Cute, wholesome, safe. All words that are used to describe cozy games. While it might seem complicated to pinpoint exactly what makes a game like that, some key characteristics seem to persist. But, what about games that share some of these aspects that deal with grief, violence or dread? What about dark cozy games?
Agata Waszkiewicz, in their 2024 article, challenges our understanding of coziness by introducing the concept of dark cozy games, meaning games that may have some visual characteristics of softness and ludic safety but also share horror and Gothic influences. The three tenets of coziness according to the author are visual, ludic and narrative safety. Seemingly though, a game can still maintain its cozy status without the need for narrative safety, something that allows it to tap into “difficult” stories that merge horror with safety. As examples, the article focuses on three games that fit this description: Cult of the Lamb, Dredge and Oxenfree.
In the case of Cult of the Lamb, the visual presentation remains in the realm of “cuteness” while subverting the aesthetic with the uses of harsh black outlines, muted colors and the use of an aggressive shade of red. It also utilizes situational ludic safety by having assigned areas that are non-combative (the cult site), giving the player a space to relax from the dangers of the usual gameplay loop.
For Dredge, it is undoubtedly a horror game. Due to its themes and means of creating tension, it allows its players to slip into a sense of safety with its repetitive by design, fishing mechanics. It then breaks that safety with shifting the whole environment hostile. In contrast to Cult of the Lamb, there is no clearly defined space of ludic safety but a time. A day and night cycle separates the game into its cozy and horror forms. On the visual scale, it retains a semblance of visual safety with the use of soft low poly shapes and pastel, muted colors.
Lasty, Oxenfree is the most balanced out of the three when it comes to combining both cozy and dark themes. It is upfront in matters about its safety, or lack thereof, in all three categories. There is no variation in levels of ludic safety throughout the entire experience. Even passiveness is integrated into the gameplay, as staying silent by not picking a dialogue option is also considered an answer that elicits reactions from the NPCs (not-player-characters). Visually, just like Dredge, it maintains a softness in its presentation using soft shapes and colors while still retaining a darker tone.
All in all, the author uses these three examples as a means to playfully reflect on what the limits of a cozy game are. At what point of implementing these dark characteristics does a game stop being cozy and instead has cozy elements? What would be the future of the state of coziness as a term? Questions such as these are what Waszkiewicz poses to both them and the readers in this article.
Reference: Soft Horrors: The Visual and Ludic Safety of Dark Cozy Games by Agata Waszkiewicz (2024) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380924329_Soft_Horrors_The_Visual_and_Ludic_Safety_of_Dark_Cozy_Games
Photos: Promo pictures for all games take from Steam, Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster) https://store.steampowered.com/app/1313140/Cult_of_the_Lamb/
Dredge(Black Salt Games) https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/
Oxenfree (Night School Studio) https://store.steampowered.com/app/388880/Oxenfree/