It’s Me, Not You

I’m the type of person who absolutely hates cleaning. I’ll decide that next Tuesday is cleaning day, and then I’ll proceed to sit on my couch all day, dreading the thought of ever getting started. Washing dishes? I could drown! Vacuuming the floor? What if I get sucked in?! Sweep the chimney? But my lungs! But then, finally, after I force myself to get up, my life changes. I quickly realize that there’s nothing better than a clean house. I should do this all the time! Then a week passes, and the thought of doing all of the things I did the previous week sounds dreadful. Why am I telling you this instead of a doctor? Because how I feel about cleaning my apartment is also how I feel about playing the game Cozy Game Restoration.

Cozy Game Restoration is as straight to the point as its name. Players purchase a mystery box containing an old, beat-up video game and spend a nice, cozy afternoon restoring the game to its former glory. Once you’re finished, put the game on your shelf and watch the value of your collection rise. As I explained earlier, the thought of cleaning is terrible, but looking at a job well done feels great, and that turns out to be true with CGR as well. After you clean your first game and move on to day two, the game gives you three boxes to choose from. With each box a different size, the thought of just how dirty these things were going to be led me to pick the smallest of the boxes. What came out was a relatively smaller cartridge that was in desperate need to be cleaned, and after one big sigh, I started. And while I do wish the sound design for the tools players are given to use was more satisfying, dragging a Q-tip across a dusty surface and watching the dirt magically disappear was great to see. And even when I found myself not wanting to turn the cartridge over to clean the other side, because of how satisfying it felt to have cleaned the front side, I pushed forward until I was finished… well, mostly finished.

All in all, I’d say that Cozy Game Restoration delivers on its idea, but I think there are a few things missing that could help push the title over the top. While the soundtrack of an open window on a nice day or raindrops hitting your window at night is relaxing, I think a proper cozy soundtrack playing in the background would help things a lot. And as I mentioned earlier, I wished the sounds of the tools were a bit more dynamic or at least consistent. One of the tools players are given is a toothbrush, and while there were times when using the brush it made the noise I expected, there were others when it was completely silent. Perhaps this was just a bug, but it’s the little things that result in players losing themselves within the experience.

Even with my criticisms, if CGR looks like the kind of game that interests you, then I think it’s a solid recommendation. Also, if there’s a person in your life who looks forward to cleaning, maybe put this in front of them and see how they react. You never know, you might have just introduced them to a whole new world of gaming.