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Lauren Morton

@comradecupcake.bsky.social
397 followers 41 following 75 posts

She/Her | SEO Editor @PCGamer.com | ✉ lauren@pcgamer.com | Former PCG & RPS freelancer | 🎮 RPGs & cozy games & life sims

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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'm here again overhauling another one of my PC Gamer lists. This time it's the best cozy games. This is the list of what I personally think are the best cozy games, not a list Gemini will spit you out! In that spirit, scroll to the bottom for another poll on what YOU think needs to be on my list.
pcgamer.com
The best cozy games on PC that aren't farm sims
Cozy games are in their boom era, but some of the oldies are still the best out there.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I already telegraphed my feelings about Mistria pretty hard, but here's the official score! It's all about customization (decorating, dressing, curating) and not really about automation, which tends to be what splits the post-Stardew audience. I can't get enough of these characters though.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I married Edward Kyo Elric Sohma as a service to the people. Please enjoy this big March romance primer while I roll back my saves and marry nice boy Ryis.
pcgamer.com
March romance walkthrough: The full March gifts list, heart events, and marriage details for the grumpy blacksmith in Fields of Mistria
Here's how to beat March's competitive side and finally get onto his good side.
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Morgan Park @morganpark.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The Halo remake is decent. But playing Campaign Evolved and the original back-to-back reveals how right Bungie got it back in 2001. Review: www.pcgamer.com/games/halo/h...
pcgamer.com
I played the Halo: Campaign Evolved remake and original Halo back-to-back, here's my review
A neat, but fundamentally flawed remake that doesn't always understand the appeal of Halo.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Big overhaul on our list of the best games like Stardew Valley! This is my first stab at making PC Gamer's "best [genre]" lists feel more obviously curated by our very expert freaks. They always have been, but you should FEEL it more soon. You can even vote for what should have made the list!
pcgamer.com
The best farm sims and games like Stardew Valley
Games like Stardew Valley have fully taken root on PC, so now we're thoroughly spoiled for choice on new games to plant parsnips in.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
been adding these little buddies to all my Paralives builds because I choose to believe they are a This Is How You Lose The Time War reference
close up screenshot of a mantle with two small bird figurines on it: a blue and a red
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
One of the premade families in The Sims 2 is just two stray dogs who want to find a place to raise puppies. I love this stupid game.
Sims 2 family named "Crittur" with two stray dogs who have 200 simoleons and a description that partially reads" Despite being homeless, Danny and Sarah have stuck together throughout the years. But Sarah wants a better life for their future little ones, so they're--"
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Christopher Livingston @chrislivingston.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Summon skeletons, ride dragons, change the weather by shouting at it, sure, no problem. But some concepts are just too ridiculous
pcgamer.com
Even a fantasy game like Skyrim won't let me be a trillionaire
I can be a werewolf or a vampire, sure, but nothing as far-fetched as a trillionaire.
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Morgan Park @morganpark.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Approximately 1 billion embargoes lifted for Summer Game Fest stuff today, so I decided to try something fun: Talk about them all at once and rank them while I'm at it. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
pcgamer.com
18 embargoes from Summer Game Fest just lifted, so let's rank everything I saw in LA
A gauntlet of new games.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Even self-declared anti-hype curmudgeon Fraser is excited about Guild Wars 3 with me.
pcgamer.com
A new MMO announcement is more exciting than all the other SGF news combined
Thanks, Guild Wars 3.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I'll be thinking about Guild Wars 2's innovations a lot leading up to Guild Wars 3 beta next year but ultimately I trust Anet to cook. Putting down GW after 6 years for GW2 was like getting the first pair of glasses you hadn't realized you needed so badly. It was ALIVE.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
my husband standing on a cliff watching for my sails to reappear on the horizon after Guild Wars 3 launches
Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth Swan and her son waiting for Will Turner's ship to return 10 years later.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Our list of cozy game launches in June went up yesterday! And yes I probably am going to try playing all three of the survival crafting games. I will probably never change.
pcgamer.com
The cozy game launches of June are a really crafty bunch
Crafting and cooking are all over the menu this month from survival crafting to flower arranging to stamp collection journaling.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Hey, two (three) cakes!
pcgamer.com
Now that we have Paralives, Inzoi, and The Sims 4, life simmers finally have the variety we've been begging for
With Paralives joining the party, I finally feel like there's a real buffet of choice for life sim players.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
I been Charlie'd
pcgamer.com
Paralives players are getting jumpscared by a naked chap called Charlie glitching into their games and now I too have been Charlie'd
This unsettling, naked para is bodysnatching our characters and honestly, I want to keep them.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I've had us doing more of these "Is It Worth It?" guides to early access games since we don't do scored reviews in EA. Bit of a different angle than our traditional longform impressions. I was excited to break down Paralives a bit for my fellow life sim fans! www.pcgamer.com/games/life-s...
pcgamer.com
Is Paralives worth playing in early access for life sim fans?
