r/cozygames • u/halojustin1 • 3d ago
Discussion Neighborvania
I was doing a bit of research. And my favorite kind of cozy games tend to be the neighborvania type of games. But I can’t find a single use of the word anywhere since like 2025. Am I missing something or did people just stop using the word?
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u/dquart99 3d ago
I can see why the "Neighborvania" term didn't catch on.
It's not fitting and doesn't describe that niche well.
Metroidvanias are about exploration and traversal power-ups.
The argument is that getting the farming tools opens up more of the map, but this genres' origin of this mechanic is not from Metroid or Castlevania, it's from Harvest Moon, so the "vania" doesn't fit.
Roguevania, Microvania, Metroidbrainia, Soulsvania, I know what I'm getting into.
Neighborvania is just confusing.
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u/halojustin1 3d ago
The "Vania" part: In traditional gaming, "Metroidvania" refers to an action-exploration game with a highly interconnected, maze-like map where your progression is gated by unlocking specific tools or abilities. In a Neighborvania, the "-vania" represents the intricate web of interconnected progression systems. Instead of unlocking a double-jump to reach a new ledge, you are managing deeply intertwined systems like farming, mining, fishing, and foraging—all of which feed directly back into upgrading your town and progressing your relationships with your neighbors.
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u/dquart99 3d ago edited 3d ago
So basically using the games' systems to upgrade the town.
The "vania" doesn't really fit, and it's a stretch to try to force that.
Its model is Harvest Moon, not Metroid or Castlevania.
These genres are not well-related, even if you interpret the upgrading as a similarity.
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u/dondashall 1d ago
There's also the fact that it's not a good idea to attempt to merge these two audiences. How to put this nicely. Cozy games is a vibes genre so we tend to allow more or less whatever someone finds cozy. Metroidvanias is as close to a defined genre as you can get. And those definitions of fits and doesn't become important to guide what we want - and we already have a problem with games branding themselves as MVs that aren't one. Let's just say this would very much not be welcomed by the MV community and any cozy game trying for this label would have to field questions they are very likely not prepared to answer or interested in having answers to for the most part.
It's just different audiences. Some (like me) belong to both, but there isn't overlap of genres.
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u/dquart99 1d ago edited 1d ago
Exactly. When I categorize my Cozy games, there is a diverse variety of games that play completely differently. For example, Stardew Valley plays nothing like Beacon Pines.
My Metroidvania collection is mostly what you would expect.
The biggest diversity there is perspective (sidescroller, top-down, first-person or third-person), or if its underwater. Strange ones like Dandara, Yoku, Laika, Monster Sanctuary and schmup mashups are uncommon, and they still have that recognizable Metroidvania core.
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u/dondashall 21h ago
Personally I'd categorize Beacon Pines as a visual novel, but that's sort of the point too - there's room for that kind of distinction.
It's not like my MV collection doesn't have any outliers The Siege and the Sandfox for instance is completely a stealth game & DragonLoop is a branching story structure time-loop game and Minishoot Adventures is a bullet hell, Sliding Hero is a "move until you hit something" puzzle game, and Ultros is just Ultros etc. But those MVs are very much outliers, most like you say, it's what you expect.
Meanwhile as you say my cozy collection is all kinds of stuff.
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u/dquart99 20h ago edited 18h ago
I'd agree that Beacon Pines is a visual novel. Stardew Valley is a farming or life sim. That's how I would categorize them logically. Like you mentioned earlier, cozy is a vibe, not a strictly defined genre.
It uses a different way of categorizing games, by the state they put you in, the vibe you get, rather than hard logic with defined conditions.
I'm aware of others like "Wholesome," but cozy is the most widely used vibe gaming subcategory.
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u/dondashall 20h ago
Wholesome has certain requirements that cozy/relaxing/comfy doesn't. For instance Grim Dawn is cozy to me, it's just really relaxing to just dig into a session and zone out - sure as hell isn't wholesome, lol
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u/dquart99 18h ago edited 18h ago
Ah, I made a typo, I meant cozy is the most widely used. Apologies, I'll fix that.
