--- title: "Games like Lake: cozy picks (2026) | A Short Sail" description: "Games like Lake, for its mail rounds, its small town and its quiet life choices: Easy Delivery Co., Tiny Bookshop, Night in the Woods, Firewatch and more." url: https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/ published: 2026-10-25 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "Yos Riady" image: https://ashortsail.com/og/blog/games-like-lake.jpg --- # Games like Lake: cozy picks (2026) Games like Lake, for its mail rounds, its small town and its quiet life choices: Easy Delivery Co., Tiny Bookshop, Night in the Woods, Firewatch and more. By [Yos Riady](https://ashortsail.com/authors/yos-riady/) · Published 25 October 2026 · **Updated October 2026** The best games like Lake are **Easy Delivery Co.**, **Tiny Bookshop** and **Night in the Woods**: a delivery route, a small-town routine, and a story about coming home. For grown-up talk, try **Coffee Talk** or **Mutazione**. For the forest and the water, play **Firewatch**. Below are 11 games, grouped by what you loved most, with honest notes. We checked every game on October 31, 2026. ![The cat sails the little boat at dawn, past tall sea stacks and a rock arch under a pink sky.](https://ashortsail.com/_astro/34-sail-dawn.DB6H-LL0_1T71bk.jpg) Featured · our own game ## Our pick: A Short Sail (we made it) We make this one. It is in the list below too, marked as ours, so you can weigh it next to the others. It is a cozy sailing game: you are a little tabby cat with a sailboat, delivering mail, fishing and making friends, alone or online with friends. There are no timers, and the only battles are gentle ones at sea. Coming in Q1 2027. Free demo in your browser at play.ashortsail.com. Windows, Mac, Web and Steam Deck. [See the game](https://ashortsail.com/) [Play the free demo](https://play.ashortsail.com/) ## At a glance | Game | Best for | Length | Platforms | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Easy Delivery Co.](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#easy-delivery-co) | Players who want the closest match to Lake's drives | About 5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X | | [Tiny Bookshop](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#tiny-bookshop) | Players who loved the small daily routine in a small town | About 18 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X | | [A Short Sail](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#a-short-sail) | Players who loved the mail rounds and want them at sea | Not shared yet | PC (Windows), Mac, Web, Steam Deck | | [Night in the Woods](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#night-in-the-woods) | Players who loved Meredith's return to her hometown | About 9 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | | [Mutazione](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#mutazione) | Players who loved small-town gossip and a slow week | About 6 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android | | [Coffee Talk](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#coffee-talk) | Players who liked the evening talks more than the driving | About 4.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | | [Open Roads](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#open-roads) | Players who want a grown-up family story with a car | About 2.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | | [Old Man's Journey](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#old-mans-journey) | Players who want one quiet evening about a life lived | About 1.5 to 2 hours (player reports) | PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, iOS | | [Kentucky Route Zero](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#kentucky-route-zero) | Players who want a slow, grown-up road story, and do not mind something strange | About 10.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox | | [Firewatch](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#firewatch) | Players who loved Lake's trees and water, and want a stronger story | About 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch | | [Eastshade](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#eastshade) | Players who want to explore a peaceful place and meet its people | About 9 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, PS4, Xbox One | Lengths are main-story times from HowLongToBeat or player estimates, checked 31 October 2026. ## What makes Lake special In **Lake**, it is 1986. Meredith Weiss is in her forties and works at a software company in the city. She takes two weeks off to fill in for her dad as the mail carrier in Providence Oaks, her small hometown in Oregon. You drive the mail van around the lake, hand over letters and parcels, and talk with the people on your route. In the evenings, you choose who to spend time with, and at the end you decide where Meredith’s life goes next. Lake has an 84.1% rating on [SteamDB](https://steamdb.info/app/1118240/), from about 5,000 Steam reviews (October 31, 2026). *Developer: Gamious | Year: 2021 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox | Length: about 6 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118240/) Lake is slow on purpose. There are no fail states, no timers you can lose to, and you can even let the van drive itself. Its people are adults with jobs, old friends and small worries. If you finished it and want more of Providence Oaks, the **Season’s Greetings** DLC is a winter prequel where you play as Meredith’s dad at Christmas. No other game does all of that at once. So we grouped this list by the part you loved most: **the mail rounds on the same few roads**, **a town of grown-ups who talk**, **a quiet story about life choices**, or **the lake, the forest and no way to fail**. For more games about the post itself, see our list of [cozy mail delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/cozy-mail-delivery-games/). ## The best games like Lake - **Closest to Lake:** Easy Delivery Co. - **Best small-town routine:** Tiny Bookshop - **Best coming-home story:** Night in the Woods - **Best for grown-up talk:** Coffee Talk - **Best short story about choices:** Old Man’s Journey - **Best forest and water:** Firewatch - **Our own game:** [A Short Sail](https://ashortsail.com/) (a cozy mail game by boat, with no van; not ranked) ## If you loved the mail rounds ### Easy Delivery Co. **Who it is for:** players who want the closest match to Lake’s drives. Easy Delivery Co. is a calm driving game about deliveries. You are a new delivery driver in a snowy mountain town. You drive a little truck along icy roads, drop off packages and get to know the odd people who live there. It has a soft, old-console look and a calm, wintry mood. Like Lake, much of the joy is in learning the roads until they feel like home. More picks like it in [games like Easy Delivery Co.](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-easy-delivery-co/). The downside: the town has a few strange secrets, and some foggy nights feel a little eerie, so it is less grounded than Lake. *Developer: Sam C | Year: 2025 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, Android | Length: about 5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3293010/) ### Tiny Bookshop **Who it is for:** players who loved the small daily routine in a small town. Tiny Bookshop is a cozy shop game. You leave the city and open a bookshop in a trailer by the sea. Each day you tow it to a new spot in a seaside town, set out your shelves and pick books for your customers. Over the weeks, you get to know the locals and their stories. It has Lake’s gentle pace and the same feeling of starting over somewhere quieter. The downside: it is long, and the days can feel alike after a while. *Developer: neoludic games | Year: 2025 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Length: about 18 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2133760/) ### A Short Sail **Who it is for:** players who loved the mail rounds and want them at sea. A Short Sail is a cozy sailing game where you are a little tabby cat with a sailboat. Like Lake, you deliver mail: you pick up letters and parcels, pack them into your hold and deliver them to folks. You stop to talk, help the islanders and give them rides, so you make friends across the islands, and back home you build up your island. But it is a very different mood. You sail between little islands instead of driving a van around a lake, and you are a cat among animal islanders, not a grown-up in 1986 Oregon. You also fish by day and by night. There is no romance for the player. There are no timers, no fighting on foot, and only gentle sea battles against storms and living waves. It comes out in Q1 2027 on PC, Mac, Steam Deck and in a web browser, and you can [play the free demo at play.ashortsail.com](https://play.ashortsail.com/). *Developer: Yos Riady | Platforms: PC (Windows), Mac, Web, Steam Deck | Length: not shared yet | Free demo at play.ashortsail.com* | [Play the demo](https://play.ashortsail.com/) ## If you loved the grown-up town and the talk ### Night in the Woods **Who it is for:** players who loved Meredith’s return to her hometown. Night in the Woods is a story game about coming home. Mae drops out of college and comes back to Possum Springs, her small, fading hometown. You wander the streets each day, hang out with old friends and talk with the neighbors. It is funny and honest about money, work and not knowing what comes next. Like Lake, it is about going home and seeing it with older eyes. The downside: it deals with mental health, and a mystery in the woods turns dark and a little scary. *Developer: Infinite Fall | Year: 2017 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | Length: about 9 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/481510/) ### Mutazione **Who it is for:** players who loved small-town gossip and a slow week. Mutazione is a slow story game about a small community. Kai travels to a strange island community to look after her sick grandfather. The village is full of grown-ups with old feuds, crushes and secrets, and the story plays out over many days of chats, barbecues and boat trips. You also tend small gardens that make their own