Cozy Game Restoration

Cozy Game Restoration (Demo) Review ★★★☆☆

Cozy Game Restoration, there’s something awfully familiar about these grimy games.

Cozy Game Restoration is a soothing simulator where you gently bring forgotten video game cartridges back to life. Tear wrapping paper, peel old stickers, lift away grime, and transform dusty relics into cherished collectibles. No pressure or failure, just the quiet joy of restoring memories.

Videos:

  • N/A

  • Gameplay:
    • Use tools to clean games
  • Visual presentation:
    • A game is placed on a desk and you’re given the options of rotating the game or camera to get a better view of all the dirt on it

Pros:

  • Satisfying tape peeling
  • Variety of tools
  • Tools get dirty

Cons:

  • New game to open next parcel
  • Dirt on toothbrush hard to notice
  • Tools clip through object
  • Tutorial book hard to read

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Explanation to Negative Feedback

“Clean a new game”

There are a certain amount of parcels you’re allowed to open when you start a new game, and when you choose one of those parcels and complete it, instead of moving on to the next parcel of your choosing, you have to click on the “clean a new game” to grab the next parcel.

For me, this was widely confusing for one main reason.

When I see “new game” at the top of the menu, I think that the game is going to start over from scratch. And so while it says “clean a new game,” I read it as “create a new game.”

IE start over.

I don’t think I’m going to be the only person that reads it wrong.

Dirt on toothbrush hard to notice

The Q-tip is incredibly easily to tell when it’s dirty, visually, but because the toothbrush is facing downward, it’s hard to tell when the bristles are dirty until you’re smudging dirt over the object you’re cleaning.

Tools clip through object

While you’re cleaning, especially around the edges and such, the tool you’re using, like the toothbrush or Q-tip, will go past the part of the game that you’re trying to clean and kind of clip through it, or be out in mid-air.

It’s not a terrible thing. You’re still technically cleaning the area you’re hovering over, but it is a little frustrating to see your tool completely miss its mark.

Tutorial book hard to read

There’s a book on the left side of the screen that offers images in explanation of how certain things are supposed to work.

The problem is, the images are small and there’s no way to actually zoom into the book itself or even pick it up to see the directions a bit better. You kind of have to zoom in and rotate your camera to get a better view, but even then the images seem kind of blurry, like looking into a fishbowl.

Explanation to Positive Feedback

Satisfying tape peeling

When you pick up a parcel, you have to peel the tape off the box, and it has to be my favorite part of the game, weirdly enough. I love peeling the tape off the box.

It’s better than popping bubble wrap.

Variety of tools

There are 8 tools you can choose from on the side of the screen, including a hand tool so you can move and rotate the game around, as well as a tool that will allow you to find the debris still left behind that you need to clean.

Each tool is designed for specific cleaning–such as the tweezers for peeling stickers, polish for scratches, solvent for ink and adhesive, and so on.

Tools get dirty

This gives a somewhat realistic grasp on your cleaning.

Wipe away enough debris with your toothbrush or Q-tip and you’ll have to clean it in order to start scrubbing dirt away again, otherwise you’re going to smudge more dirt on the game. This sort of coincides with other cleaning games that involve a mop and bucket.

The mop gets dirty, so you have to clean it in the bucket, lest you smudge more grime.

I like this approach.