up to 4 players. Start with an empty camper van and build it up through scavenging materials and crafting things yourself. By advancing technology, you can be self-sufficient! Oh, and most importantly, you can adopt a pet! Outbound was originally supposed to come out in April, but it will now be available on May 11th.
Elfie: A Sand Plan
Elfie: A Sand Plan is a geometric puzzle game where you play as a little elephant named Elfie, building sandcastles. Your goal is to build up a sandcastle to exact specifications for each level from a set of different blocks available to you. There is no timer or fixed solution, so long as it matches the front, top, and side views, you’ll have solved it. There are 186 different levels, three difficulty modes, and swimsuit cosmetics to unlock. You can get Elfie: A Sand Plan on May 12th.
OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast
OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast is a base-building creature collector where you play as Astor, a tiny beast that lives in TerraBeast. The world seems a little empty at first, but by foraging, crafting, and terraforming the land, you can change it into a thriving landscape built for the OddFauna that you encounter. Your choices will impact others and your imagination will shape the land. You can get OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast on May 13th.
Feline Forensics and the Meowseum Mystery
Feline Forensics and the Meowseum Mystery is a puzzle game where you play as a detective working in the Feline Forensics department. You get a call about a case where an artifact has been stolen and an innocent guest has been murdered! It’ll be up to you to search out clues, interrogate witnesses, and figure out the mystery. You’ll get to use a conspiracy board to track your notes and get exposed to a ton of cat-related puns. You can get Feline Forensics and the Meowseum Mystery on May 13th.
Thrifty Business
Thrifty Business is a shop management game where you’ll set up your own 90s-inspired thrift store and sort through boxes of items to arrange displays. You’ll be able to customize your shop to reflect your personality and help customers with their requests. As you play, you’ll grow the shop, hold events, and learn more about the townsfolk. I played the demo and had a lot of fun with it! You can get Thrifty Business on May 18th!
Arcane Merchant
Arcane Merchant is a shop management simulation game where your goal is to become the wealthiest merchant of the kingdom. You’ll build up your shop, master the art of trading, and explore beyond your four shop walls for rare resources and potential allies. Hire skilled assistants to help out and make your decisions carefully. You can get Arcane Merchant on May 20th.
Hotel Architect
Hotel Architect is a tycoon management game where you’ll build up a hotel from the ground up! You’ll hire staff and take care of demanding customers in order to grow your hotel. Decorate your hotel the way you like and climb to the top of the ladder in career mode. If you’d rather spend your time building without all the fuss, you can do that in sandbox mode. See how far you can expand your hotel empire! You can get Hotel Architect on May 20th.
Coffee Talk Tokyo
Coffee Talk Tokyo is another installment of the Coffee Talk series. You’ll have even more heart-to-heart conversations over a cup of joe, all set in the bustling hub of Tokyo, where yokai and humans alike will come to relax. Listen to your customers and make choices on what you brew for them based on what they tell you. When they’re not right in front of you, you can get to know your customers through the app Tomodachil. By following hashtags, you’ll become privy to hidden posts that may have important clues about your customers. You can get Coffee Talk Tokyo on May 21st.
Beastro
Beastro is a roguelite cooking game with deck-building elements. You play as Panko, a young chef in a peaceful village who helps to run an eatery. When your teacher goes missing, you’ll have to step up to tend to the farm and run the restaurant. Create dishes through a series of mini-games and work your way through a skill tree to get even better. Your dishes will fuel the adventurers who keep the place safe beyond the village walls and you’ll get to hear stories about their adventures when they come back. They might even bring you special ingredients! You can get Beastro on May 21st.
Hillshade Farm
Hillshade Farm is a farming sim where you inherit a piece of land with a rundown farm on it. It’ll be up to you to take the derelict offering and turn it into a thriving farmland. You’ll need to put thought into growing and tending your garden, keep your animals happy and safe from predators, and source materials to craft more buildings for your land. Anything you don’t need on the farm can be sold at the markets. If you’re looking for a slow-paced farming game that will take time to build up, this one is for you. You can get Hillshade Farm on May 21st.
Walk The Frog
Walk The Frog is a point-and-click adventure puzzle game where you guide a frog along a path you build with sticky notes. The pieces of paper have different deciptions on them that you can use to make paths and meet other creatures. With a simple drag-and-drop mechanic, you can easily switch around the playing field with no time limits and no stress. There are three different chapters with 18 puzzles between them that you can parse through to guide Froggo home. You can get Walk The Frog on May 21st.
Drop and Grow
Drop and Grow is an incremental clicker game where you grow plants by dropping water across a dry landscape to encourage plant growth. By restoring nature, you’ll gather leaves, branches, and other resources that you can use to upgrade yourself in a skill tree. You can get Drop and Grow on May 21st.
Transpawt Train
Transpawt Train is a real-time strategy simulation game where you play as the first railroad designer in Paw-City. You’ll be responsible for designing railroad paths between animal towns. You’ll be able to redo tracks at any time and have access to upgrades to make things more comfortable for your passengers. Just keep your eyes peeled because there may be some emergencies that will require your quick thinking to overcome! You can get Transpawt Train on May 24th.
Paralives
Paralives is a life sim that allows you to create homes, explore an open-world town, create Parafolks, find a job, start a romance, build a family, and more! There’s so much in Paralives that can’t fit in a bubble, but I adore the fact that this game doesn’t use Gen AI and with all the issues with The Sims lately, I’m excited to have a Sims-like that I can actually enjoy and don’t have to worry about what I’m supporting. You can get Paralives on May 25th.
Life Below
Life Below is a city-builder at sea. You’ll shape the land of the seabed in order to save dying ecosystems and coral reefs. There are several zones that need your attention and each of them has unique challenges to overcome. You’ll manage PH balance, Algae levels, and external threats like oil spills and garbage, or an infestation of lionfish. If you can build a flourishing landscape, you’ll lure over 40 different types of wildlife to the reefs to live and find food. You can get Life Below on May 26th.
Map Map – A Game About Maps
Map Map – A Game About Maps is an exploration puzzle adventure where you take on the role of a cartographer. In order to find lost treasure across various islands, you’ll need to get a lay of the land and make your own maps. Run around the island to find landmarks, keep track of your steps, and use your telescope to gauge how far away something is. By keeping track of everything, you’ll be able to figure out where the treasure is on each island. You can get Map Map – A Game About Maps on May 28th.
That’s some of the bigger cozy games coming out in May, but certainly not all of them! What are you excited about on this list?
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That’s a fantastic list! I’ve been really into games with relaxing atmospheres lately, so I’ll definitely check these out.
🙂 Let me know if you find anything good!