The cozy games I open when I need to switch off

Not every game needs to be a challenge. Some nights I just want something soft that lets my brain slow down. That's where cozy sims and calm adventures come in, and I've built a little rotation of them.

Garden of Hours is my current favorite for this. It grows in real time, so I check on it once a day, water a few things, move a flower bed, and close it feeling oddly settled. It asks almost nothing of me and gives back a small sense of order.

Hollow Lantern scratches a different itch — the same calm but with a story to slowly unravel. Atmosphere-heavy games like that work best late at night with headphones. The quiet is the whole point.

If you tend toward anxious, high-score chasing games before bed, try swapping them out for a week. I sleep noticeably better since I stopped ending my nights on a racing leaderboard.