It seems like the weather has been atrocious forever, so my daughters and I have been retreating into “cozy games" to keep us snug and warm. These are typically chilled, shorter experiences with limited objectives, a slower pace, and a generally gentler vibe. They are like a warm hug, soul food, or a palate cleanser for the mind; while they aren’t necessarily the titles I’ll often shout about, they are the ones that consistently revive and restore me. Often, they involve little more than mooching around a small 3D world while exploring and helping people.

We have worked our way through a delightful catalogue of titles, starting with Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, which follows a young girl’s quest to protect her island’s nature reserve from a massive hotel development. We also spent time with the tactile charm of Yoshi’s Woolly World, the serene exploration of A Short Hike, and the whimsical adventures found in Disney Illusion Island, A Hat in Time and Mika and the Witch’s Mountain. Each of these offered a restorative space where the stakes were low, but the emotional rewards were high.

This shared hobby has also created a unique family shorthand that reminds me of my own childhood. Growing up, my siblings and I spoke in "Simpsons-ish," where phrases like "De-fault—my two favourite words!" or "Not in Uruguay" served as the vocabulary for offbeat jokes that only we understood. Now, with my daughters, we are building our own version of that connection. We’ve adopted a playful gaming lexicon in our daily lives: we are "going on a sidequest" when we return library books, and we award "five-star reviews" to our homemade pizza competitions.

It is a playful and endearing way of connecting that bridges the gap between the digital world and our daily routines. This shared vocabulary acts as a unifying experience, making us feel stronger and more connected as a unit. In the end, these cozy sessions provide much more than a simple way to pass the time; they offer a sense of belonging and a soft place to land when the outside world feels a bit too harsh.

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I was looking for a cozy game to play with my daughters over the summer holidays and bought Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. The game is by Ustwo studios, the folks behind Monument Valley, and what appealed to me was the idea that you play as a pre-teen girl who is trying to help the environment and save a nature reserve.

My own girls are really into nature trails and love animals, especially birds, so the gameplay loop of traveling around a beautiful island, taking pictures of different species and cleaning the environment, sounded perfect.

We loved playing the game together as the joyful music, simple but effective art style and inclusive nature (there's a woman with a headscarf and people from different backgrounds) really made this a joyful game.