If you want an actual witch living in a magical forest, this is probably the first game I’d point you toward.

Little Witch in the Woods puts you in the shoes of Ellie, an apprentice witch who arrives in a mysterious forest and gets to work learning about the local plants, creatures, and people.

You’ll gather ingredients, brew potions, explore the forest, help the townspeople, and slowly get to know the weird little world around you.

It has exactly the sort of cozy witchy nonsense I want from a game like this.

There are magical plants to collect. Strange creatures to study. Potions to make. A little village. A witchy cottage.

This one is almost tailor-made for this list.

You play as Hyke, a young witch, exploring a post-apocalyptic world filled with monsters, magic, ruins, and mysterious remnants of civilization.

It’s a 2D pixel-art action RPG with multiple playable characters, exploration, combat, crafting, cooking, and plenty of magical weirdness.

A witch protagonist plus pixel-art RPG gameplay? Yeah!

Cauldron puts you in the role of Nyx, a young witch, and takes the whole witchy RPG thing in a more traditional turn-based direction.

You’ve got party members, monster battles, skills, upgrades, exploration, and plenty of potion-and-magic flavor.

Basically: if you want your witch game to involve actual RPG battles rather than just making potions and befriending woodland creatures, this is the one.

Witch & Hero and Witch & Hero II are old-school 8-bit-style action games where you fight monsters alongside a witch while trying to save the kingdom.

Nintendo categorizes the original Witch & Hero as RPG/Action, while Witch & Hero II leans more heavily into the action side of things. So, yes, I’m bending the RPG rule a little here.

But they’re both ridiculously witchy, they’re both 8-bit, and they fit the overall magical-retro vibe of this list too well for me to completely ignore them.

Labyrinth of the Witch is where the list gets a little more dungeon-crawly.

Labyrinth of the Witch is a 2D roguelike RPG with a cute, colorful presentation and a witchy fantasy aesthetic.

You’ll explore randomly generated dungeons, fight monsters, collect items, and try to make it farther into the labyrinth without getting yourself murdered by something that looked harmless five seconds ago.

It’s definitely more combat-focused than something like Little Witch in the Woods, but the art style keeps it on the cuter side.

So if your definition of cozy includes wandering through dungeons while carrying an alarming amount of magical junk, this one’s worth checking out.

Ashina: The Red Witch is a little different from the rest of the list because it’s more of a 2D exploration adventure than a traditional RPG.

You play as Ash, who travels through a mysterious spirit world while trying to save her sister. The game focuses on exploration, puzzles, conversations, and discovering the strange world around you.

And if you’re a sucker for Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, this one has some definite vibes.

You’ve got the mysterious spirit world, strange little creatures, colorful environments, and that whole feeling of stepping into a place that follows its own weird set of rules.

It has a whimsical, fairytale quality to it, but there’s also something a little darker underneath all the pretty scenery.

It’s not a potion-making witch simulator.

It’s more of a magical, story-driven adventure with a witchy, fairytale atmosphere.

Okay, you’re not technically playing a witch in Potion Permit.

You’re a chemist.

But stay with me.

You arrive in Moonbury as the town’s new chemist and spend your days gathering ingredients, exploring the wilderness, diagnosing illnesses, and brewing potions and medicines.

There’s also fishing, crafting, cooking, relationships, home upgrades, and plenty of wandering around town.

So while the game calls what you’re doing chemistry rather than witchcraft, the actual experience can still scratch that gather ingredients → make mysterious concoction → help weird little villagers itch.

It’s basically witchy without anyone actually calling you a witch.

And if that still doesn’t convince you, you can romance and marry Matheo, the village’s grumpy witch doctor.

So technically, you can still get the witchy experience.

Get it here: Amazon