Why Minecraft is the Perfect Cottagecore Game

Cottagecore may be something we see attributed to fashion, literature and film, but what makes a video game "cottagecore"?

Thumbnail by: Hotcyder

Mods used:
Minecraft
Stardew Valley

Music used:
Memories of a Lost World - Dragon Quest 7
Korok Forest (Night) - BOTW
Living Mice - Minecraft
Sweden - Minecraft
Strolling in the Town - Dragon Quest 7

[JacobGeller]

New Patreon goal to send eurothug to a cabin in the middle of nowhere

[undiscoveredpie]

This is kind of perfect in the sense that I literally went to the countryside today, watched Kiki's delivery service with my gran and had a cup of tea then watched my mate play Minecraft. Such a vibe. Great video.

[Vailskibum]

I literally saw something online about cottagecore yesterday, now this is nice timing

[Genesis-]

I love the automation and efficiency side of minecraft, it's really cool how the game can support both types of players

[Laezar]

The long dark actually can end up feeling very "cottagecore" once you get good enough at it. Sure it's a pretty harsh survival game, and you have to deal with wolves and all that. But once you know what you're doing then all this natural world end up feeling very peaceful to navigate (dare I say chill? =p). It's not exactly a lush and bright aesthetics but harsh winter are part of the natural world. There is also quite a lot of crafting and the more you advance through the game the more you end up relying on crafted items.
Same with food, while you can't really grow crops and foraging is limited and mostly useful for medicinal herbs trapping rabbits and occasionaly hunting a deer or a wolf (or a bear if you're feeling adventurous) and then actually having to gut them and quarter them really does give this feeling of a natural lifestyle.
The game is also very slow paced for the most part which fits with the aesthetics.

Though not all map exactly give off the same vibe. Timberwolf mountain is a bit too harsh and has not a lot of real good place to live in for a long time for exemple, and climbing a mountain isn't exactly stress free. But maps like pleasant valley, mystery lake or coastal highway all are very slow paced and have great long term shelters to establish yourself in.
Also overall the canadian cottages do a lot for the aesthetic.

[realkingofantarctica]

I'm not sure what "Cottagecore" is or if it applies to a sub-genre, but shameless to say, I adore that cosy feeling of decorating, building and basking in the virtual grass and sunlight that enriches my "hard" work.

Thank you for being one of those channels that can put my incredibly specific and aesthetic preferences in videogames into words.

[chriskawell]

"There's a comforting insignificance in the face of the natural world." Beautiful writing! You clearly put so much care into your scripts and video editing, well done and thank you!

[phedran]

The term "cottagecore" didn't exist when I created the Minecraft modpack series Life in the Woods, but how you're describing the term (and overlapping terms) hits a lot of points that resonated with people when they played it.

I was similarly seeking gameplay that wasn't being explored much at the time, in a pre-Stardew Valley world.

I still have players thanking and reaching out to tell me about their deeply personal experiences.

Both versions of the modpack are pretty dated now, but maybe this year is the year I have the health to work on a new version.

[busti]

Have you had a look at the "Hunger Overhaul" mod? It makes it so that you have to vary what you eat to replenish hunger.
In combination with "Pams Harvest Craft" it almost turns Minecraft into a cooking game. It's nice to think about what you should cook next and what you have to farm to create nice meals.

[raioh]

that intro is the perfect life that I stive to live lol

this channel really validates me lol I used to find it really weird that I was into this stuff in gaming, I really enjoy looking at these worlds, the scenery, animals, plants, taking my time and just "hanging out" in video games, no even worried about progress or objectives.

I used to get a lot of nature irl before quarentine, but seeing it in a virtual video game format is really interesting to me, especially because I know how much hard work game devs put into this stuff and most of the time we just rush through it looking for the next encounter. It's also the main thing keeping me sane during this pandemic (I'm a travel photographer, so I can't really do my job rn)

Greetings from Brazil! Thank you for your work, it has positively affected my mental health during this year.

[RealPixels]

This video has been in my 'Watch later' for months, but I finally found the right time to watch it—while drinking the end of a nice cup of tea as it peacefully rains outside on the first morning of the New Year. What a lovely video.

[brian]

I would like to hire you to read me stories while I fall asleep. You're voice is so soothing.

[robertskitch]

The solution I have at the moment for dealing with the combat problem in Minecraft is a couple of different mods: One called 'Bad Mobs' gives me a simple way to blacklist the mobs that I don't want to spawn and I've used that to disable undead mobs and creepers; and a second mod called "Apathetic Mobs" let's me switch mobs from being hostile to being neutral or passive and I've used that to set mobs to only attack me if I attack them first. I like that this means that I don't have to have all the difficulty settings turned down like I would if I were playing in peaceful; and it adds some of the content back into the game that would otherwise be taken out.

