My Top 12 Games from Wholesome Direct 2025

On Saturday, I settled in with a three meat pizza and a bottle of Fanta Orange, looking for something to watch. And boy was I in luck, because Wholesome Direct 2025 had happened that morning, and it showed up in my feed. I’m a fan of cozy games, and I miss all the hype and fun of previous years’ E3 coverage. So this was a great way to mix that kind of inside opportunity to view new trailers, with an opportunity for those trailers to largely come from indie developers. A win-win, in my book.

So today, I want to sit down and talk about ten of the games from the Direct that grabbed my interest. Some of these have just released as of viewing the direct. Some are releasing this summer. Some still don’t have a fixed release yet. But they all look awesome and have various forms of cozy vibes.

I’m going to list these in the order they appear on Wholesome Games’ youtube channel, since they all look fabulous and there’s no need to turn this into a competition. So, are you interested in checking out some cozy game trailers? If so, grab your beverage of choice and let’s do this.

1: Is This Seat Taken?

Is This Seat Taken? is a logic puzzle game where you have to figure out functional seating arrangements for groups of peculiarly picky people. The art style here is clean and simple, with soft colors, good, easy to read fonts, and individual characteristics that had me cracking a smile when Jay and I checked out the demo. I got into logic puzzle games by playing Logic Town last December, and this definitely looks like something I will have fun playing when it releases this August.

2: Let’s Build A Dungeon

As someone who has spent way, way, way too much time in RPG Maker and Ren’py working on gaming projects, there was no way that Let’s Build A Dungeon was going to escape my notice. The idea of playing a game about making a game–especially an MMO, given my history with them–sounds incredibly appealing. And with the multiplayer option, it’s even possible that Jay might want to come along. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one, and it looks like there’s a demo to check out in the meantime.

3: MakeRoom

As someone who spends a lot of time in games like Animal Crossing, The Sims 4, Fae Farm, or Fantasy Life striving to build the perfect spaces for different characters, of course a game like MakeRoom, which distills the joy of home decoration down to its most cozy elements, is going to grab my attention. I like the fact that the game seems to be about designing and crafting the things that fill little spaces, and that it provides lots of options to give those cozy spots their own unique details. Looks like the perfect kind of game to unwind with while having a mug of tea and some cookies.

4: Squeakross: Home Squeak Home

Pictocross with a purpose, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home has you solving fun puzzles to unlock furniture to decorate a home for a cute little furry friend. You can do further puzzles to unlock different colors and patterns, and there are different designs for the rodents you are assisting, ranging from the accurate to the absurd. This game just released and has already been purchased by Jay, with me not far behind. If you like pictocross, cute animals, and decorating this looks like a winner.

5: Instants

Blending digital papercraft and some light puzzling, Instants is the game you need if you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at scrapbooking, but never had the tools and images on hand to make that happen. Blending some light timeline puzzle elements together with all the tools you would need to make fabulous scrapbooks for a fictional family, Instants offers a chance to play at the idea of papercraft without needing to get all the goods one would need to do this for real. A chill, creative experience with a demo I really enjoyed. Instants is out on Steam now.

6: Haunted Paws

Blending puppies and the paranormal into an intriguing two player co-op adventure, Haunted Paws grabbed my attention the moment I read its premise, and sealed the deal with a fab looking trailer. I’ll admit I’m biased. Two of the available breeds shown in the trailer are the Schnauzer and Welsh Corgi. I can’t wait to see what different puppy breeds we’ll be able to choose from when this releases. Will I be able to do a blonde and white Shih Tzu like Suzie? Only time will tell. There is no officially stated release date for this game yet, so we’ll have to keep sniffing around to find out when that changes.

7: Camper Van: Make It Home

There is something strangely satisfying about gathering things together, and then finding each of them their own living space to create a connected, cohesive, home. That lies at the heart of Camper Van: Make It Home which sees the player designing and then unpacking their character’s belongings and organizing them inside of a snug, cozy living space. The controls seem simple, the gameplay is chill, and the satisfaction of seeing all things be put in place is satisfying. Camper Van: Make It Home has released on Steam, and also has a demo so you can try before you buy.

8: Heidi’s Legacy: Mountains Calling

My grandfather read Heidi to me when I was a little girl, so when I saw the trailer for Heidi’s Legacy: Mountains Calling I was cautiously intrigued. I like the soft pastel art style. I’m happy to see that grandpa and Peter, as well as Heidi, are present here. I don’t necessarily expect to be playing a beat for beat version of the book, but the idea of setting a crafting game in this environment is brilliant and I cannot wait to check it out. Besides, even if you haven’t read Heidi, who doesn’t love goats?

9: One Move Away

When I was in my early teens, my dad worked for a moving company. So whenever I see games that are about packing up and going to a new and different space, I always find myself draw to them and interested in experiencing them. This is very much the case with One Move Away, which seems kinda like the inverse of the game Unpacking, with its focus being on preparing to go rather than on trying to settle in. I’m all for it, just the same. It also kinda makes me think of trying to squeeze in all the goodies I bought people when I used to make swap boxes. Either way, I’m definitely intrigued. And as I’m writing this, I just remembered it had a demo. Which I now want to play. Immediately.

10: Hotel Galactic

Blending a soft colored, almost enchanting art style, whimsical character designs, and a potentially intriguing take on managing a hotel, Hotel Galactic grabbed my attention. As someone who grew up doing a lot of traveling with my grandparents, I stayed at a lot of different hotels, and the idea of getting to do things to make things run seems really fun and interesting to me. It’s a bit odd for me to be drawn to this: frankly, I’m not really much of a Ghibli girl and that’s what seems to have people raving. But it has a demo out, so I’ll need to sit down with that and see how I feel once I’ve tried it.

11: Collector’s Cove

A girl, a boat, and a cuddly, customizable pet Loch Ness Monster are the setup for the adorable Collector’s Cove. Travel the seas, explore new places, grow crops on your ship, fish. This looks like a chill, explorative and crafting experience with a soft, cute art style to draw people in and get them to check it out. Ever better news? It has a demo out right now on Steam, so people can go and try it for themselves. I know I plan to.

12: Town To City

A city builder is pretty out of left field for me, genre wise, but the chill vibe and beautiful art design of Town to City has me intrigued enough to at least want to try its newly released demo. The idea of the gradual growth of a place from a cozy little town into a more bustling space seems like a cool concept. And the fact that the emphasis seems to be on design and gradual progress, rather than making sure citizens go pee or something, makes this more appealing and less intimidating. If nothing else, it looks pretty and seems worth giving a try.

It looks like there are going to be a ton of great cozy games to play in the coming months, and what I chose above is only a sample of the many games showcased in the 2025 Wholesome Direct, which I linked at the top of the page. If you have the time, I’d strongly recommend going and checking the whole thing out. It was a really fun stream to watch.

They’re even selling cute t-shirts to celebrate the event, with part of the proceeds going to Point of Pride, an organization providing care for trans people. Personally, I think the Campfire Characters one looks cute. Unfortunately, I just got my Switch 2 so the timing for this, for me at least, is bad.

So, did you watch the Wholesome Direct 2025? Did any of the games they shared catch your eye? I’d love to know, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.