Polygon’s favorite cozy gaming accessories for spring

Cozy games are absolutely everywhere, and their chill vibes have inspired a whole aesthetic for an audience enamored by games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Palia. This adorable aesthetic may emphasize pastels and earth tones, but it is also defined by a tidy and ergonomic space that still has plenty of personality.

If you’re looking for fun ideas to tie your space together, we’ve collected some of the Polygon staff’s favorite products for bringing these charming vibes to their personal gaming space. Whether you need ergonomic accessories to optimize your workspace, some laid-back accent lighting, or some soft pals to accompany you on your adventures, the Polygon staff has got you covered. Here’s everything the Polygon staff bought this spring to bring a little extra warmth to their gaming space.

Petrana Radulovic, Entertainment Reporter

A way to display your enamel pin collection

Pin strips

I love collecting enamel pins, but there are only so many ita bags I can buy to display them. So I turned to corkboards to show them off, and soon after discovered that you can get all sorts of pin boards in very cute colors! It’s a nice way to personalize your gaming space, since you can organize them however you want. Pin boards are less directly cozy, and more so a blank canvas upon which you can design your own cozy space.

A handy home for your plush pals

Plushie hammock

Image: Amazon

If your plush friends are a little too big to display on your desk or on a shelf, this net is the perfect solution. This way they can all peek out and smile at you! It also has a lot of blanket-fort vibes, and that’s just an ideal experience.

A plush buddy that hugs you back

Warmies

Image: Warmies

It is my mission in life to spread the good news of Warmies. These are heatable stuffed animals; pop them in the microwave, and you have a heating pad that is also shaped like a cute animal. They smell so good, and are also weighted. They’re great to just have on your lap while gaming. Use them to warm your hands between clicks during winter months, or just to have a comforting weight on your chest when playing through some anxiety-inducing game moments.

A squishable starter Pokémon

Pokémon Sitting Cuties plushies

Image: The Pokémon Center

Nothing says cozy like stuffed animals. The problem, however, is how to integrate them neatly into your space. Luckily, The Pokémon Company, already on top of the plushie game with staples like “nearly 5-foot-long Wailord” and “life-size Psyduck,” has accounted for this. The Sitting Cuties line has a huge selection of Pokémon across generations, all in small, desk-sized form. They can rest on your monitor shelf or adorn the space around your keyboard. Personally, I managed to adhere my Zubat one to the wall so he looks like he is mid-flight.

A shelf to put that space above your monitor to work

Monitor shelves

Image: Amazon

How else are you going to decorate your computer area with plushies? These shelves are adjustable and can hold roughly four smallish plushies each (more if you’re strategic with stacking)!

Alice Jovanee, Commerce Writer

Pretty much the best handheld for gaming anywhere

Nintendo Switch OLED

Photo: Russ Frushtick/Polygon

The Nintendo Switch has become the poster child for cozy gaming thanks to its portability and vast collection of chill titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley. The Switch OLED offers the same capabilities as less expensive models of the Nintendo Switch but features a larger screen, improved kickstand, and larger internal storage, making the OLED the model to beat.

A friend that keeps my room TERF free

BLÅHAJ

Image: Ikea

If you’d prefer a single large plush, I can wholeheartedly endorse trans icon BLÅHAJ. This huggable 39-inch plush great white shark can be found swimming in the waters of your local Ikea.

A home for your headphones

Headphone hook

Image: Amazon

The cozy gaming aesthetic is often about being tidy, and there’s nothing tidy about leaving your fancy gaming headphones just lying around. Give them a home for when they aren’t resting on your head, to show them off and also protect them from the day-to-day grind. There a lot of items that can fit the bill, but this particular headphone hook can be easily attached to any desk or shelf, while the headphone rest itself can be rotated to different angles for easy access.

A tiny computer to put next to your big computer

Divoom Ditoo

Image: Divoom

The Divoom Ditoo is an adorable and versatile accent lamp that no cozy gaming space should be without. Shaped like an old terminal-style computer, the Ditoo features a 16-pixel-wide, delightfully chunky square LCD display that can be customized with different pictures and animations via the Divoom app. It can also be controlled using the built-in mechanical keys on the base.

A little bin for your trash that isn’t garbage

Tiny trash can

Image: Amazon

This tiny trash can is my son now, and his name is Steven. If you’d like to adopt a tiny trash can son, they’re available in a variety of colors and feature a push-button lid to deposit all of your workspace clutter.