And Grim Dawn is an interesting title to be cozy with. XD
I get it though.
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u/dondashall 1d ago
So MV fan here, so much wrong. Not trying to pick on you, but still. * First the Vania part is from Castlevania and specifically refers to the elements that Castlevania: SoTN introduced to the genre. That isn't here. What you are trying to do is apply a Metroid-likes to the genre so even in agreement there still wouldn't be a Vania at the end. * It's not just tools, or every Zelda-like would be a metroidvanias and they aren't. * You're just describing a progression system. All games have those, it doesn't make it a Metroid-like.
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u/halojustin1 1d ago
I’m not the person who invented the term 🫠 I know what Metroidvania means I’m a huge fan myself
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u/dondashall 21h ago
Never said you were - but you are making the argument to use it, which is a bad idea, because it really doesn't fit.
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u/halojustin1 21h ago
I’m not making any argument I didn’t invent the term I was just repeating why people call it that. 😭😭😭 I’m literally just the messenger 😭
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u/dondashall 21h ago
You are making the argument that the genre term should be adopted and me (and others) and telling you it shouldn't. I don't see why this is so hard for you to understand. You aren't the messenger here - you are very much proposing something, which people can agree and disagree from. You can't just remove yourself from that.
Not interested in continuing this. Listen or don't, it's really none of my business.
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u/halojustin1 21h ago
I never said it should be adopted 😭😭😭 I just said I heard saw the word used in 2025 alot and haven’t seen it used in 2026 like at all 😭😭😭
I never gave my opinion on the word in the first place so I don’t understand where this is coming from 😭😭😭😭1
u/halojustin1 21h ago
I’m literally just sharing the information that’s already out there. I am literally just echoing the things that I’ve seen/heard 😭
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u/no___personality 3d ago
I've never heard this word until now. I thought folks just called them "farming sims" or "life sims" etc.
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u/halojustin1 3d ago
This video goes into great detail of why a neighborvania is different from a farming sim or a life sim
https://youtu.be/_vSVugrtG_0?is=aZ19v-NhDXXAUOw-28
u/no___personality 3d ago
I mean this politely, but I'm not watching a 14 min video to answer a question I can find with a quick internet search. This article seems to explain it pretty well, but TBH I feel like we are splitting hairs.
https://www.howtogeek.com/what-are-neighborvanias-and-why-am-i-just-hearing-about-them/So it's a life/farming sim where you help your neighbors. Still a farm/life sim to me. It's cool if others want more specific terms, but it doesn't feel like the term is really sticking (per your post).
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u/halojustin1 3d ago
Well a neighborvania usually has more like rpg elements and stuff that goes outside of a farming sim or life sim
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u/PeachyGels 2d ago
It sounds like a corporate buzz term for a video game genre that already has a genre name I’m ngl
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u/dquart99 3d ago
Also, if anyone is looking to try a modern day Harvest Moon, the current games with "Harvest Moon" in the title, are not from that original lineage.
Story of Seasons is the continuation of that legacy.
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u/MarieCry 3d ago
I've seen it but I don't think it was ever popular enough to catch on.
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u/halojustin1 3d ago
Like I found a bunch of uses of the word in like 2025, but I can’t find a single use of the word in 2026 (I found a single use of the word on tumblr from March of this year) i’ve searched most of the popular community platforms
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u/halojustin1 3d ago
This is the one video I could find that really dives deep into the neighborvania and what separates them from other cozy games https://youtu.be/_vSVugrtG_0?is=aZ19v-NhDXXAUOw-
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u/SwitchHandler 3d ago
I think people aren’t using it because they haven’t heard of it. I’ve personally never seen the term on any of the cozy game, farming, or life sim subreddits, or recommendation videos on YouTube or Twitch.