My preferred self is up at 6am with a spirit full of rainbows, sunflowers, and hopes for a bright day ahead. Aesthetically speaking, a perfect match with the vibe of Palia–a comfy, cozy sim made by Singularity 6. I fell in love with this game seven months ago and it has been my go-to comfort game ever since.

On this particular day, however, I wasn’t feeling my usual bright and sunshiny self. If I couldn’t get it done from the comfort of my bed, then I wasn’t doing it. My blinds were closed and I just wanted some chill time. It was a low energy, lo-fi, leave me alone kind of day. I still wanted some sort of human connection, so I hopped in Discord looking for something to do.

I decided on a celebration cake party (in-game). One, because who doesn’t like baking cakes? And two, because it was an easy activity to participate in. All I had to do was bring 50 sweet leaves, click some buttons, and then BAM, I had a stack of cakes to either eat for focus or sell for profit. What drew me to this particular cake party was the mention of an available “sensory kitchen” (a single-person kitchen with low visual stimulus) that can be reserved upon arrival. I was intrigued because I had seen this type of kitchen mentioned before, but never actually used one, and was in the process of making my own cooking plot to one day host parties. So I said, “Heck, let’s give it a go and see what it’s all about.”

The beauty of attending a cooking party lies in the whimsical wonder of each host’s imagination. One of my favorite plots is by Agedlikesage on Reddit and reminds me of a magical witch fairyland covered in warm hugs and smiles. To add to the atmosphere, guests are encouraged to jump when ready to bake, emote frequently, and shoot off fireworks at the end celebration. All of these things make the event fun, but can cause tons of stress for someone with sensory issues.

This is where the draw of the sensory kitchen comes into play. All of the possible distractions are limited and a calming, low-input cooking environment is created for a single individual. Now, this doesn’t mean boring (aka sensory jail), even though I’ve experienced those as well. When inside the kitchen, player chat bubbles, jumping, moving, and twitching (yes, players have itchy legs sometimes) are completely blocked from view. In turn, my own movements are hidden and I can jump as much as I want without fear of distracting someone else. And so on a day where I needed minimal stimulation, but craved human interaction, I was able to feel as though I was a part of a group working towards a shared goal. Even if this shared goal was earning a few coins to buy yet another plot to store my storage overflow, I was content with doing so as I sat peacefully under the blankets in my bed.

I created a similar space on my own cooking plot. One day I hope to provide the same sort of safe space for someone else.

Palia as free-to-play, cozy sim game by Singularity 6. It is available on available on PC, Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.