An enviable accent for your desk

Green pixel desk mat

Image: Amazon

Desk mats aren’t just a great accent for your workspace; they also soften the noise made by typing on keyboards and are an easy way to keep your desk tidy. There are limitless styles of desk mats to choose from, but I particularly enjoy the vibe of this green pixelated windowsill adorned with plants and a black cat.

Gamer apparel that isn’t cringe-inducing

Embroidered Stardew Valley sweatshirt

Image: RJstudioCrafts/Etsy

Finally, a sweatshirt that tells the world exactly how I feel. This cotton sweatshirt features an embroidered print of a cat from Stardew Valley in a variety of poses and can be printed in dozens of different colors. You can even get the print embroidered onto a hoodie if that’s more your style.

A vibrant farmer’s almanac

Stardew Valley Seeds and Gems prints

Image: ArtiePrintShop/Etsy

Posters inspired by the poster child of cozy gaming. These art prints detailing the seeds and gems of Stardew Valley are arranged in a rainbow gradient and are available in a variety of sizes, making them ideal for any intimate gaming space.

A little guy to keep your plants alive

Bulbasaur planter

Image: PropsAndPop/Etsy

Plants are a great way to breathe some life into any gaming space. These tiny, semi-porous concrete planters featuring everyone’s favorite grass-type starter Pokemon are big enough to house a single succulent and are available in a variety of pastel tones to accent your space.

Some precious beans for your Nintendo Switch

Paw thumbstick covers

Image: Amazon

Give your Nintendo Switch its own personal set of toe beans with these adorable paw thumbstick covers. Each pack comes with four silicone covers that fit snugly on the Joy-Cons’ and Switch Lite’s analog sticks. Unfortunately, they’re a bit small for other stand-alone controllers, but larger options are available.

Cute speakers that don’t take up a ton of space

Creative Pebble V3 speakers

Image: Creative

There’s no shortage of bulky and powerful speakers on the market, but if you need a discreet solution that sounds good and doesn’t take up much room, you’ll want to check out the Creative Pebble V3. These orb-shaped speakers can connect to a variety of devices via USB-C, but also feature built-in Bluetooth connectivity if you’d prefer to keep the wires to a minimum.

A mouse that works as hard as you do

Logitech MX Master 3S

Image: Logitech

The Master 3S is Logitech’s flagship productivity mouse. Not only is it well suited to low-impact, cozy gaming, it’s also available in a cool white. The ergonomic design, double scroll wheels, and silent buttons make this model a must-have peripheral for any cozy workspace.

A keyboard that’s always happy to see you

Logitech Wave Keys

Image: Logitech

The Wave Keys series from Logitech features low-profile mechanical switches and a built-in wrist rest, and is available in a variety of chill colors to accent your workspace. As an added bonus, this ergonomic keyboard is wireless and can pair with devices using either Bluetooth or its 2.4 GHz wireless dongle, meaning it won’t contribute to cord clutter.

A program to bring some life to your desktop backgrounds

Wallpaper Engine

Image: Wallpaper Engine

There are plenty of free backgrounds and wallpapers for infusing your gaming space with a cozy aesthetic, but Wallpaper Engine features thousands of animated backgrounds that can take your setup to the next level by bringing your monitor to life.

Carli Velocci, Games Editor

Scents that finally tell you what a Den of Thieves smells like

Cantrip Candles

Image: Cantrip Candles

I don’t think some nice candles are going to help you beat that challenging boss, but they can help you get into a certain headspace. I particularly love the options from Cantrip Candles, which manufactures candles with scents based on some nerdy, tabletop-inspired themes. The Library Scriptorium is a personal favorite that elicits the feelings of being in an old bookstore, but there are ones based on coffee shops, bakeries, and forests. I haven’t tried the Realm of Shadows candle yet, but it sounds mysterious. They come in multiple sizes, with the smallest 6-ounce tins starting at $17. While they’ll ship anywhere in the U.S., you might be able to pick them up at your local geek or games store.

Some delicious accent lighting

Govee light strips

Image: Govee

There are a lot of smart lights out there, but Govee makes some of the most versatile options. You can get lightbulbs, fairy lights, outdoor lights… or you can get these light strips for your monitor for the perfect moody gaming setup. While one 6-foot-long strip will cost you about $69.99 (although they’re often on sale), it comes with one very smart feature: color matching. This means you can sync it up with what’s on your screen, and it’ll change as you play a game or watch a video. As with other smart lights, you can set up automations for certain activities or schedules to have them turn on and off. If you’re more of a console-and-couch gamer, you can also get this light bar for your TV for $79.99 and catch up with all your stories in style.