After a lot of hours spent in Paralives, here's my breakdown on how you can decide whether it's your type of life sim or not.
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PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · 22/05/2026
🎨 We're delighted to reveal our specially commissioned posters for the #PCGamingShow designed by digital artist @waxbones.bsky.social! Can you guess the show's theme? These are a pretty big hint 👀
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
So far in Paralives I've spent three nights entirely in Live Mode, despite the bugginess, and one night just playing with the photo mode. I've barely touched Build Mode yet, which is normally the only part of a life sim I feel motivated to play. Going to have so much to say about this next week.
Paralives photo mode shot of two Paras posed close together flirting.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Taking screenshots of cute girls like it's my job* *it is my job
Paralives photo mode shot of a black woman with short curly hair and purple eyeshadow wearing a nose ring and checkered collared shirt looking flirtatious.Paralives photo mode shot of a white woman with long brown hair and bangs with flower earrings and a white bow choker looking flirtatious.
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PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · 14/05/2026
Our fantastic hosts Sean "Day[9]" Plott and Mica Burton return to present the #PCGamingShow next month! The fabulous Frankie Ward and new host Elz will be leading a Pre-Show that you don't want to miss 🔥 📅 Sunday June 7 ⏰ 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST / 3am CST
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Confirmed Games Enjoyer @hjrwithpen.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I liked Mixtape a whole lot - but when it comes to its existence as a videogame, it felt out of step with its otherwise gorgeous direction. www.pcgamer.com/games/advent...
pcgamer.com
Mixtape review
Perfect playlist, but just a decent videogame.
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Christopher Livingston @chrislivingston.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
So if someone steals your clothing in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, it's because I lost my boots in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 1 and made a big stink about it 👢👢 www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/if...
pcgamer.com
If you've ever had your shoes stolen in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, that was apparently PC Gamer's fault, sorry
Chris Livingston's fault specifically.
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PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · 06/05/2026
Just look at this guy.
pcgamer.com
This is Chort, a Final Fantasy 14 dungeon boss of absolutely no real significance, but a hero to us all
You can find Chort in the Clyteum.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Heyo our list of cozy game launches this month is up! Personally I'm most psyched for: > OddFauna (the hand-sculpted critter collecting game I said I wouldn't shut up about) > Paralives (please I want to like this Sims-contender after I bounced off Inzoi)
pcgamer.com
The cozy game launches of May are dominated by a bunch of hotly-anticipated sims
From Paralives to Thrifty Business, this month is going to be all about life sims and shop sims in the cozy game corner.
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lincoln carpenter @lincolnhello.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Late drop of a big story tonight—the research team that jailbroke AI safety standards with weaponized poems have published their Adversarial Humanities Benchmark, broadening their research through cyberpunk attack-fiction and ADVERSARIAL HERMENEUTICS:
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
RDO never gave me the ranching job I wanted, but I'll take it in Palia
pcgamer.com
Horse game klaxon: Palia is adding breedable, rideable horses and they look way more realistic than most MMO mounts
Life sim MMO Palia's next free expansion is just three weeks away and it's giving me the ranching update that Red Dead Online refused to.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Songs of Glimmerwick feels like the anti-HP of wizard school games. An entire setting that confronts a society newly escaping 40 years of regressive faux-populist politics. Serious as that sounds, Glimmerwick is SO funny and lighthearted. Excited to see the story continue in the full game.
pcgamer.com
The ethically-sourced wizard school life sim I've been waiting for finally has a playable demo and launches this year
Seven years in the making, the developers of Eastshade are finally ready for us to play a tiny first taste of their cozy witch school life sim Songs of Glimmerwick.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Can't stop staring at this ridiculous four-leaf clover hidden object game made by a guy who actually likes looking for real four leaf clovers.
pcgamer.com
Oh you think you know hidden object games? Then go find a four-leaf clover
One In A Thousand is a mesmerizing replication of real life's most notorious hidden object challenge.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Month 3 of compiling PC Gamer's cozy game releases calendar and it's wild how many games have persistent demos available these days. Especially in the cozy games space, having a demo is almost an expectation now.
pcgamer.com
Our cozy games of April list is looking so chilled out that there isn't even a single farm sim on it
Don't get a spring in your step just yet because this month's cozy game launches are all so cozy you might want to stay bundled up.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
First of a couple stories coming from a great conversation I had at GDC with The Sims 4's original AI programmer.