music. It feels like a soap opera in a small town, which is a lot of Lake’s charm. The downside: the story gets mystical near the end, and you mostly walk and talk. *Developer: Die Gute Fabrik | Year: 2019 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android | Length: about 6 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1080750/) ### Coffee Talk **Who it is for:** players who liked the evening talks more than the driving. Coffee Talk is a calm visual novel set in a cafe. You run a late-night coffee shop in a fantasy version of Seattle. Your guests come in for a drink and talk about work, love and family, and you listen. The drinks you make change how the evening goes. Rain on the window and lo-fi music make it very calm. The downside: it is mostly reading, with little else to do. *Developer: Toge Productions | Year: 2020 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | Length: about 4.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/) ## If you loved the quiet story about life choices ### Open Roads **Who it is for:** players who want a grown-up family story with a car. Open Roads is a short story game about a family road trip. Tess and her mom, Opal, find old letters in the attic and set off on a road trip to the family’s empty old houses. You chat in the car, play with the radio and look through the places Opal has tried to forget. The talk is the heart of the game, and your choices change its tone. It is a story about a mother and a daughter learning to see each other as adults. The downside: it is short, it ends quickly, and Steam reviews are more mixed than for the other picks. *Developer: Open Roads Team | Year: 2024 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S | Length: about 2.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1497360/) ### Old Man’s Journey **Who it is for:** players who want one quiet evening about a life lived. Old Man’s Journey is a short puzzle game about a life lived. An old man gets a letter and leaves his house by the sea. You help him travel across a painted countryside by moving the hills to make paths. On the way, he remembers the choices he made when he was young. There are no words, only pictures and music. The downside: it is very short, and some of its memories are sad. *Developer: Broken Rules | Year: 2017 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, iOS | Length: about 1.5 to 2 hours (player reports) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/581270/) ### Kentucky Route Zero **Who it is for:** players who want a slow, grown-up road story, and do not mind something strange. Kentucky Route Zero is a slow story game about an old truck driver. Conway is making one last delivery for an antique shop. He looks for an address that nobody can find, along back roads and a secret highway under the hills. You pick what people say, and you meet tired, kind adults with debts and jobs on the way. It is quiet, lonely and beautiful. The downside: it is surreal and often sad, and it moves very slowly. It came out in five acts, the first in 2013. *Developer: Cardboard Computer | Year: 2020 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox | Length: about 10.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/231200/) ## If you loved the lake, the forest and no way to fail ### Firewatch **Who it is for:** players who loved Lake’s trees and water, and want a stronger story. Firewatch is a first-person story game set in the woods. It is 1989. Henry takes a summer job as a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness to get away from his life at home. You hike the trails, pass lakes and rivers, and talk with your boss, Delilah, over a handheld radio. The forest and the sunsets are some of the most beautiful in games, and the talks feel real. The downside: it is not cozy all the way through. Its mystery turns tense and paranoid, and it deals with hard things in Henry’s life. *Developer: Campo Santo | Year: 2016 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch | Length: about 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/383870/) ### Eastshade **Who it is for:** players who want to explore a peaceful place and meet its people. Eastshade is a peaceful first-person exploration game. You are a traveling painter on the island of Eastshade. You walk its forests, beaches and towns, set up your easel and paint what you see. The locals ask for paintings and small favors, and helping them opens up the island. There is no combat and nothing can hurt you. The downside: it is a first-person game with some walking back and forth, and Valve rates it only Playable on Steam Deck. *Developer: Eastshade Studios | Year: 2019 | Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One | Length: about 9 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Playable* | [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/) ## Our own game We make [A Short Sail](https://ashortsail.com/). ## Related guides - [Cozy mail delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/cozy-mail-delivery-games/) - [Cozy delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/cozy-delivery-games/) - [Games