[daeins]

When your favourite gaming youtuber makes a video about your addiction and sends you into withdrawal. God I miss this game. Thanks for the video!

[kseniav]

What a wonderful video! I now have a couple more peaceful games on my list. My current favourite is Stardew Valley because of the balance between social and private life: you can choose to be alone for days but it's also very easy to drop by neighbours or go to town when you want to. Being completely isolated makes me very anxious, even in a game.

[Afterthoughts]

Mmm, so many feelings from all of this footage. I love having the option to slip into a simpler aesthetic in between bus rides and work hours and noisy bars. It's cozy to know so many others rally around the same images and sounds. :P

[thegamedimension]

What a perfect way for me to be introduced to your channel! Right out the gates I absolutely adore how you paint a picture of the cottagecore aesthetic and lifestyle you would be accustomed to, you absolutely know how to paint a picture and articulate so well with points and just all around. And that’s this whole video, your passion for the topic is beyond noticeable and it’s so well edited and brought together, amazing stuff! Bout to go on a binge with other videos of yours I’m so amazed and impressed with your style and video making

[JunJunMusume]

I watched a few videos from your channel which I just found out about and I liked them so I decided to give this one a try even though I had no idea of what Cotttagecore was and having very little to no interested in Minecraft and I have to say: I LOVED IT!

Apparently I have always liked many CottageCore stuff without even knowing what is was lol. Many Ghibli movies, games from the Atelier franchise, etc.

Well, you got yourself a new subscriber!

[juanjuri]

In addition to Kelpie the fox's, I suggest checking the tutorials and speedbuilds by blisschen and Zaypixel. Very cozy!
Also I suggest checking out Vintage Story - it's a standalone minecraft-like developed by experienced MC modders, which adds its own lore and mechanics. The visuals aren't quite as bright and colorful as Mizuno's texture pack, but it has lots of decorative items and building options, and more in-depth crafting, farming and cooking systems. It also allows you to manually 'sculpt' all building blocks (as you can do in MC with some mods, but much better optimized) which massively increases your building potential.

[VID]

This comment is going to be a bit on the longer end, so I hope you'll bear with me, but I just feel the need to share this.

For starters, about this video in particular, I really enjoyed it. I never even knew there was such a thing such as Cottagecore, let alone its variants. You also made me want to play some minecraft more than I wanted before, so there's a good chance I'll end up enjoying my time leisurely on that blocky virtual world as I go and set out for a mixture of a great adventure and a chill relaxation period. I also really love your takes because you drive the discussion in games away from the general points, where most games talk about either action fueled segments, high octane horror thrills or very deep inter/intrapesronal drama, but you give it another focus. A more serene, much needed "zen" focus, so to speak. Really brings out some great things out there.

Now, talking about your channel in general, I think it's changing the way I perceive things around me. Particularly, environments.

Not to dwell too much on myself, but I've been described as a very sensitive, yet not very visual person. You could ask me to describe what someone is wearing or how a place looks like and I couldn't for the life of me describe it. However, if you asked me how it is to EXPERIENCE said person/place, I could give you a full breakthrough and make you FEEL there through my narrative prowess (which I sharpened even further through writing prose).

Yet, I always had a deep admiration to excellent character/environment design, even if I myself didn't even realize it and I think that has to do with the fact that... design seems to have two purposes: To complete an objective (Utilitary design) and to convey something (communicative design), these purposes being very intertwined with each other.

Your videos putting such emphasis on virtual spaces have started to make me start to pay more attention to the real environments around me and even trying to understand them better. I was always very good at my narrative making you feel like you're on that place, but the actual physical description would be mostly up to imagination. Now, when I look at these things, I feel like they're more tangible. I feel I can "see" the world better and understand why it looks the way it does. It even sprouted a few ideas about why sometimes people's clothes feel so bland compared to actual character designs (even if the character is realistic instead of stylised) and how it all comes down to how one's appearance, while not to be the defining factor and shouldn't be judged as the old book cover saying goes, it conveys and helps one express themselves a lot more.

I want to avoid derailing this comment even more, but I just wanted to thank you for your great work with your videos and in opening my eyes to the "physical" realm around me and how its appearance convey so much about the world around me and, on a lighter note, for helping me realize how I want to decorate my room in real life.

Thank you very much for your excellent work. I am very glad you're sharing these video essays with us. This platform doesn't deserve you, you're a true blessing to our video feeds and I hope your YouTube career treats you as well as you treat your scripts and those virtual environments: With all the love and care in the world.