Tag: accessible games

Guides

Nova Lands Beginner’s Guide: 6 Tips for Getting Started☄️

Cozy Bear1 Comment

Hello again, cozy gamers!

Here is a beginner’s guide for Nova Lands. Although this Cozy Bear has only played 15 hours or so, I believe I’ve progressed enough through the game to give you folks a bit of an idea of what to expect, as well as tips to getting started.

As mentioned in my last post, Nova Lands is a factory building, exploration, and island management game designed around this super adorable pixel space themed universe. In this game, you’re a cute little explorer who has just landed on a remote planet, and it’s your job to bring industry and grow your community amongst the stars!

As I’ve played through the first 15 hours, here are a few things I wish I knew, or thought of, as well as things I’ve missed along the way. I hope these tips will give you a smoother, more enjoyable experience while getting into the game! 🚀

  • Update your equipment early on. Once you’ve discovered the first couple of biomes, you’ll meet the characters who will set up shop and sell you upgrades for your gear and tools. I recommend prioritizing these upgrades because it really does make the first couple of hours in the game a lot easier and less grindy.
  • As you start building production machines and farms, consider moving your farms off the first primary island you start on. That first island really does get crowded very quickly! However, you’ll want to take note of which machines require coal, and make sure those machines, as well as your coal generator are kept together. As you unlock solar panels and the biofuel generator, you can expand to the outer islands.
  • Expanding to the outer islands will require logistics. The transporter arm is very helpful. I recommend crafting it as soon as possible if you plan to move materials from one island to another. As for bots, you will need a bot antenna, collector bots, as well as a logistics bot on your primary island as well as any other island you plan to move materials to and from. If there are hostile animals, you will also need a fighting bot to protect your other bots! They can and do lose health rather quickly, so unlock and craft the bot healing module as soon as you can – otherwise you’ll be running around your islands healing your bots constantly!
  • When unlocking skills, prioritize the skills in the left column. This is actually something I missed! You’ll see that at level 18, 24, 30, and 36, you can unlock a skill that reduces the materials you need for each building. This can surely be really useful as grow your production. As early as level 18, stones and modular bricks will no longer be needed. This means you won’t need to produce modular bricks anymore by level 18!
  • In terms of skills, I also recommend focusing on the skills that will optimize your machines. Production skills go a very long way! I recommend unlocking Hot Bricks (Furnaces Now Work 25% Faster) as soon as possible, as well as Solar Power, Charged Roast, Centrifugal Speed and Extra Fuel early on. Personal skills are also very helpful early on. Fast Learner gives you 15% more XP, while Breath Refill (auto-uses oxygen bottles) and Smart Med (auto-uses med kits) are also very useful.
  • Take your time, go at your own pace, and play the game how you want! If you want to focus on completing the museum, go for it! If you want to max out your equipment and go fight bosses, you can do that too! If you want to focus on growing your industry and becoming the richest alien in all the galaxy, that’s also an option!

Overall, I hope you enjoy this game as much as I do, and you discover a newfound love for the automation genre through this adorable title! 💕

Reviews

Nova Lands Review: Adding Adorableness to Base Building 🚀✨

Cozy Bear2 Comments

Dear Cozy Friends,

I apologize for going silent for the last month and a half. My human life has been hectic, to say the least. I’ve also been sick, busy with other responsibilities, and haven’t made time to play my cozy little games, and in turn, share with you my cozy little adventures.

With that said, you can look forward to a few posts about Nova Lands – a review, as well as a guide, and an introduction to a new MMO I’ve been excited about – Lost Ark.

Without further ado, here’s a review of Nova Lands:

To start, Nova Lands is a factory building, exploration, and island management game designed around this super adorable pixel space themed universe. In this game, you’re a cute little explorer who has just landed on a remote planet, and it’s your job to bring industry and grow your community amongst the stars! 🚀✨

As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to build yourself your own little rocket ship, which will take you to the space station. It’s up to you to bring this once thriving intergalactic marketplace back to life! “End game” involves crafting difficult items, shipping them off to be sold, and further growing and developing the space station. Meet cute characters with adorable art along the way!

What makes this title different from others in this genre is it really is designed to be casual, relaxing experience. If you’ve played other automation, factory building or management type games, you may recall that they can be quite stressful and overwhelming. Unlike other titles, such as Satisfactory, Nova Lands isn’t as expansive, and therefore, likely much less stressful. It does not require a ton of strategy to master.

Beyond factory building, there is a lot more to be done in Nova Lands. As you continue to unlock other biomes and explore the planet, you’ll discover monuments and their guardians. These are tough bosses to overcome. Here’s the interesting thing about that, though – you don’t have to fight them. You can, instead, befriend these guardians. How adorable is that?!

