Chicory: A Colorful Tale crossed its five-year mark in 2026, and the small wave of anniversary coverage reminded us how few games sit in the same gentle, painting-focused, story-first lane. Finji’s small RPG about a dog with a paintbrush is the kind of game players finish, sit with for a while, then go looking for something that feels similar. The honest answer is that nothing replicates Chicory exactly. The better answer is that several PC games share the most important parts: a warm tone, slow-paced exploration, a creative or quietly clever mechanic, and writing that takes care.
We tested seven cozy adventure and puzzle games on PC for players who liked Chicory. None copy it. All carry some of what made it work.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Cost | Where to buy | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wandersong | Fans of Chicory’s writing | $19.99 | Steam | Singing as a verb |
| A Short Hike | Smallest, gentlest pick | $7.99 | Steam / itch.io | Two hours, zero filler |
| Spiritfarer | Emotional, deeper RPG | $29.99 | Steam | Goodbyes as gameplay |
| Unpacking | Stories told through objects | $19.99 | Steam | Zero combat, all tone |
| A Little to the Left | Pure cozy puzzle | $14.99 | Steam | Organising as play |
| TOEM | Photography adventure | $19.99 | Steam | Black-and-white art |
| Coffee Talk | Cozy narrative game | $12.99 | Steam | Drinks as conversations |
What Chicory fans want next
We dug through Steam reviews, the Finji Discord, and a stack of Reddit threads. The wishlist clusters around four things, and that drove our picks.
Warm, careful writing
The Chicory script handles burnout, imposter syndrome, and creative blocks without ever turning preachy. That tone is the rare ingredient.
One creative mechanic, fully explored
The paintbrush is the single mechanic Chicory builds the whole game around. Players want that focus elsewhere.
Slow pacing without padding
Chicory takes 8 to 12 hours and never overstays. Players coming off it tend to bounce off 60-hour open worlds.
Hand-crafted art that earns the screenshot
The Finji style is the visual hook. Players want games that look made by hand, not generated.
The alternatives
Wandersong — Best for fans of Chicory’s writing
Wandersong is the closest match on this list because it shares a co-creator. Greg Lobanov wrote and directed both, and the throughline is obvious once you play them back to back. Wandersong is older, smaller, and built around singing instead of painting, but the warmth in the writing and the gentle handling of failure are the same.
The bard you play sings to solve puzzles, talk to characters, and move the story. There is no combat in any traditional sense. The pace is comparable to Chicory and the running time is in the same ballpark.
Where it falls short: Older art style than Chicory. Some chapters drag in the middle act.
Pricing:
- $19.99 base (sales to $5)
- vs Chicory: Comparable price. Shorter overall.
Switching from Chicory: Singing replaces painting as the verb. Same warm tone.
Bottom line: Pick Wandersong if you trust the Chicory writing and want more from the same hand. Skip if older art is a non-starter.
A Short Hike — Best gentle two-hour pick
A Short Hike is the cleanest comparison if you want the Chicory tone without committing another twelve hours to a new game. About 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on how completist you are, exploration-driven, no combat, and a soundtrack that does most of the emotional work.
The hook is the climb up a small island mountain. Every character you meet has something to say worth reading. Every collectible exists to give you a reason to detour. The whole thing fits in an evening.
Where it falls short: Short by design. If you wanted a 30-hour adventure, this is not it.
Pricing:
- $7.99 base (sales to $4)
- vs Chicory: A third of the price, a quarter of the runtime, same warmth per minute.
Switching from Chicory: Smaller scope, faster delivery.
Bottom line: Pick A Short Hike for the cleanest cozy palate cleanser on PC. Skip if length is what you want.
Spiritfarer — Best deeper cozy RPG
Spiritfarer is the cozy game with the most emotional reach on this list. You play Stella, who ferries spirits to the afterlife, and the loop is built around managing a houseboat, taking care of guests, and saying goodbye when their time comes. The art is hand-drawn at a level Chicory fans will appreciate, and the writing handles grief with the same care Chicory uses for burnout.
The scope is larger than Chicory. The runtime can stretch to 30 hours with side content. Co-op is supported on a single screen, which works on Steam Deck and dual-monitor PC setups.
Where it falls short: Pace can feel slow in the middle. Resource management is a steady background task.
Pricing:
- $29.99 base (sales to $10)
- Farewell Edition: includes additional content
- vs Chicory: Pricier, longer, heavier emotional payoff.
Switching from Chicory: Larger scope. More systems. Still emotionally aligned.
Bottom line: Pick Spiritfarer if you want a longer cozy game with real emotional weight. Skip if grief themes feel too heavy this week.