like Caravan SandWitch](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-caravan-sandwitch/) - [Games like Mail Time](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-mail-time/) - [Cozy game stories](https://ashortsail.com/blog/cozy-game-stories/) - [Cozy games for older players](https://ashortsail.com/blog/cozy-games-for-older-players/) ## Questions ### What is the closest game to Lake? Easy Delivery Co. is the closest game to Lake. You drive a small truck around a snowy mountain town, drop off parcels and get to know the odd people who live there. It is calm like Lake, but stranger, and lighter on life choices. ### Is there a game like Lake where you drive a van? Yes: Tiny Bookshop, Open Roads and Kentucky Route Zero all put you on the road. In Tiny Bookshop you tow a bookshop trailer around a seaside town, in Open Roads you drive a station wagon with your mom, and in Kentucky Route Zero you drive a truck. ### How long is Lake? Lake takes about 6 hours for the main story, according to HowLongToBeat. Seeing every side story takes a little longer, and the Season's Greetings DLC adds a winter prequel. ### Is Lake on Steam Deck? Yes. Lake is Steam Deck Verified. It is also on Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox, but there is no Mac version on Steam, where it runs on Windows only. ### Is Lake multiplayer? No. Lake is a single-player story game. You play as Meredith for her two weeks in Providence Oaks, and your choices shape how her stay goes and what she does next. ### Does Lake have DLC? Yes. Lake: Season's Greetings is a holiday prequel set at Christmas in 1985. You play as Meredith's dad, Thomas, and deliver mail in a snowy Providence Oaks. ### Is there a game like Lake where you deliver mail by boat? Yes: A Short Sail, our own game. You are a little tabby cat who sails letters and parcels between small islands and makes friends there. It comes out in Q1 2027, and the free demo is out now. - [cozy games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/cozy-games/) - [relaxing games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/relaxing-games/) - [indie games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/indie-games/) - [delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/delivery-games/) - [game lists](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/game-lists/) **Written by [Yos Riady](https://ashortsail.com/authors/yos-riady/)** Yos Riady is the solo developer making A Short Sail, a cozy sailing game. ## Related guides - 30 Oct 2026 · Updated 31 Oct 2026 ### [Games like Easy Delivery Co.: cozy picks (2026)](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-easy-delivery-co/) Games like Easy Delivery Co., for its little truck, retro look and eerie snowy nights: Lake, Kentucky Route Zero, Arctic Eggs, Dredge and more. - [cozy games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/cozy-games/) - [relaxing games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/relaxing-games/) - [indie games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/indie-games/) - [delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/delivery-games/) - [short games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/short-games/) - [game lists](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/game-lists/) - 13 Oct 2026 · Updated 31 Oct 2026 ### [Games like Cat Mail Co.: cozy picks (2026)](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-cat-mail-co/) Games like Cat Mail Co., for its sorting, its little shop, its night secrets or its cats: Unpacking, Librarian, Strange Horticulture, KeyWe and more. - [cozy games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/cozy-games/) - [relaxing games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/relaxing-games/) - [indie games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/indie-games/) - [cat games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/cat-games/) - [delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/delivery-games/) - [game lists](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/game-lists/) - 12 Oct 2026 · Updated 31 Oct 2026 ### [Games like Mail Time: cozy picks (2026)](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-mail-time/) Games like Mail Time, for its tiny mail scout, its gliding and its friendly critters: Mail Mole, A Short Hike, Smushi Come Home, TOEM and more. - [cozy games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/cozy-games/) - [relaxing games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/relaxing-games/) - [indie games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/indie-games/) - [delivery games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/delivery-games/) - [short games](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/short-games/) - [game lists](https://ashortsail.com/blog/tags/game-lists/) ## A Short Sail The cozy sailing game with a cat. Coming soon to Steam and [itch.io](https://yosriady.itch.io/a-short-sail) [Play the free demo](https://play.ashortsail.com/) [Get updates](https://ashortsail.com/blog/games-like-lake/#newsletter)