Ahead of the presumptive sales that Steam, Epic, GOG, and other vendors will offer this holiday season, I want to sing the praises of a six-year-old cozy game that is worth your time: AER Memories of Old.
This game just has "chill" all over it. The visuals are basic but beautiful, I really like the artistic choices. The world of floating islands in the sky is interesting and makes you want to explore it. And as one reviewer on Steam said:
It's a game about being a bird
Heck yeah, I've always wanted to be a bird
The flying in this game really is fun and easy, there don't appear to be ways to die, you're just soaring around floating clouds and islands, finding lost relics and funny little hidden details. It never stresses you out. The few puzzles that do require some light 3D platforming and timing are so forgiving that even I had no trouble. There are some camera issues and control mechanics that are less than perfect, but they don't present much of a challenge when the puzzles are so forgiving.
And most importantly for me, AER has a beginning, middle, and end. You can spend a long time exploring the world, or you can move through the story pretty quickly. But the story does end, and it doesn't take 100 hours, and I love that.