MySims: Cozy Bundle (Nintendo Switch) Review (2025)

The MySims: Cozy Bundle was kind of a surprise re-release to see on the Nintendo Switch. MySims was a very particular kind of game that really defined the Wii back in the day. And while some of the more hardcore The Sims fans didn’t care too much for its chibi aesthetic or reconfigured gameplay, I always enjoyed it as a chill little creativity tool.

Going back to the MySims: Cozy Bundle was kind of like taking a short trip down memory lane and ending up back in the present day. On the one hand, it reminded me why I enjoyed these games so much in the past, but on the other, it’s yet another in a long list of low-effort Switch ports, which is pretty common for the system—best of both worlds I guess?

In case you missed its reveal during the August 2024 Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, the MySims: Cozy Bundle contains the first two MySims games released on the Nintendo Wii back in 2007 and 2008 respectively. In MySims, the player takes on the role of a plucky Sim who’s moved to a new town only to discover they recently lost their builder and the town has fallen a bit into disrepair. Using their powers of creativity, the player will build all manner of homes and furniture for the Sims living in their town.

MySims Kingdom goes in a bit of a different direction. Here, the player is a Sim living in a kingdom that has fallen a bit into disrepair after their magical builders—known as Wandoliers—have all but left the kingdom. The king holds a contest to see who will be dubbed the next Wandolier, and lo and behold it’s the player! Using their powers of creativity, all manner of homes, furniture and structures to rebuild this once-prosperous kingdom.

Despite their nearly identical structure, there is actually some noticeable difference between the two games. MySims feels a bit more formulaic and a bit closer to its main series origins. It gives the player a general sense of what’s going on but gives them the freedom to make their own decisions and experience the “story” in their own way.

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MySims Kingdom, on the other hand, is a lot more structured—featuring a lot more dialogue and attempts at humour and narrative presentation. It makes a lot of the early game tutorials—and subsequently the game proper—feel a lot more organic and a little bit closer to a fantasy RPG, where every “quest” is accompanied by a small story conceit to draw in the player.

Gameplay in the MySims: Cozy Bundle is probably going to be what really draws new players in—although if you’re like me and played it on the Wii, you may have some…complicated feelings about it. The bulk of the game for both titles is building and this is achieved fairly simply. In MySims, players are given projects they need to complete—be it house or furniture—and a collection of geometric shapes required to build. Every building project takes place in a workshop, and while every project has certain necessary parts for completion, players are allowed to add as many extra pieces as necessary to express their personality.

“The MySims: Cozy Bundle is certainly a worthwhile blast from the past—and a solid addition to any Cozy game collection…”

MySims Kingdom is fundamentally the same but with some minor tweaks. The whole game is a lot more free-form and open—with players given building areas around the kingdom where they can move and build freely. However, this does mean some limits need to be imposed on the player but MySims Kingdom finds a pretty elegant solution for this.

Since Wandoliers’ powers are based in magic, players need to collect mana in order to place objects. Mana can be found in chests, from completing tasks and by gathering essences—which both games use to apply different colours to objects, complete certain objects and as decorations. It makes essence collection feel a bit more connected to the core gameplay, rather than an additional grind to pad it out.

Lastly, MySims Kingdom actually integrates the main series’ iconic social interaction elements in an interesting way. MySims had players interacting with NPCs in different ways, resulting in gaining unique essences and even special blueprints, but it was fairly straightforward.

MySims Kingdom treats social interactions like a small puzzle, giving players two prompts like “Recite Poetry” and “Puppet Show,” and requiring the player to ascertain which prompt the NPC would react to positively. If a player can charm an NPC enough, it will result in either the progression of a current quest or gaining a necessary blueprint. It adds an added layer of depth to the game that makes it feel a bit more like an adventure where players are using social skills in order to proceed.

“Both MySims and MySims Kingdom were games developed for the Nintendo Wii and both games took that system’s unique controller into account…”

However, gameplay in the MySims: Cozy Bundle has the same problem that I’ve railed against for so many ports—a distinct lack of adaptation to a new system. I couldn’t help but find it a bit hilarious that the last The Sims game I played had this exact problem and no lessons had been learned. Both MySims and MySims Kingdom were games developed for the Nintendo Wii and both games took that system’s unique controller into account—essentially emulating PC controls with elegant point and wave; heck MySims Kingdom made waving a wand central to its gameplay.

In the Nintendo Switch bundle, however, all the controls for handling objects while building have been relegated to the right stick, and it’s clunky, regularly unresponsive and just frustrating. The Switch has used the gyroscope to emulate the Wii pointer in other games, and doing it here would’ve made a world of difference. At the very least, the MySims: Cozy Bundle does adapt the touchscreen for building—similar to the mobile versions—but this is limited to handheld play. If you’re playing docked you’re out of luck.

In the audio/visual department the MySims: Cozy Bundle hasn’t really evolved much and that’s not really a bad thing. While the prerequisite coat of HD Paint has been applied here, the MySims series had such a charming and distinct art style that it certainly stood the test of time—thanks in part to its cartoonish aesthetic and broad use of bright colours. The music is equally chill and fun in that early The Sims way, and the series iconic “Simlish” adds further silliness to this already kid-friendly game.

The MySims: Cozy Bundle is certainly a worthwhile blast from the past—and a solid addition to any Cozy game collection—although, I definitely think players will get a lot more out of MySims Kingdom. While the first game certainly has its charms, its predecessor’s expanded gameplay and added character are certainly the stronger of the two. But if you were a fan of this series back in the day, or just want something to relax and build furniture with, you certainly can’t go wrong here.