Game Mode gets cozy

It’s been over three years since “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was released. It became one of the best-selling video games of the year — moving over 42 million copies, almost four times as much as the previous edition of the game.

It also renewed interest in a video game trend known for finding magic in mundane tasks: cozy gaming. Games like “Stardew Valley,” “Harvest Moon,” and “Unpacking,” where the objective is less about shooting, fighting, or space colonization and more about gentle verbs — tending, farming, and homemaking.

The video game industry is taking notice. Netflix purchased cozy game developer Spry Fox — known for “Cozy Grove”— last fall. The World Economic Forum expects the gaming industry to be worth more than $320 billion by 2026, with 3.2 billion gamers worldwide as of last year.

As video games rise in popularity, so does the cozy gaming community. What does that mean for the hobby?