There is some combat in this game, but there are ways to develop your gaming experience to avoid as much combat as possible. As you unlock skills each level, you can make certain animals docile, as well as craft fighter bots to do the combat for you. Along with befriending the guardians, you can nearly skip most combat available in this game if you choose to.

If collectathons are your thing (games that involve creature collecting, or some kind of collection/museum activity) there is a bit of that too in Nova Lands!

Overall, I think Nova Lands is a great introduction to the factory building and automation genre, especially if you haven’t tried them before. If you have, but you find those games kind of stressful or challenging, I recommend starting here. This is a great game to learn the genre! Also ALIENS! And space travel! I love aliens and space travel!

If you decide to give Nova Lands a try, or have played it before, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

Also, I’d like to note that the game is on sale right now for $13.99, and ends March 21.

Over and out! – Cozy Bear

Blog

Cozy Bear’s Steam Year in Review 2023

Cozy Bear7 Comments

Hello, Cozy Friends!

It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last post. Christmas came and went, and here we are. In 2024. It was quiet here in Cozy Bear’s cave, as it often is. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy some time with loved ones and reflect on this past year with gratitude. For me, this was a year of transformation. Many has changed, some was lost, but the most important aspects of my life are holding strong. I haven’t quite decided how much of my personal life I’d like to share here, but I’m sure my struggles and triumphs were much like yours. We’re all just trying to make our way, the best way we know how, through this silly thing we call life.

When I reflect on this past year, I like to look at both my Spotify Wrapped (If you’d like to see what kind of weird tunes this bear is listening to…), as well as my Steam Year in Review. So much of the media I consume is games and music. So much so that it’s a really great way for me to teleport back to a time and ask myself: Who was I? Where was I? What was I feeling when I picked up this game or when I was obsessed with this song? But! This isn’t about music; this is about games!

According to Steam, I’ve played 49 games, 41 of them being new. I unlocked 267 achievements across 27 games. And my top 5 most played games were: Final Fantasy XIV Online, The Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, Necesse, ad Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

So, yes, I know what you’re thinking. Cozy Bear! These aren’t even cozy games! More than half of those are MMOs! OK, you’re right. It’s true. Soooo, let’s talk about them!

Yes, I did, spend 60% of my playtime in Final Fantasy XIV Online. I am guilty. (You should have seen 2022…it was like 75%…)

If I had to pick an MMO with the most “cozy potential”, I’d probably have to nominate FFXIV. This was, ofc, before Palia came along, and to be frank, I owe at least 50% of that coziness to my friends whom I share FFXIV with. It is cozy because we made it cozy together. There is a kind of charm and nostalgia that FFXIV brings that motivates me to keep coming back. It’s the friendship, most of all. Isn’t it always the friends we made along the way?

Prior to FFXIV becoming my primary MMO, I played The Elder Scrolls Online. I returned to ESO briefly to catch up on expansions I’d missed. Towards the end of 2023, I felt an itch to find a new MMO – something new and exciting. This is why you can see me putting in some time in a couple of them. I tried Guild Wars 2, and there was a lot about that one I liked. I even played Palia for several months, which is not featured here, but I really enjoyed that too! Perhaps I just feel most at home in Eorzea. Maybe I found a second home in the world of Hydaelyn and that is that.

The last two games are also quite special. Necesse is probably one of my favorite games of all time. It’s an indie title, and literally on sale for just $5 right now! Considering the small price tag, it offers so much game play; so much customization. It offers the best accessibility I’ve seen so far in the Open World Survival Craft genre. I felt so accomplished when I managed to beat every boss in that game.

Finally, the last title on my top 5 list is Pathfinder: Kingmaker. This was gifted to me by my partner, whom introduced me to this genre of games for the first time. It’s a Party-Based RPG/CRPG, which I have no history with at all! Regardless, I absolutely enjoyed my little adventures with my companions! Just typing this right now makes me want to download Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous! But I’d need to make a lot of space for it first! (Ah, yes, gaming – with it’s constant uninstalling and reinstalling of games…and never enough space for all the games we want to play!) For someone who knows nothing about Dungeons & Dragons, and nothing about this genre at all, I felt like it was very accessible to many different kinds of players, which I really appreciated. Yes, I did play on the easiest mode, and that was still enough of a challenge for me! It’s a lot of text to read, but for me, what makes it “cozy” is the slow pace, getting immersed in the story and expansive lore, and being able to take your time and pause at the beginning of every encounter.

