Exploring the Dark Cozy Genre with Dredge and Strange Horticulture.
Cozy games, known for their soft colors and lack of violence, are now exploring darker themes in a new subgenre of "dark cozy games." Games like Dredge and Night in the Woods combine cozy elements with psychological horror and themes of mental health struggles and late-stage capitalism. Strange Horticulture, a slow game set in a plant shop with strange plants, also weaves cozy and dark elements together. The contrast between cozy and dark elements makes the comfortable parts even more meaningful.