Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time seems to offer exactly what the cozy gaming community has been looking for. A community so eager to jump into a chilling, cute world of miniaturized characters that it helped Level 5’s newest title reach the mark of 1 million copies sold and flooded TikTok and Reddit with posts about the game. From cute characters to a whole island to customize, it is the quintessential cozy sim game, and I love it. However, I learned, eventually, that the zen of the game only lasts as long as I stay away from its cooking minigame, where chopping adorable little vegetables and frying eggs becomes a race to be the best.

A Life in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is the equivalent of what’s usually a job in other role-playing games — classes that you can equip to perform certain actions. Right off the bat, you can unlock up to 15 Lives, each in different categories. A battle Life like Mercenary allows you to engage in combat; a gathering Life like Miner allows you to harvest materials from the environment; and a crafting Life like Cook allows you to make things like clothing or dishes of........

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