COSY GAME CORNER: PALIA

Palia, an MMO from Singularity 6, is a game I’ve sunk countless hours into to figure out if it truly is the ultimate cosy game. With no combat or survival mechanics, it certainly breaks away from the usual MMO formula—but does it have enough to keep players engaged?

As someone who was never able to get into the slow pace of games like Animal crossing, I was starting to think I'd never experience the ‘cosy gamer’ lifestyle. And when I booted Palia up for the first time to see that there are no survival or combat elements at all I wondered.... well, what am I going to do then? 

It turns out, quite a lot. Palia has a huge mix of tasks like farming, hunting, trading and cooking that you need to level up in order to progress. Along with this, a lot of emphasis is placed on building on your housing plot and connecting with the worlds NPC’s. With their huge range of personalities,, Interactions are kept interesting through the relationships you can build along with completely different story lines and fetch quests. I wouldn’t say that the quests are anything revolutionary, and if you are a hardcore gamer they may be lightly repetitive, but they are a fun break from survival style grind whenever you need it.

There are a few unique elements that I have never experienced in a game before such as plushy trading. Throughout the game you accumulate random plushies and you can trade with other players online to get the ones you want.

The plushies don’t have any practical purpose and when I picked up my first plushy I thought, that's stupid. But after trading my koi fish for a tiny carrot plushy that I could put in my room on my broken down housing plot., I was weirdly hooked. It is a great way of connecting with other players on your server and collecting fun items. 

Not only can you trade with other players, but all skills are buffed when you work in a group. Fishing buffs appear when casting with friends and jobs like hunting and foraging reap better rewards faster. It is the perfect way to ensure the multiplayer element is felt throughout every level of the game. 

The game’s primary goal seems to be earning money to upgrade your housing plot. This involves using basic skills like cooking or crafting to transform resources into higher-value items. For example, once you hit level eight in cooking, you can make preserve jars—a slow process, but one that yields significant profit. The beauty of Palia is that you can choose your favourite skill and find ways to make it work for you, whether that’s crafting leather from pelts you gather when hunting or perfecting your fishing techniques. 

Although a fun game, some aspects do feel underdeveloped, and there’s untapped potential in many of its mechanics. The tasks, while varied, can start to feel repetitive, and the overall progression could benefit from more depth. For players who are used to games with robust crafting systems or intricate narratives, Palia might feel a little too simplistic. But if you are new to gaming or are looking for a game that you truly can unwind to, Palia might be perfect for you.

Best of all - It’s FREE