I’m starting to think people like cozy games a little: Steam Next Fest darling about “doodling castles” whose devs thought was “very niche” hits 1 million Wishlists

Tiny Glade has managed to rack up a million Steam Wishlists, and I’m not even the tiniest bit surprised.

It’s a major testament to the warm and cozy allure of Tiny Glade that I, a horror aficionado whose own fiancé once bemoaned as only enjoying media with “blood and guts,” immediately stopped in my tracks when I spotted it among the deluge of Steam Next Fest demos. Its art style is soft and squishy, with muted pastel colors expressed through a nearly indiscernible atmospheric fog, and its toolbox is extremely limited, but what it does, it does extremely well.

And what it does, as it turns out, is conquer your anxiety like a Tarnished felling Malenia after finding this early-stage Shadow of the Erdtree item that gives them Sekiro-like parrying. OK, even I’m feeling whiplash after that digression, but anyway, Tiny Glade is very, very relaxing, especially if you’re someone who feels overwhelmed by too many options. And apparently, that’s a heck of a lot of people.

“Tiny Glade has just passed 1M wishlists 🤯🤯 We always thought it’d be a _very_ niche game,” reads a tweet from Tiny Glade’s Twitter account. “We’re continuously surprised by the love & attention, and we’re overjoyed that Tiny Glade found its audience in so many of you (or, should I say, that you found Tiny Glade!)”

When Tiny Glade barreled past 800,000 Wishlists earlier this month, another dev who took part in June’s Steam Next Fest pointed out the hilarious irony that is the “juggernaut game we’re all dwarfed by, the baddest motherf***er in the room” being a self-described “small relaxing game about doodling castles.”

On the other hand, has Stardew Valley’s monumental success done nothing to drive home the fact that cozy sells?

Meanwhile, one GR+ writer is finding purpose in building Studio Ghibli houses in Tiny Glade.