There are quite a few cute life simulation projects trying to capitalize on the rabid Animal Crossing fan base. As these fans become increasingly hungry for new chapters in the Nintendo franchise, any spin-offs and alternatives instantly become more appealing, and it’s in this vein that we find 5 Lives Studios Cozy Caravan.
First of all, if you’ve played any of the cute life-sim games that use Q-version characters and are set in a world of anthropomorphic creatures, you’ll also be immediately familiar with what Cozy Caravan presents. There is a small world filled with creatures living stress-free, abundant and admirable lives, and you play as a young character with ambitions of becoming a top caravanner. Achieving this goal is also fairly straightforward, as you’ll roam the world, talk to locals, collect ingredients and props, cook delicious food, and complete basic tasks (such as providing taxi service between two locations). Based on this, every time you do good deeds or open a market to sell items, you will gain goodwill, which will become the source of progress Guild. These tokens are used to strengthen your caravan, such as pie baking ovens, wardrobes that change the appearance of your character, and so on.
Long story short, if you were hoping that Cozy Caravan would rewrite the script for these games, it really didn’t. But that ultimately doesn’t matter because it neither needs nor is it intentionally changed. This game is for fans of cute adventures and life simulations, and by those standards, it’s hard to say it isn’t great.
But looking at the gameplay, as someone who perhaps appreciates depth, Cozy Caravan does feel a bit one-dimensional. The loop is very basic, having you move around the world, gathering resources, completing small tasks, and ultimately leveling up your caravan. Again, this works, but after a few hours you’ll start to wish there was something more to keep you logged in. There are only so many carrots you can harvest or apple pies you can bake and sell, and there’s always the hope that there will be more. The ultimate goal is to help locals prepare for the anticipated Whizz Bang Fair, but it will take a while to get close to that goal, and as time goes on, the journey starts to become a bit tiring.
Here is an ad:
But this game knows what it is and what it wants to be. If you see this endless stream of fishing, collecting resources, and completing trivial and inconsequential mini-games, all in an extremely cute world, then Cozy Caravan is definitely a game worth checking out. And it must be said, it does have Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ advantage in one key area; there’s no daily limit. You can play the game to your heart’s content, with the in-game days continuing to progress and new opportunities and quests steadily appearing. That’s a huge plus compared to Nintendo’s genre juggernaut.
Beyond that, we’re talking about a game that runs very smoothly on the Nintendo Switch 2 and has the charm and charm that a game of this type deserves. Cozy Caravan may lack the variety and ambition to elevate our expectations of the genre, but it also does it so well that it’s hard to say much more than that you’ll have a great time with this delightful and charming indie.
Here is an ad:
