I’ve played the strangest new cozy game of 2026 – and you need to try it too
I’ve been keeping a close eye on cozy games launching in 2026, but after spending an hour with Dandelion Developers’ upcoming mystery game, Nothing Strange Here, it immediately jumped onto my list.
Despite its very usual name, Nothing Strange Here is anything but that. It follows an orphaned teen who moves back in with his uncle Barnie in the strange but colourful town of Larcenest Gap, and quickly becomes its unofficial investigative journalist, using photography and articles to shape how the town reacts to the truth.
What begins as you helping the local townsfolk and quirky inhabitants quickly unravels into a town-wide scandal following the disappearance of your uncle and the discovery of a years-long mystery involving a masked, trench-coat-wearing figure who has been stalking the town.
Before things get too weird, though, Uncle Barnie sends you on a few quick jobs around town to introduce the game’s primary gameplay mechanic of photographic journalism, which is used to solve quests.
Most quests follow a simple structure: talk to locals, explore the town, uncover something unusual, and then photograph it and publish an article about your findings.
It’s a simple idea, but an effective one. Once an article is published, the town reacts almost immediately, with residents leaving messages on bulletin boards or offering unique dialogue options based on the angle chosen for your article.
Clickbait or fact-based journalism?
Now, you can’t completely customize articles in Nothing Strange Here, but the game does offer a degree of customization: you write an article by opening your journal, dragging a photo into the article, and selecting one of three pre-generated headlines and articles with different angles.
You can then add additional text to your article before hitting the big publish button. That’s it! Once published, you’ll be able read reactions to your latest post on bulletin boards around town almost instantly, as well as changes throughout the world.
One longer quest I completed saw me reunite a band of five siblings by finding each in different parts of the town, speaking with them, and then taking a photo of the band playing together for my article. Once published, I was greeted by the family’s mother, hiding around a nearby corner, who expressed her love for the reunion.
In another quest, a farmer asked me to investigate the disappearance of her carrots, which led to a nighttime discovery of anthropomorphic carrots huddled around an injured friend in the middle of the forest. I promptly took their photo, returned to the farmer, and published a new article.
Time and time again, I found myself giggling at the game’s witty journalism, along with some of the comments left by the town’s residents on bulletin boards, all of which are heavily inspired by Reddit comments and include fun fourth-wall-breaking puns.
What really cemented my love for the game was the dozens of pop culture references (We can’t mention UFOs without a reference to Mulder and Scully or, in this case, Sculder and Mully!) and quirky findings located across the game’s map.
Photography isn’t just used for journalism, either. Photographing anything strange around town unlocks collectible stickers, along with some visual gags and references to give you a laugh and encourage exploration.
That deer stranded on a small island off the town’s beach? That’s a sticker. The eyes staring back at you from that dark cave in the mountain, and that strange elf running around the town before mysteriously disappearing? Both stickers.
There are dozens more, from capybaras playing banjos to insects on a date, and each is usually accompanied by a pun once unlocked. They can be used to personalize and decorate your journal, which is a very nice touch and something many of you will likely enjoy.
A town worth exploring
The collectible stickers really pushed me to explore the game’s town, comprised of several coloured districts (red, green, and blue, for example), a forest, small beaches, and a small mountain. In addition to those areas, a few were closed off, but expansions are planned as part of the game’s roadmap, including fields, a cemetery, the west forest, and an island.
The regions within the town itself didn’t feel much different from one another, excluding large swathes of colour (blue for the blue district and green for the green district), and although it was mostly empty bar a few NPCs walking around or standing on the spot, I still found the world enjoyable to explore.
Due to the game’s surreal nature, I was seeking out anything and everything that was weird and snapping photos like my life depended on it. More often than not, I was correct and had just found a brand new sticker, with only a dozen or so found after my hour of playing.
I’m confident that some of the stickers I missed could have been found if I had spent time revisiting explored areas at different times of the day, because, to top everything off, the game has a day and night cycle where certain events and NPCs only appear at selected times.
During the day, the town is filled with a dozen or so NPCs wandering or standing in various shops – you unfortunately can’t buy anything from shopkeepers, but this is hopefully something that is expanded on later – but at night, everyone heads home for sleep, leaving you to wander around in search of fellow night dwellers.
The town does feel sparse at times, particularly at night, and the lack of interaction with shopkeepers and residents did disappoint me, but I loved exploring the surrounding woods, mountains, and beaches, which felt far more alive and packed with references and easter eggs to find.
Final thoughts
Nothing Strange Here has a whole lot of charm, from its colourful and quirky visuals – the character models have a certain jank to them, but it works within the game’s surrealist world – to the unique characters and upbeat music.
While the quests I played felt basic, I still enjoyed my time with Nothing Strange Here. Its simplicity and calming nature, with no combat and no real threat, made it perfect for switching off after a long day. I played the demo in a one-hour sitting, and then spent some additional time hunting stickers, and it only left me wanting more.
The core mystery surrounding the trench coat-wearing figure and the disappearance of Uncle Barnie is fun, and I’m eager to see where it goes. Dandelion Developers’ roadmap for the game with new locations to explore, additional main and side quests, and extra features all leave me confident in Nothing Strange Here’s future.
Players looking for a bustling, routine-driven world may find the lack of a busy town frustrating, while those who enjoy slow, solitary exploration will appreciate the quieter pace. If you’re looking for a cozy game that swaps farming and combat for curiosity, photography, and a gently unfolding mystery, Nothing Strange Here, which launches this year, is well worth keeping an eye on.
Nothing Strange Here launches in 2026 for Steam, and the demo is available now.
Preview code provided by Dandelion Developers.
