10 Cozy Games Where You're Actually the Villain

Cozy games are something that I'm almost always in the mood for. The non-aggressive gameplay and laid-back music are something I believe most gamers can never have too much of. Still, what I love even more is when they spice the cozy genre with something additional, like playing the villain!

Playing "the good guys" is kind of a default in the gaming industry, whether they're idealized or flawed. That's why it gets much more exciting when you get to play the bad guy and see the world from their point of view. Add to that a cozy atmosphere, and you're looking at hours-long gaming sessions every time.

10 Cult of the Lamb

Sacrifices Need to Be Made

Cult of the Lamb puts you in the shoes (or should I say hooves) of a little lamb that was sacrificed and then resurrected by a demon with one purpose: to build a cult in his name. In this roguelike fighter and base-builder, you'll go around recruiting followers, building your base, gathering resources, etc. Of course, many of these actions can and will be performed by your loyal followers.

When you're not building your base, you'll be going into dungeons to fight heretics and bosses to gather crucial resources. The game's coziness comes from the overall cute graphics, addictive soundtrack, and great dark humor.

9 Evil Genius 2

Ready to Take Over the World?

Evil Genius 2 is exactly what you can expect from a title of this name. You get to choose one of the four masterminds in the base game, each with their own individual malicious traits, and try to take over the world by creating a doomsday machine. You'll do that through different methods, like training henchmen, researching useful gadgets, and dispatching agents in countries around the world.

The game's cozy 1960s spy-fi setting is underscored by groovy, bombastic music inspired by Bond movies of the era. Evil Genius 2 never once tries to mask the evilness and fully flaunts the villain vibe, which is why I love it so much!

8 Dungeon Keeper 2

Want to Be a Dark Ruler of the Underground?

Dungeon Keeper 2 is the childhood game of many millennial gamers who had no problems taking on the role of the devilish Keeper in exchange for some fun. I could say this game is one of the foundational games in the cozy villain genre. Even though the game was made in 1999, it's still a lot of fun to take the job of the Keeper, ruling over workers and different soldiers while exploring the dark depths of the underground. Testifying to the game's popularity, some gamers are still upset over the fact that a game like this hasn't received more sequels.

What earns it a place on this list, beyond pure darkness, is the management-sim warmth running beneath the surface: your creatures need food, sleep, and a salary. You are actually running a hostile underground workplace where keeping morale up and everything organized is key.

7 Dungeons 4

More Dungeons to Worry About

In Dungeons 4, you are assuming the role of Absolute Evil with dark elf helper Thalya, who can command either hordes of orcs, demons, or undead with the goal of crushing the forces of good. The game really looks like an heir to Dungeon Keeper, with similar dark humor, but with some new mechanics and direct control over units.

What makes this game fit the list is its dungeon-building loop, in which an evil force prepares to make a lot of trouble. The game's coziness lies in the satisfying rhythm of a good management sim, where you take care of your creatures and gather resources before you can fight battles. And as all this fun stuff happens, you can easily forget that you're actually a villain!

6 Wytchwood

Goths 'r' Us

Wytchwood puts you in a gothic fairytale world that calls for exploration. You play as an old witch who made a deal with a demon that requires her to collect twelve soul debts from sinners while doing a lot of crafting. You do this in a beautiful, hand-drawn environment, with a slow foraging-and-crafting loop that gives you a genuinely cozy feeling.

You need to use various tools, such as manipulation, magic, and traps, to reach your sinners. Even though you might think that getting these sinners is some sort of cosmic justice, and the sinners mostly deserve it, you are still a witch actively harvesting souls under contract to a demon.

5 Overlord

Take Care of Your Minions, and They'll Take Care of You

I could say that Overlord is really an openly villainous game where you're put in the shoes of a big black armored dark lord who controls a bunch of minions to complete his goal of defeating seven heroes and establishing his lordship. The game is a hybrid of the RPG and RTS genres, where you control both the overlord and the variety of his minions, all with their own pros and cons.

In general, the game is a satirical fantasy with a lot of dark humor and parody, making it cozy rather than seriously evil. The core of the game is the mischievous minions, who often make hilarious comments and engage in chaotic destruction and running around, keeping the vibe amusing for a long time.

4 Graveyard Keeper

Are You The Person For The Job?

If you've ever dreamt of being dropped in a medieval village and managing its local cemetery, well, you're in luck because Graveyard Keeper will enable you to do just that! The cozy atmosphere is created by the game's crafting and farming loop, where you work on organizing the graveyard by making sure there are enough resources for the business to flourish.

The dark part of the game is that you, as a corrupt mortician, can perform autopsies and use organs in crafting and alchemy to create stuff like paper (from skin), candles (from fat), stamped meat (from flesh), etc. The fact that you have soothing music running while doing this makes the game extra chill!

3 Death and Taxes

Managing Life and Death in a Cubicle

Death and Taxes wraps one of the most literally villainous premises in gaming inside a cozy office-sim shell. Each day, you play as the Grim Reaper and come to your office job, where you get profiles of real people with names and pictures on your desk, and, in the manner of an office worker, you stamp out decisions on who lives and who dies.

Office cat, the authentic elevator music, funny characters, and a skull stamped on a paper faxed to you make an ideal combo for a cozy and villainous day. After all that hard work, you go home to buy desk decorations and different suits and wigs, so you're even more awesome at work the next day.

2 Untitled Goose Game

In Untitled Goose Game, the villain's role doesn't come from executing a mega-evil plan to destroy the world, but rather from annoying people. A lot of people. You are simply a goose that has a harassing to-do list, which includes things like stealing keys, throwing stuff into water, or just bullying people.

The game does offer the cozy experience of an average warm summer afternoon in an English village. The visuals are charming, the ambient music is gentle and soothing, and the overall quiet and forgiving pace of the game never rushes you to do anything. That's why it's a very kid-friendly game, despite it pushing you towards being a baddie.

1 Ruinarch

I would call Ruinarch a game that focuses on a subversive, villainous atmosphere, where you manipulate procedurally generated societies through all kinds of evil elements. So, instead of helping to develop a society as you would in most other games, here you would torment the population by summoning werewolves, spreading plagues, sending powerful tornadoes, or wreaking havoc by spreading rumors.

As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless in this game, where you watch the small lives of many people quietly unfold, only to be ruined by your patient strategy. The pixel art world is full of life and charm, giving it that cozy vibe.