Cozy Grove Review

Availability: Available Now

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games,

Steam, & Apple Arcade

Publisher: Spry Fox LLC

Developer: Spry Fox LLC

Genres: Life-Sim

Controller Support: Yes

Cozy Grove is a hauntingly beautiful game available on the Nintendo switch, Xbox, Steam that centers around your character, a Spirit Scout, helping the ghostly residents of an island come to terms with their passing. As a Spirit Scout, it is your duty to help lost souls with the problems they are experiencing. When you complete a task or help these ghostly creatures you get rewarded with either an item or a scout badge. You can earn over 200+ scout badges in the game so there is plenty to do within the story line! When you first arrive at Cozy Grove(the island) you get to customize your character, after which you open a letter that tells you know a bit about the island you're stranded on. The letter ends with the Spirit Scout Motto: "All Those Who Are Lost Deserve Kindness". If you're someone who loves sweet story lines, then this is definitely for you. There are day and night cycles depending on the internal clock of your device, but if you go to the menu after pressing start while in the game, you can have it be permanently daylight! This option is great for those of you who may have a bit of trouble seeing in extremely dark games. I do feel like keeping it daylight constantly may take away from the spooky feel of the game though, but if you really need it, the option is there.

After the game welcomes you to the "Spirit Scouts" you are asked to fix yourself up and are able to customize your character by changing your skin tone, eyes, then hair. The options available are great and the reasoning behind the pupil-less eyes when choosing your color actually adds to the story! You are eventually able to change out of the clothing you start with later in the game after earning some coins, but make sure you don't spend it all in one place! When you are playing "Cozy Grove" you will have two panels on your screen available. On the left you have your backpack which you can access with Y(on the Switch) and on the right you have your Quest log which you can access with X. Luckily you can run in the game just by pressing B. This makes up your hud for the entirety of the game.

When you get off the docks and go onto the main part of the island you meet a living campfire flame named Flamey, they help direct you to a scout leader that will be your main friend and guide throughout the game. You are also able to just go out and explore the island meeting ghostly residents along the way. When you talk to the residents of the island you are given multiple choices when answering them. These choices include a sweet, neutral, or sassy responses and they do affect your gameplay. You end up finding out that feeding Flamey something called "spirit wood" causes something incredibly eerie to happen. A cut scene occurs where he tells you that Cozy Grove(the island you're on) is SUPER haunted and it's up to you to help put these spirits to rest. This "spirit wood" allows the island's spirits to begin healing and remembering things a bit better as some have existed on the island for so long that they've forgotten how they got there. Besides completing tasks for the ghostly animal-like residents of the Cozy Grove, you can also fish and dig up areas to find more items. Definitely giving off Animal Crossing vibes, but this actually has a cool story to it!

After a few hours of running tasks, things do seem to get a bit repetitive, but this game is definitely not supposed to be played in one night. Cozy Grove has 40 hours worth of gameplay if you're willing to stick with it and rewards you with tons of fun tasks in game. You can craft décor to make items for the island, you can fish, and you can earn in game coins to trade for goods. It's art is breathtaking and if you're looking for a cozy game to play wrapped in your warm covers with a cup of cocoa then Cozy Grove is the game for you. For us, this is definitely worthy of a

recommendation from us here at the Helpful Hunter's Guild!