Do you remember what it felt like to play in the sand pit or beach as a kid, your only concerns being how deep you could go before the walls of your hole caved in and trying not to eat too much sand? Now you can relive those worry-free childhood days with Cozy Holes. 

Cozy Holes is a game in which you play as a shovel called Digby, digging in what may as well be a huge sand pit to try and uncover what happened to the rest of shovel-kind. Your only task is to dig, uncover secrets, and then keep digging some more. This is, perhaps, the most literal example of a sandbox game you’re ever likely to find. 

Digging is relaxing

Any child will tell you that digging is fun. Heading to the beach with a bucket and spade is the highlight of any summer holiday, and the sand pit at the park is an absolute must-visit attraction regardless of the weather. However, it seems that at some point around the age of 10, the enjoyment of digging is suddenly removed from our memories and we move on to other more ‘grown up’ activities. 

In recent years, there has been an influx of games that involve digging, but Cozy Holes is the purest of the lot. Rather than giving you a defined space to dig in, the entire island is diggable terrain. Click on the sand in any location, and Digby will dive down and scoop it up. If you’re lucky, you’ll find gems or other fun things, but the focus of Cozy Holes is on the digging itself, rather than the reward. 

Digby, meet Dogby

There are some objectives in Cozy Holes aside from the main one of finding the missing shovel tribe, although you’re free to set these objectives for yourself rather than being told what to do by the game. That freedom is refreshing, allowing you to play in whatever way you like at the time, refusing to confine you to a set path. 

One of these optional side quests is to find Dogby, who has been trapped under the sand. He’s not easy to find, and my only advice is to look for buried buildings, which may or may not be his doghouse. Once you’ve unlocked the sensor for Digby, it does get easier, and there’s a beacon that shows up eventually to guide you towards your new canine friend. 

When you’ve found Dogby, he will help you find valuable treasures or carvings that will provide more understanding about what happened to your fellow shovels. 

From gems to boulders

There’s nothing better than seeing a game develop in real time, especially when you accidentally end up being the inspiration behind a feature that gets added. Now, when you dive into your own playthrough of Cozy Holes, you’ll discover that you can merge gems that you find to make giant boulders. This is a feature that only exists because I managed to dig too close to the hut and ended up with a pile of rocks. 

So now we can make boulders. You’re welcome. 

Whether you collect your gems immediately or decide to make boulders that would make Donkey from Shrek voice his appreciation, the magic within those rocks is what’s used to help improve Digby. You can increase his digging speed, or how much he digs at a time, and every stat increase helps to make the exploration faster and more satisfying. 

Cozy Holes is currently in development by Flashpoint Games, and will enter early access on August 6, 2025. However, there is a demo to download and play through Steam that allows you to play through the first three days as many times as you like. With so many different things to find and areas to explore, there’s a lot of replayability in the demo alone.