Stardew Valley

Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone spent four years making this game entirely alone — every sprite, every line of dialogue, every note of music. You inherit a farm, befriend a town, and slowly discover that the corporate Joja Mart threatening your community is a metaphor for the soul-crushing job you're playing this game to escape. Over 30 million copies sold across every platform imaginable. The 1.6 update in 2024 added enough content for another 200 hours, making it 50% more content than the average farming game. Stardew Valley didn't create the cozy genre, but it defined the template every cozy game since has followed — outperforming #3 in sales by a factor of 30.