Hozy – that’s cozy (or ‘cosy’ if we’re spelling it correctly) with an ‘H’. The latest and greatest from tinyBuild, and developed by Come On Studio, this editable diorama is a cleaner version of Unpacking. Not that Unpacking had you swearing at your Nan, or peeing on the laminate flooring, it’s just that you’re expected to clean and clear the space before you sort it.
For months, I’d had the Steam page open as a tab on my tablet – forgetting to manually add it to my wishlist and instead as a prompt to do just that. Emphasis on ‘for months’. Then, like a Willy Wonka ticket slipping into my DMs, I was invited to review the game. Heck, yes – consider me on board. Oh, you mean there’s a bit of grafting in this supposedly cosy experience? Yes, but another use of the emphasis: this is indeed a very relaxing experience.
In Hozy, you’re given a half dozen projects to work on. What these projects entail is a micro story for its owner – be it an artist, lighthouse keeper, or occupying a space that fuses Dali with Dreamcore. They all follow the same pattern of sorting out the trash, then perhaps giving it a lick of paint or new floorboards before unboxing the furnishings to decorate the room. There are no extras, no demands, just those main objectives before moving on to the next. Ideally, you’ll be doing this at a leisurely pace, as it’s a bit pointless to speedrun through it, as you won’t unveil any rewards.
The rewards reside in the creative aspect. Let’s make this clear, there aren’t an abundance of customisation options. You can’t change the flooring patterns, the ceilings, or open a pseudo app on an imaginary app to order in furnishing that suits your tastes. Instead, most of the stages involve using a squeegee to clean the windows (like in House Flipper), mopping the floors, and then choosing from a couple of colours. While it lacks in choices, the spaces are very much alive. Wiping the glass creates trickles of light on the floorboard, or opening a window lets a gentle breeze of leaves float through. Fortunately, you don’t have to clean these up.
With a few exceptions to the rules, such as replacing floorboards or roofing, you essentially pick up debris and drop it in the bin before Hozy lets you sort the furniture. The typical controls exist here, where using a mouse and keyboard are preferred. WASD will move back and forth, with the mouse wheel offering zoom options or turning the paint roller on its side or shifting a table left and right. Like Unpacking, a number of boxes are dropped off, and then you dip into them one at a time to unveil a Tardis-like experience of sofas and motorbikes tucked into something that would typically store DVDs and glassware.
Again, the focus here is on Hozy being relaxed, and you can dump all the objects anywhere you like without penalty. To be honest, I wasn’t really that keen on this aspect of the game and preferred the restorative aspects and would have happily carried on this way. Initially, I did quite the opposite and steamed through each level to unlock the next. This was great in seeing what levels were up ahead, though I did find myself returning to stages to fine-tune where it was placed.
It’s quite amazing how much stuff these characters own and can fit into one space. As a minimalist, I found this a nightmare and would consider most of them hoarders. The mismatch of furnishings and design choices clashed mostly, and looked like the dwellings of a Fine Art student, or an Ikea catalogue. However… they somehow get this right. In reality, these rooms aren’t practical, but with the gorgeous lighting, textures and relative freedom, they look stunning. Regrettably, it’s all a little too brief and can be done in one sitting -even when taking your time. That’s not a big but(t) – being able to finish a game and not pull out clumps of hair or feel inundated with walls of text is refreshing. I liked this, and suggest you give it a looksee if you want something cazual.