Unpacking — Best zero-combat narrative game
Unpacking tells a life story through the boxes a character unpacks across years and apartments. There is no dialogue, no combat, and no puzzles in the conventional sense. You arrange belongings and the story tells itself in the gaps. It is the most distilled version of what Chicory does with creative mechanics: pick one quiet verb and build the whole game around it.
The runtime is short, around 4 hours. The art is pixel-perfect and the sound design carries the tone.
Where it falls short: Light on traditional gameplay. Some players want more friction.
Pricing:
- $19.99 base (sales to $7)
- vs Chicory: Comparable price, shorter runtime, more focused mechanic.
Switching from Chicory: Quieter, smaller, more focused. No combat or active obstacles.
Bottom line: Pick Unpacking if Chicory’s focus on one warm mechanic was the appeal. Skip if you want active puzzle-solving.
A Little to the Left — Best pure cozy puzzle
A Little to the Left is the puzzle game players who finish Chicory tend to discover next. The premise is organising. Sorting bookshelves, arranging cutlery, finishing a jigsaw of leaves. Cat antics interrupt your work in ways that are funny on the first pass and forgivable on the second. The game’s daily puzzle mode adds a small ongoing reason to return after the main set is done.
The art style is hand-painted and the audio is gentle. The runtime is 4 to 6 hours for the base game with the DLC packs adding more puzzles.
Where it falls short: No story to speak of. Some puzzles are guess-and-check.
Pricing:
- $14.99 base (sales to $7)
- DLC: $4.99 each
- vs Chicory: Cheaper, focused on puzzles, no narrative.
Switching from Chicory: Puzzle-only loop. No story arc.
Bottom line: Pick A Little to the Left for pure puzzle cozy. Skip if story is the part of Chicory you loved.
TOEM — Best photography adventure
TOEM is the black-and-white photography adventure where the verb is taking pictures. You travel a small world, help characters by photographing things they ask for, and the camera replaces the paintbrush as the main interaction. The art style is distinctive enough that screenshots travel well, and the tone holds steady through about 6 hours of play.
The Basto expansion adds more content for players who want a longer trip. The game ran well on Steam Deck since launch.
Where it falls short: Some side quests repeat structure. Black-and-white art is a preference test.
Pricing:
- $19.99 base (sales to $7)
- Basto: included in recent editions
- vs Chicory: Comparable price, shorter runtime, similar warm tone.
Switching from Chicory: Camera replaces brush. Smaller world.
Download: Steam · Epic Games Store
Bottom line: Pick TOEM if photography as a verb sounds appealing. Skip if you want colour-driven art.
Coffee Talk — Best cozy narrative game
Coffee Talk is the visual novel where you run a late-night café and make drinks for the customers who walk in. Conversations with a steady cast play out across nights, and the drinks you make subtly shape how those conversations go. It is closer to a visual novel than to Chicory mechanically, but the warm tone and the care in the writing put it on the shortlist for the same audience.
The sequel Episode 2 expanded the cast and runtime. Both run on modest hardware and are good Steam Deck picks.
Where it falls short: Closer to reading than playing. The mechanic is intentionally light.
Pricing:
- $12.99 base (sales to $4)
- Episode 2: $14.99
- vs Chicory: Cheaper, lighter mechanic, comparable warmth.
Switching from Chicory: Visual-novel pacing. Less active play.
Bottom line: Pick Coffee Talk if you want quiet reading time with cozy characters. Skip if you want active mechanics.
How to choose
You loved Chicory’s writing above all: Wandersong is the closest match. Same co-creator, same warm script.
You want a quick two-hour cozy fix: A Short Hike.
You want a deeper emotional payoff: Spiritfarer. It runs longer and lands harder.
You loved the focus on one creative mechanic: Unpacking, TOEM, or A Little to the Left. Each picks a single verb and builds out.
You want a quiet narrative wind-down: Coffee Talk and Coffee Talk Episode 2.
Stay on Chicory and revisit it: A second playthrough catches scenes you missed. The post-game content rewards completionists.
FAQ
What is the best Chicory: A Colorful Tale alternative on PC?
Wandersong shares a co-creator and matches the tone most directly. A Short Hike is the easiest entry if you want a smaller commitment.
Is there a free Chicory alternative?
Not in the same tier. A Short Hike on sale drops to a few dollars, and itch.io often hosts cozy games priced as pay-what-you-want. The closest free path is the itch.io cozy sale weeks.
Which Chicory alternative is best for kids?
A Short Hike and TOEM are the most kid-friendly picks. Chicory itself handles heavier themes; younger players may want the lighter alternatives.
Are these on Steam Deck?
All seven are verified or playable on Steam Deck. Spiritfarer and A Short Hike are the best-tuned in our testing.
Are there more games like Chicory besides this list?
A Hat in Time, Lake, Eastward, and Hoa show up next in most Chicory-fan threads. They sit one step removed from Chicory’s core but stay in the cozy lane.
