Abstract

The cozy games label has become widely used across digital storefronts and player communities, but design frameworks that translate the felt experience of coziness into practical developer guidance are still sparse. While surrounding media and player rituals shape genre expectations before play begins, the empirical impact of paratext on the actual game experience has not been directly tested. This thesis addresses both gaps through a synthesis of game design theory, player psychology and paratextual research, built around a case study of the mobile game Good Coffee, Great Coffee. From this synthesis, the Cozy Design Heuristics are established across three tables: in-game design levers, developer-authored paratext and community created paratext. To test these heuristics, a small tablet-based café prototype titled Hamsters & Beans was built in Unity 6 alongside two paratext bundles representing cozy and neutral framing conditions. An exploratory between-subjects study with 20 participants was then conducted to examine the effectiveness of the in-game design decisions (RQ1) and the influence of paratextual framing (RQ2). The results show that the core in-game features, specifically no timers, no failure states, unlimited re- sources and a warm audio-visual presentation, produced a consistent cozy experience across both groups. Player autonomy was more complicated. Tutorial constraints and limited customisation options reduced participants’ sense of freedom. The cozy paratext bundle primed positive initial expectations. The neutral bundle instead introduced stress and performance framing through negative community reviews and fast- paced video content. The in-game cozy design was strong enough to push past those expectations and neutral-condition participants reported a clear positive shift once play began. Together, these findings give indie and solo developers a concrete starting point for how game mechanics and storefront presentation interact in the cozy genre

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