Anddddd that’s Cozy Bear’s Steam Year in Review 2023!

I’d really love to hear about your favorite games of 2023, or, if you’d like, drop a link to your Steam Year in Review in the comments!

Reviews

LEGO Fortnite Review: A Cozy Survival Game?

Cozy Bear4 Comments

Hey there, cozy fam~

Here is a review for the new LEGO Fortnite! Have you folks tried it yet? What do you think?

I never thought, ever in my life, I’d download Fortnite. Battle royale games aren’t usually very cozy, neither are survival games. But sometimes they can be? Maybe when it’s LEGOs?

A dear friend of mine showed me the official gameplay trailer for LEGO Fortnite a few days ago and I was immediately drawn to it! Although not quite the same as Minecraft, the trailer did remind me of it, and it wasn’t long before l I found myself feeling nostalgic for my cozier cub days. When I think of early cozy gaming, I often think of hiding away in a corner of the library playing Minecraft on my laptop, when I should have been doing homework instead. This was nearly 15 years ago. I was a high school senior, and so many years later, I still seek out that same feeling.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about gaming with friends, and I realized this is exactly the kind of multiplayer experience I’ve been wanting for a long time. Playing with friends, bonding over games, is a level of coziness that has to be experienced. I just want to chop wood and tend to my little garden with my favorite people. I want to give them all the raspberries I’ve collected. I want to build us a cute log cabin.

Cozy, isn’t it? Minus the bosses and quickly depleting hunger bar :’)

Of course, LEGO Fortnite is barely 2 weeks old, and it’s got a lot of patches ahead. There’s a lot of improvements that can be implemented.

  • I think the inventory system can be greatly improved!
  • Some clarity into what furniture items contain storage and how much inventory slots should be made clear. (For example, the counters contains storage, but it isn’t listed under storage, but instead, under tables.)
  • Chests are so small! Small chests only hold 10 items, and the medium chest only holds 6 more.
  • I think some kind of sorting and stacking system would also be appreciated.
  • Items don’t auto-stack, and the merging mechanic doesn’t appear to be working.
  • There is quite a bit of lag.
  • Improved tutorial and guidance would also be helpful, as a lot of mechanics aren’t clear. I only just recently discovered that the sheep, chickens and cows will eat vines! It is unclear how to herd those animals into a gated pen.

I’ve got a long way to go, and there’s still much to learn and discover!

In terms of accessibility, I must say it does try! Yes, there is a Sandbox Mode, and that is great, but that hardly provides any kind of challenge. Survival Mode is customizable, meaning you can turn off the scary bosses and even reduce the penalty on your character death. The issue with turning off enemies is you do need those enemy drops to progress through the game, so unfortunately, if you want to continue to level up your town and continue to build and upgrade crafting stations, among many other items, you have to play Survival Mode, with the enemies on. And, unfortunately, there is no enemy difficulty customization at the moment.

All in all, I do think LEGO Fortnite is worth a try! If you find the combat difficult, you can enlist some friends to help. 8 players can share a world, and I think that’s more than enough to have a cozy, fun time with friends!

Ⓒⓞⓩⓨ Ⓑⓔⓐⓡ

Reviews

Everdream Valley Review

Cozy BearLeave a comment

Should You Play Everdream Valley? Maybe!

Everydream Valley is a cozy farming sim. It is one of many “on my way to fix up my grandpa’s trashed farm” and let’s start with the fences and chickens. Although there are definitely a lot of farming and life sims out there, this one does in fact check that cozy box. It is hands down one of the cutest and coziest I’ve played!

Pros:

  • It’s freakin’ adorable! All the farm animals make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Aesthetics alone, it’s got me coming back for more!
    • Not only are they cute, but they TALK! (in your dreams – just like IRL heh)
  • It’s very simple, straight-forward, easy to follow. There is a lot of guidance from your grandparents, whom are your guide as you progress through the game.
  • Everything is accessible through the merchant. This can save time, especially when it comes to farming and exploring the map (the long way) when it comes to fulfilling quest objectives.
  • Sawing wood, sheering wool and milking cows include a little mini-game! You can also skip this mini-game and 1-click auto-sheer wool, auto-milk cows, or auto-cut wood instead. This will give you less materials, but the option is there!
  • There are also mini-games while you “dream” at night. This adds a little extra flavor to otherwise repetitive gameplay.

