I’m in the habit of browsing Kickstarter for video games. Early 2024, I came across Cozy Escapes, which was close to its goal and looked like a comfy puzzle game. I backed it in hopes that by February 2024 I’d have a couple of game keys to share with a friend.

I streamed my playthrough in July 2024 and provided live commentary.

While presented as a cozy game, I definitely got some spooky vibes from it, mostly due to me constantly playing spooky puzzle games. However, the game was a breath of fresh air with no jumpscares and a simple setting. I wish it had a little bit more background music to set the mood.

Normally I would say I’m good at puzzles. This game challenged me into trying to do well and solve things on my own. There were many puzzles that I didn’t realize initially were puzzles (e.g., darts) and I attempted to do many out of order, rather than the ones where I had resources. The developer added “hints” in the menu which made it easy to follow along when I got stuck. I’m giving it some time before I do a second playthrough with my friend in hopes the puzzles are a challenge again.

Completing puzzles opened up the world which made it exciting to explore. There wasn’t much for “backtracking” which was nice and the small world made it simple to complete. There were some instances where I struggled with recognizing colors, but this is definitely a “me” thing and the developer knows.

My favorite puzzles was definitely the last one with the musical notes. The ability to infinitely spam the orbs made it hilarious to solve.

The game takes a couple of hours and for $5 it’s worth it to any gamer who enjoys puzzles. I got my moneys worth and I’m looking forward to multiplayer!