Cozy Grove

Update for the update: Just want to say thank you to the Developers for the few things that they fine tuned in the latest update. I just installed it an hour ago. Specifically the changes to the Crafting with the baking and also the inventory adjustment was really necessary so thank you! It's made a pleasurable game even more pleasurable. Well what can I say this is a delightful little game. A great way to waste a little bit of time while the world is upside down. I think it's well due and timely. If there's one thing that would be a challenge for some is having patience. This game does require you to have patience. It's not a game that you could just completely binge although if you time travel I suppose you could do that. But I don't see the purpose in that. I time-traveled one day and decided, forget it, I'm going to just do it as the developers intended. Although right now I am on one Quest and it's taking a few days and I wish it would kind of move along but I'm practicing patience. I actually work as a kindergarten teacher so I already have lots of it. But for those who don't this may not be the game for you. Personally I love it.

I bought this game thinking it would be a nice change of pace from Animal Crossing, but it's literally just Animal Crossing but full 2D and a little more progression based (and ghosts) . If you want a better game, and you're not on a budget, just get Animal Crossing New Horizons. However if you are on a budget, it's actually a pretty good game.

Biggest downer: It's like paying money to play a beta release. It's as if this game was released as soon as they got to an MVP (minimum viable product) and decided to work on the nits later, and... that just doesn't work so well for a game. I can imagine in a year or so, it will solidify and this complaint will go away. It's a bit like Animal Crossing, in terms of a 24-hour cycle and things to be done each day, and sort of a limit on how much can be done each day. Also like Animal Crossing in that you are farming things and can make things and decorate your world. Not currently networked / multi-player; I don't know if that's in the plan. The interesting thing about this vs. Animal Crossing is that it is interleaved with the stories of the bears, and the tasks you're given each day help advance those stories. If you are here for the Animal Crossing vibe, and decorating the world and changing your clothes, it's all good. If you want to learn the bears' stories, be prepared to wait... they take a really long time to unfold. One good thing: you don't have to play consecutive days, so you could put this down for a while and come back later. Not great for younger kids because the bears have adult problems. I think there was an interesting ambition here of adding the stories to the farming-/grinding-type game, but it didn't quite (yet?) make it to the level of polish that would have made that idea shine.

Okay game. Gives me motion sickness for some reason. Not worth it. Seems like it could appeal to someone who wants a relaxed, easy game to play.

After 45 days of play, I've given up. I no longer believe the continual promises that it'll get better later in the game. The reality is that it keeps getting a tiny bit worse with each "advance," and the game wasn't exciting to begin with. There's not much to love about being a gofer for an ever-increasing number of spirits. These spirits have personal issues that are serious enough to keep them stuck in the material world. They're not lovable spirits, nor even likeable. And they just keep getting increasingly demanding every day. There's not really much more to Cozy Grove than finding hidden objects for the spirits, or buying things from the store for them (with your own funds). You can't chat with the spirits, except that a few will deliver up to two canned thoughts per day. You can't build anything. You can't change the island (it changes on its own). Probably the most disappointing aspect is that you have no choices to make; just do as you're told. You're a kid doing chores for the grown-ups. Maybe they should've called it Chore Simulator.