Cons:

  • Progression is slow. This, for me, is what ultimately led me to put the game down after 36 hours of game play.
  • Fast Travel…sucks. The owl is a cute (even cozy) concept, but it’s just not very effective at getting around the map. I was also 30+ hours in, and pretty far into the map before I even picked up my first owl. You need 2 owls to fast travel between 2 locations.
  • It takes long to access your first mountable animal (pigs!) so it’s a lot of running back and forth to your farm, which after a while, gets quite repetitive and tiresome.
  • Inventory could have been designed better, such as craft from chests, and better inventory management and sorting.
  • The Treehouse takes very long to access (I didn’t even get far enough to obtain it *sad bear noises*) but I’ve picked up tons of furniture items for it, which I can’t place or use.
  • Character creation and design isn’t my favorite. It feels lacking, and could really benefit from expanding these options, including in-game clothing options.

Ultimately, I think you should give Everdream Valley a try. If you’re all about cozy, you will enjoy this. It may even be more your pace than it has been for me! It also looks like the developers have been releasing updates, and hopefully, in time, there will be more content and items available.

Ⓒⓞⓩⓨ Ⓑⓔⓐⓡ

About

About Me

Cozy BearLeave a comment

Hello there! I’m Cozy Bear! 🐾

It wasn’t until recent years that I really started exploring gaming, and found myself a huge fan of what are often categorized as “wholesome” or “cozy” games. These titles are often life and farming sims. My favorite cozy games include Animal Crossing New Horizons, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Necesse, Grow: Song of the Evertree, Song Of The Prairie, My Time at Sandrock, No Place Like Home, Everdream Valley, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, Bear and Breakfaast, Luna’s Fishing Garden, Haven Park, and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. I primarily play PC games via Steam, and as you can tell, I am a big supporter of indie games, especially when it comes to the cozy genre.

I was drawn to cozy games, and games in general, during covid. My Steam Library grew exponentially over the course of covid, and I found myself exploring so many different types of games and genres, but ultimately, finding myself bundled up in a blanket playing Animal Crossing on the Switch, or at my desk with a mug of tea playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. Soon cozy gaming became a part of my self-care routine and something I could add to my mental health tool belt. I found how much these games were helping create balance in my life, and a time to decompress and focus on myself when I needed it.

Additionally, what I really love about cozy games, which I intend to speak more about in future posts, is how accessible this genre really is. Cozy games is truly for everyone. These are games that can often be enjoyed with families, by all ages, regardless of ability as well. Cozy games makes gaming accessible to all and I’d love to see more inclusive gaming. I am always so appreciative of developers who design games to be flexible in this way, especially when it comes to difficulty. One of my favorite games, that offers so much of this kind of flexibility, is Necesse, where you can design your gaming experience within the settings to best fit your needs. As someone with disabilities, such as dyspraxia, I’ve always had to use “training wheels” to play Mario Kart (and still roll in last place…), who can’t do jumping puzzles to save her life, who can’t “stay out of the red” no matter how hard she tries, being able to adjust settings in a game, at any point, is a really big deal to me, and it is to a lot of people as well!

Cuppa’ Cozy hopes to provide helpful guides, reviews and recommendations on a wide variety of cozy games, beyond popular titles, such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

More than that, my hope is, through cozy games, and building a soft and gentle space, we can find calm and comfort in this otherwise chaotic and difficult world, and make friends to play games with along the way.

Ⓒⓞⓩⓨ Ⓑⓔⓐⓡ

Blog

Introducing Cuppa’ Cozy

Cozy Bear2 Comments

*a cozy bear enters the room*

Here we go – that awkward first sentence. Even now I haven’t decided if I want to approach this whole thing from the perspective of a cozy polar bear…it’s definitely leaning in that direction.

*nervous grin*

My name is, uh..um..Cozy Bear and I welcome you to Cuppa’ Cozy! I hope you find this space as cozy and comforting as I intended it to be. :’) My hope is, through cozy games, and building a soft and gentle space, we can find calm and comfort in this otherwise chaotic and difficult world.

Cuppa’ Cozy hopes to provide helpful guides, reviews and recommendations on a wide variety of cozy games, beyond popular titles, such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

While most cozy games are often life and farming sims, it’s not necessarily about genre that makes a game “cozy” (though, yes! most of my favorites are life and farming sims!) To me, a cozy game is whatever game brings you comfort. It’s the game I gravitate to when I need some quiet time to relax and decompress. It’s the game I choose when I am in need of some me-time. It’s the game I play on mental-health days.

Beyond comfort, I think what makes cozy games so special is their accessibility. The point of a cozy game is anyone can pick it up and enjoy it. They’re for everyone. Regardless of ability, gender, or age, these games are approachable, and meant to bring comfort and joy.

That is what Cuppa’ Cozy is all about.

Ⓒⓞⓩⓨ Ⓑⓔⓐⓡ