pcgamer.com
'I took those files and deleted them': Former Sims 4 developer says he totally rewrote the sims' AI in the middle of development and 'that was a scary thing to do'
The Sims 4's original lead AI programmer says he pitched the entire AI system not long before alpha and rewrote it from scratch.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
dungeons are cozy
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
this is the most cozy gamer coded I've looked on a Friday night in a while
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
I think Khiimori might finally be the horse girl game I can wholeheartedly get behind. Once it makes it out of early access, anyway.
pcgamer.com
Finally someone has threaded the needle between survival game and horse girl sim
The Legend of Khiimori is a surprisingly detailed horse courier sim that I'm actually loving more than just in solidarity with my horse girl gamer friends.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
in The Legend of Khiimori you can lead a horse to water and you CAN make her drink and I think that's beautiful 👩‍🍳🤌
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
OddFauna demo is good. Hand-sculpted game characters are so stinkin cool. Look at my biggo goofy whale house boy.
pcgamer.com
My new indie darling is this crafting game with hand-sculpted creatures
OddFauna's handmade critters are absolute catnip for my crafting game brain.
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The Rat Zone 👺💣 WISHLIST GRAVITY GOBLINS @therat.zone · 02/02/2026
who's that on the cover? 👀 www.pcgamer.com/games/new-co...
pcgamer.com
I almost missed these 4 excellent cozy games launching in February
February is surprisingly light on cozy game launches but we're looking forward to these chill picks you shouldn't miss
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Reddit seemed to like this, but mostly I'm just proud of spending the extra half hour to go stage original screenshots in The Sims 4 for a lot of our stories. Small joys.
pcgamer.com
The Sims 4's most notorious sex mod gets launched 400,000 times a day, which is more people than I realized were even playing The Sims every day
One of The Sims 4's biggest mods is putting up numbers a triple-A game would be jealous of.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
I said what I said!!!
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
A little games industry buyout win, as a treat. "I think the best strategy in the age of AI is: bet on yourself," Alderman told me. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
pcgamer.com
Finally some good buyout news: A writer just bought back the game she co-created from a blockchain company so it 'doesn’t end up being turned into AI slop'
Novelist and game writer Naomi Alderman has bought back the rights to the Zombies, Run! exercise app she's been writing episodes of for more than a decade.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
I'm working I promise
pcgamer.com
Like going to the office in Animal Crossing: my most productive work-from-home experience this year was spending all day online in this virtual co-working game
Body-doubling is now 100% cozier.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
It's 2025 and I'm trying to make "fetch" happen. www.pcgamer.com/games/life-s...
pcgamer.com
The 'Stardew Valley-like' genre desperately needs a real name and I have the perfect answer
We can't keep calling them Stardew-like, farmlife without a farm, and "basically Animal Crossing" forever.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Took a screenshot of my Inzoi self months ago during the character studio beta and now other gaming websites and also youtubers are using it for their coverage? Immensely odd seeing my face just doing the rounds because, presumably, people think it's just a generic screenshot they can lift 🫠
Screenshot of a Zoi character with my face, showing the Steam screenshots interface and a taken date of August 21, 2024.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
I hunted (a few) monsters
Monster Hunter Wilds - a hunter wears a blue and red scaled outfit with a wide-brimmed scaled hat that has a red feather
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
I am 8 again and everything is great. www.pcgamer.com/games/life-s...
pcgamer.com
My favorite new cozy game trend is the return of desktop pets
I can't believe desktop pets are actually back and they're more fun than the early 2000s.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
got to play the Sims re-release today and this is what I have to show for myself, for some reason
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
I never quite took to Monster Hunter World, despite wanting to, I think mostly because of how the clunky mission system and co-op trip over one another in an unsatisfying way. I sure do really want to become a whole monhunt sicko for Wilds though.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Last time on The Sims 3: Bea Brewer became a professional car thief, spent a night in jail, got robbed (because apparently there's no solidarity in crime), and was instantly attracted to the burglar stealing the toilet in her home.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
A great interview that @mollietayy.bsky.social and I got to record for the Sims 25th anniversary with series lead Lyndsay Pearson. Today's official Behind The Sims wound up being quite short, so there's a lot of extra conversation in here for fans who wanted more! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmtw...
youtube.com
Sims 4 updates, MySims cozy bundle, future plans and more | The Sims 25th Anniversary Interview
YouTube video by PC Gamer
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
A rare stint in Live Mode for me trying to create a family of one woman who adopts seven ghost cats. Just one more ghost stray to go
In The Sims 4 a woman sim stands in a graveyard at night cuddling with a ghost cat.In The Sims 4 a woman sleeps in a bedroom with six ghost cats sleeping on cat beds around her.
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Lauren Morton @comradecupcake.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
At last I've finished The Witcher books. Final tally of the number of times Sapkowski stares directly into the camera to declare that abortion is a fundamental right: 3
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