What if a puzzle didn’t look like a puzzle? That’s the question A Little to the Left asks and immediately answers with dozens of creative challenges where the player sorts and stacks all manner of household objects. Many puzzles have multiple solutions as well (a group of markers can be laid out by length or color, for example), so in many instances, the challenge is to find the puzzle in order to solve it. There’s also a cute cat that shows up to impede your progress. It would be annoying if it weren’t so adorable.

Nintendo has maintained a cheery, family-friendly aesthetic for decades, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the company at its most welcoming. As the Resident Representative of a remote island, you customize your new town and upgrade your house to your heart’s content, befriending the bipedal animal villagers as you go. Animal Crossing runs on a real-time clock, meaning one day in real life is one day in the game, and it actively encourages you to take your time while playing. Still, that doesn’t stop players from racking up hundreds of hours terraforming and decorating every inch of their islands.

This wordless, narrative-driven experience follows an unnamed, scarf-wearing being as it voyages across the desert. The iconic, cello-centric Austin Wintory soundtrack is your only companion–unless, of course, you count the game’s subtle multiplayer mechanic, through which nameless players appear in your world and assist you on your journey. Journey is a meditative, moving experience, and a great way to introduce a friend or family member to video games.

Cute pets are often a common element of cozy games, but in Little Kitty Big City, they’re front and center. This game is the ultimate adorable cat adventure, complete with collectible hats, designated buttons to meow and bap with each paw, and funny dialogue. There’s a story to experience and puzzles to solve, but it’s also just really fun to pounce at birds and swipe at humans’ feet. It’s a game that understands the cutest, silliest parts about pets, puts your paws on the controller, and lets you loose to have fun.

To most people, cleaning is not a relaxing activity, but when it’s in a video game, it becomes a chill, enjoyable experience. PowerWash Simulator is one of the greatest examples of this, bringing players to a variety of dirt-caked locations to spray until spotless. If the basic maps aren’t interesting enough to you, DLC maps introduce a wide array of crossovers into the mix, including cleanable areas from Final Fantasy VII and Warhammer 40,000 to SpongeBob and Shrek.

If you’re looking for a silly game to escape from reality, you can’t do much better than The Sims. The most iconic simulation game on the market, you create characters in a small town and watch them live their lives, going to work, making friends, and potentially starting a family. If you’re new to the series, you can’t go wrong with The Sims 4, the newest entry with dozens of DLC packs featuring new vocations, outfits, and crossovers. Fans looking for a blast from the past can instead grab The Sims 2 Legacy Collection, which was recently released on Steam and brings the 2004 classic to modern platforms.

Much like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, Spiritfarer is a game where you manage a town of sorts, plant crops, and bond with your neighbors. The catch with this one, however, is that you’re actually guiding spirits to the afterworld, and eventually, you have to let them pass away. This constant confrontation with death means it’s not a game for everyone, but Spiritfarer is a moving experience accompanied by management and decoration mechanics classic to the cozy genre. Pair it with a bright art style and spirited (pun intended) soundtrack, the best hugging animations ever created, and you’ll quickly understand why Spiritfarer is a classic.

This pixelated farming sim is the quintessential cozy game. As a new resident of Pelican Town, you manage a farm with crops and livestock, bond with (and potentially romance) your neighbors, fish, mine, chop down trees, and craft tools and decorations. Most importantly, the vibes are off the charts, with adorable art, fun dialogue, and a jolly soundtrack. If you’ve never played Stardew Valley, it’s absolutely worth checking out – there’s a reason it’s as popular as it is.

In Toem, you take pictures of everything, and your camera can solve any problem. Like the best puzzle games, it’s a simple premise stretched to every conceivable situation, often to humorous effect. For completionists, each area offers dozens of tasks to complete, but if you’re looking for a more laid-back experience, you can just complete the challenges you’re interested in and move on. The experience is made even more charming by the silly dialogue and black and white, paper-like aesthetic.

Whenever I move houses, it takes me an unreasonable, stressful amount of time to fully unpack. But in Unpacking, it’s a delightful way to spend a few hours. The game tells the story of a person’s life through each of their moves, and you learn more about them based on the things they bring, the things they leave behind, and the places the game allows you to store each item. It’s a light puzzle game; just enough to engage your brain, but never enough to force you to think too hard.