There feels like there’s a kind of cultural undercurrent that surfaced some time ago that’s driven a desire for no/low-conflict experiences. Initially I didn’t think it was a widespread phenomenon with its only representative (in my content echo chamber at least) being that of the cozy game genre; a type of game that eschews even the mildest form of friction in favour of just letting you experience it in whatever way you want. Then, when going through some of Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on writing where he mentions a new wave of books that proudly proclaim the books major beats and exclusions (this is a love story with no cheating, no violence, etc.) it started to dawn on me that the greater uncertainty of the world writ large has of course made its impact on the content we consume. Even newer readers here will remember me waxing lyrical about the exhaustion I felt and how that was shaping the kinds of experiences I was seeking out. In a way Hozy now represents both the pinnacle and finale to the chapter I was going through, for better and for worse.
Hozy is effectively an interior design simulator with a few extra steps. Each of the game’s levels are presented to you as abandoned areas that are filled with trash, long forgotten items and many more signs of long term disuse. After you set about cleaning the place up, repairing what needs it and giving the place a lick of paint you’re then set about staging the area with all the possessions that its new resident will be bringing along with them. Those boxes are about as helpfully labelled as you’d expect as well and expect to do a good lot of rearranging to your perfectly placed items should you forget to unpack all the boxes first. Once you’ve placed all the items the game then invites you to take a screenshot to share with the world. Or no one if that’s how you feel about it.
The game’s dollhouse aesthetic, reminiscent of the Sims but with far better lighting, sells the cozy game vibe instantly. It’s clear that the dev team has spent an incredible amount of time crafting an endless amount of curated assets specifically for each of the rooms, all of which I’m sure can be traced back to real world versions that are likely sitting in one or more of their living rooms somewhere. The circular colour gradient backdrop that’s then contrasted with the lovingly crafted global and local illumination all comes together to sell that tiny model house feeling perfectly. It’ll certainly have you looking around your own room to compare and contrast what kinds of weird items that’d show up if it was to become its own level in the game.
As a cozy game Hozy doesn’t ask much of you, giving you every opportunity to jump in and out of a room as you wish. There’s a small amount of gating behind “completing” a level before you can do the next one but all that you need to do to unlock the next one is unpack everything; the game makes no judgement if you leave everything in a pile on the ground and simply move on. Which is something I did, twice in fact, mostly because I got so goddamn annoyed at some of the levels where there wasn’t any kind of visual cohesiveness that I could discern. Really though that’s kind of on me as I’m not one for the eclectic interior design aesthetic as I tend much more towards function over form.
There’s a few areas of polish that could use some attention (especially since I didn’t see any notes about them in the 1.1 patch notes that were released after I finished my playthrough). The physics on the cleaning items feels real wonky, especially if you move a bit too fast. I do get it, you don’t want this to be a rushed experience, but their movement just feels every so slightly off. Hit detection on some items also feels tuned a bit too far away from being as generous I think it should be, given that this is a cozy game after all. I spent a good deal of minutes trying to track down that small part of a window I didn’t clean or the hidden out of sight part of the wall I needed to paint. Not a dealbreaker, but there’s no reason why it can’t be better.
I also totally get that Hozy isn’t meant to be this kind of game but it does feel like it’s screaming out for mods and a level editor. The curated experience definitely helps in keeping those TTP times manageable, I get it, but it feels like this would be a great platform for people to build upon.
Hozy does everything it says on the tin: setting you free to interior design the hours away on an eclectic bunch of items that’s been lovingly curated by the developers. It asks very little of you and gives back some pretty pictures in return. It could do with a bit more polish, and maybe some extensions to give it some amazing longevity, but even in its current state it’s likely worth a look in if you’re needing something in this particular genre.
Rating: 7.75/10
Hozy is available on PC right now for $19.99. Total playtime was 3.5 hours with 100% of the achievements unlocked.
