There’s something undeniably charming about seeing chibi art in video games.
With their big heads, pint-sized bodies, and overall rounded designs, chibi characters just bring an extra layer of cuteness to any adventure, whether it’s an epic, choose-your-own-adventure RPG, a cozy life sim, or even a fast-paced action game.
From beloved franchises that have always embraced the chibi aesthetic to indie gems that lean into pocket-sized charm, these games prove that anything small can still be mighty!
10Kind Words
Sending and Receiving Kind Words
Kind Words
If you need a game that you can relax to, then you need Kind Words. Kind Words feels more like a group therapy session than a video game; it’s a nice reprieve from all of the chaos that seems to be surrounding the world today.
In Kind Words, you play as a tiny, chibi character, writing and receiving anonymous letters from real players who share their thoughts, worries, and encouragement with you.
You can voice anything, from your deepest anxieties to your quietest worries, and there will always be someone on the other end of the line, ready to lend an empathetic ear.
In addition to empathizing with fellow players, you may also collect and trade stickers with each other, all while listening to a relaxing lofi-style soundtrack that’s hard not to love. If you’ve ever wanted your own, private, safe place to voice your fears and not be judged, then this is your game.
9Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale
NPC Shopkeeper Simulator
Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale
If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to be a random shopkeeper in an RPG, then An Item Shop’s Tale is the answer to all your questions. This game is a bizarrely unique blend of business management and dungeon-crawler, all wrapped up in a delightful chibi aesthetic. There’s really nothing not to love, honestly.
In this game, you play as Recette, a cheerful young girl who inherits her father’s shop, along with all of his debts (thanks, Dad). You’ll have to find a way to turn quite a profit if you don’t want to end up on the streets, so you’d think that it would be a lifesaver to have a magical fairy drop into your life, but you’d be wrong.
Tear, your newfound fairy “companion,” ends up turning your entire life upside down and refuses to ever take no for an answer. With her by your side, crawling through dungeons and picking up groceries at the market seem like Herculean tasks, but sincecapitalism never sleeps, you can’t either!
It’s not the most glamorous retail job in the world, but someone’s got to do it.
8Echoes of the Plum Grove
Low-Key Chibi Cult
Echoes of the Plum Grove
Echoes of the Plum Grove is one of those chibi games that’sundeniably cute but also kind of creepy. It’s got everything you could ever want in a cozy life sim, but with a few other… activities, that might seem out of place in the genre.
In Echoes of the Plum Grove, you play as a settler who has just arrived on a tiny island with even tinier, chibi villagers.
You can start your own farm, make lasting friendships, and forage for cooking ingredients, all while uncovering the eerie secrets of the island. Oh, and if someone doesn’t want to make friends? That’s fine; you can always just kill them and ensure they’ll never be able to make another friend again.
If you’ve ever wanted to join a chibi cult (because why not), then all you’ve got to do is download Echoes of the Plum Grove.
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Who wants to be a hero when you can be an NPC?
7Cozy Grove
Haunted Island Camping Trip
Cozy Grove
On the surface, Cozy Grove looks like any other cozy life sim. It’s got cute, chibi characters, tons of collectibles, and an enjoyable crafting system that could put even Minecraft to shame.
Don’t be fooled by its cozy, adorable cover; this game is actually about being stuck on an endless camping trip on a haunted, constantly changing island. (It’s still cute, though. Like if you put a pretty collar on a werewolf.)
In this game, you get to play the part of a “Spirit Scout”, which is a person tasked with locating and handling vengeful spirits. Each day, you’ll have to wander into the forest (which looks different every time, by the way) and find restless spirits in need of closure.
To put an end to their ghostly tantrums, you’ll need to get to the root of their issues and discover what it’ll take to calm them down. Every spirit’s needs will differ, but one thing’s for sure: they won’t make it easy on you. With all the crazy side quests these spirits dump on you, you’ll start to question your career choices within a week.
A Magical Island Paradise
Fae Farm is like the ultimate escapism simulator. Have you ever wanted to escape to a magical land full of friendly animals and magical creatures? Because same. That’s why you need to download Fae Farm as soon as possible.
Fae Farm takes the classic farm sim formula and dunks it in a bath of fairy glitter and pixie dust. In this game, you get to escape to the enchanted island of Azoria, where magic reigns supreme, and the only thing you have to worry about is what to do first.
You get to start your own homestead, explore an island full of mythical creatures, and even take up spellcasting to help you on your adventures. Fae Farm is literally the game we all needed as kids and never got, so do yourself a favor and start healing your inner child with Fae Farm.
5Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Don’t Knock It ‘Til You Try It
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Okay, I realize we’re all adults here, and a Hello Kitty game probably isn’t at the top of anyone’s wish list, but just hear me out here. Hello Kitty Island Adventure is far from a kids-only adventure. This game will water your crops and clear your acne.