An easy way to sort out your life

Ikea SKÅDIS pegboard

Image: Ikea

I began collecting keyboards last year, but I live in a tiny apartment, so it was becoming increasingly difficult to store them. Many keyboard influencers I followed used these Ikea SKÅDIS pegboards to display them on their walls, so I tried one out for myself. And it’s a game changer — not only for showing off my collection but for storing other office knickknacks.

The pegboard is just the starting point, too; Ikea also sells accessories that attach in the holes, including shelves, hooks, and even containers. I just have some hooks for my keyboards, but I’ve seen people use shelves for flowers or game controllers, or magazine holders for documents. It’s not only a great way to get stuff off your desk, but it can also be a great, three-dimensional way to decorate your walls and set the cozy mood you’ve always wanted. Best of all, they’re pretty affordable, at $27.99 for the largest model, so you can get multiple setups going.

Sadie Gennis, Managing Editor

A good-looking monitor that does it all

Samsung M80C Monitor

Image: Samsung

I am easily influenced. It’s something I try to fight against, but sometimes being influenced turns out to be a boon. That’s what happened when I was shopping for a monitor last year. In addition to doing the classic “best monitor” web search, I spent a lot of time on TikTok looking up “cozy” and “aesthetic” desk setups. Again and again, I saw the Samsung M80C 4K HDR Smart Monitor, which has an all-white, sleek design that I fell madly in love with.

At first, I fought against being TikTok-influenced and went for a cheaper, but very well-reviewed, LG monitor. However, the second I set it up, I ran out of the room in a panic because I was that overwhelmed with how much I hated it. I returned the LG and immediately ordered the Samsung — a choice I’ve never regretted. The monitor’s flat base freed up so much space on my riser, which has allowed me to fill it with candles, plants, trinkets, and warm lighting to create the cozy ambiance I was craving.

Aesthetics aside, the monitor has also worked perfectly for my virtual Dungeons & Dragons sessions and all my work needs. It even has smart TV capabilities if you want to have it double as a TV, and it includes a small white webcam (though I did upgrade to a Logitech camera to get better video quality without sacrificing the all-white color scheme).

Some cloud-based ergonomics

Cloud wrist rest and mouse pad

Image: Amazon

As stated above, I am not immune to falling victim to trends. But so far, I’ve had a 100% hit rate with purchases I’ve made because of TikTok. One of those is my absolutely adorable cloud wrist rest and mouse pad (in baby pink, obviously). After seeing cozy gamers and aesthetic desk TikTokers with variations of the cloud design in a variety of colors, I began a search for one of my own. Eventually, I landed on this one from Amazon, which came with a wrist rest and matching mouse pad for $25.99 — a great deal when you consider that Logitech’s wrist rest on its own costs $19.99. Now, my desk setup is more ergonomic and cuter. So maybe being easily influenced isn’t all that bad.

A mug that keeps your coffee hot

Ember mug

Image: Ember

I love to drink coffee while I read. I love to drink it while I’m catching up on anime or bingeing Bravo. Sipping a hot drink makes these cherished moments of free time even cozier and more rejuvenating (and not just because of the caffeine boost). But it’s extremely difficult to drink anything while playing a game on a handheld or holding a controller. I only have so many hands, and often my drink will get cold before I’m halfway through the cup.

Enter: the Ember mug. It’s temperature-controlled, which means I can keep my drink at the exact warmth level I want for hours on end. So when my hands are busy for long stretches catching Pokémon or harvesting resources, my coffee will still be the perfect temperature when I’m finally able to take another sip. I know $117 is a lot for a mug, but for me, it’s a luxury worth investing in. The vibes alone are fantastic, but it also helps me avoid wasting beans on coffee I’m not finishing.

Cameron Faulkner, Commerce Editor

Lighting that makes every side your best side

Elgato Key Light Mk. 2

Image: Elgato

Adjustable lighting is what helps my gaming space transform between work mode and play mode, and Elgato’s key light is the gadget that makes it possible for me. While its main purpose is to keep my face nicely lit for video calls, it pulls double duty as a bias light that emits its glow onto my office’s walls and ceiling to create a more relaxing work or play space. It’s like a high-tech lamp. While there are less expensive options than Elgato’s $159.99 key light, I think its features make it worth the price.

Not only can it be mounted onto a desk or a tripod, its stand is height-adjustable, and the light sports a wide range of color temperature (7,000 K to 2,900 K) that lets me finely tune the lighting color based on the time of day. If you’re a nighttime gamer, you’ll likely appreciate how dim and warm the light can become. Lastly, the fact that you can control the light’s strength and color via a desktop or mobile app seals the deal.