Still searching for that magical fountain of youth that’ll make you feel 15 years younger? Well, congratulations, you just found it; this game will chuck you headfirst into a time portal straight back to when you were 10 years old and wished you could be Hello Kitty’s best friend.
In all seriousness, though, this game ended up being way better than I think anyone was expecting.
This game lets you join the magical world of Hello Kitty and friends, where you’ll get to partake in cozy, child-friendly activities, like solving ancient mysteries, deciphering primitive puzzles, and uncovering forgotten conspiracies of an island far older than anyone could’ve ever imagined. Also, baking cupcakes.
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Just because a game looks wholesome, doesn’t mean it always is.
4Kirby and the Forgotten Land
The OG Chibi Franchise
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
You can’t have a list of chibi games andnotinclude at least one Kirby title. Pretty much every game in this franchise is guaranteed to be a banger on some level, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for the level of certified bang-acity that Kirby and the Forgotten Land ended up being.
As you have probably already guessed, this game puts you in the driver’s seat of everyone’s favorite pink vacuum.
Going into it, the game kind of deceives you into thinking that you’re just going to waddle around and vibe, maybe go on little Kirby-centric adventures here and there, and then the game’s actual plot rears its ugly head and bites you straight in the cerebellum.
One minute, you’re living your best Kirby life, and the next, you’resaving an apocalyptic wasteland from ancient horrorswith your newfound ability to turn into household appliances. Yet somehow, it still manages to be the coziest, most serotonin-inducing, dopamine-blasting experience of all time.
Vending Machine Kirby supremacy.
3The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Chibi Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Link’s Awakening is the chibi Zelda game that we never asked for and never knew we needed. Originally released in 1993, Link’s Awakening was already a fan-favorite, but this remake took things to a whole new level of cute.
Everything is shinier, tinier, and ridiculously polished, like someone dunked it in a tub of liquid nostalgia and gave it a spit shine. Most Zelda games are all about epic quests, saving princesses, and preventing the world’s ultimate doom, but this Zelda game is built different.
Like most Zelda games, Link’s Awakening puts you into the worn-out boots ofNintendo’s favorite tunic-wearing pipsqueak. Except instead of touring Hyrule, you instead wake up on a strange island with talking animals and monsters around every corner.
Surviving won’t be easy, but when has it ever been for Link? If the franchise sees fit to bully him every other game, then who are we to question that?
2World of Final Fantasy
If Funko Pops Came to Life
World Of Final Fantasy
Have you ever looked at the insanely detailed, painstakingly hand-drawn graphics of Final Fantasy games and thought, “Wow. I wish they were tiny and looked like Funko Pops”?
Well, congratulations, because apparently the developers over at Square Enix are mind readers and decided to grant your criminally insane wish.
World of Final Fantasy takes everything you know and love about the Final Fantasy franchise—the crazy strong characters, classic summons, and ridiculously intricate world-building—and chibi-fies it into a baby version of itself.
The title tricks you into thinking you’re in for another average RPG experience, and then, before you know it, you’re stacking tiny versions of Final Fantasy characters on top of each other like a JRPG-themed tower of power, wondering how your life ever got to this point.
Jokes aside, though, this game is actually crazy entertaining. It’s pretty much like any other epic Final Fantasy adventure, but chibi-fied: you follow siblings Reynn and Lann as they make their way through Grymoire to discover the truth about themselves, their pasts, and their world’s future as a whole.
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Stress-free often equates to no combat or fighting, which these games offer all pacifist gamers out there.
1Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The Chibi King
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Let’s face it: you all saw this one coming. And if you didn’t, well, then you probably don’t play a lot of chibi art games.
Ever since its release back in the dark, dark times of 2020 (the year that must not be named), Animal Crossing: New Horizons has beenthe entire internet’s favorite comfort game. You have notliveduntil you’ve been harrassed by anthropomorphic animals who guilt trip you into making them furniture.
This game will let you live the ultimate, unattainable fantasy of owning a house, having a social life, and being able to decorate your property without the HOA breathing down your neck; all it asks for in return is literally all of your free time and sanity.
The only thing this game tasks you with is literally just to live your best life.
You’re plopped onto a deserted island, given zero responsibilities, and then let loose into the environment, where you get to cultivate a garden, catch bugs, and slowly turn your humble little island into your own paradise. Being given permission to turn into a feral little cottage-core human has never felt so freeing.
Sure, your neighbors might occasionally ask you for yet another fishing rod, but hey—what’s life without a little grind? It’s peaceful, it’s cute, and it’s honestly way more addictive than it has any right to be.
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If you’re someone who likes to kick back and cast a line, these games are right up your street.
