Cozy Stickerville – a board game where you build a village out of 800 stickers

Somewhere along the way, stickers became a kids-only thing. Grown-ups get to-do lists. Kids get glittery unicorns. Unfair.

Cozy Stickerville says: go ahead, put them on the board game. It’s a cooperative legacy board game where you and up to five friends build a village on an empty map by sticking down houses, farms, shops and trees, one sticker at a time. The box has more than 800 of them, and most of them stay where you put them.

It’s Animal Crossing in a box, but nobody owes Tom Nook money. I think that’s a very good pitch.

What is Cozy Stickerville?

It’s a board game for 1 to 6 players from Unexpected Games, a studio of the French publisher Asmodee. Corey Konieczka designed it. It came out worldwide on February 6, 2026, after a small pre-release at PAX Unplugged.

In May 2026 it was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres, the best-known board game prize there is. It didn’t win (a party word game called Dito! did), but a sticker game on that shortlist says a lot. Wargamer gave it 8 out of 10, and The Tabletop Family, a family of nine that reviews games, calls it their top pick of 2026.

How does it work?

You play through a story that covers ten years in the life of your village. Each in-game year takes 30 to 60 minutes, according to reviewers. Event cards and a story book tell you what happens, and you decide how to react. Then you spend resources on buildings from the catalogue cards and put the matching sticker on the board.

Those choices stick, literally. A building has effects that change later years, and the story book opens new paths depending on what you did. You can also go fishing, mining and, according to the box, even find love. There is no way to lose. The game asks what kind of village you want, a busy town or a sleepy one, and lets you find out.

In the box: a rulesheet, a story book, a sticker book, 120 event cards, 60 catalogue cards, 42 resource tokens and a die. The board is double-sided, so you get a second campaign on a fresh side.

What I like / What could be better

What I like:

• Stickers. Adults love stickers too, they just won’t admit it.
• No losing means nobody storms off. Great for mixed ages.
• The designer told Mojo Nation his core idea was personalising, and every village ends up different.

What could be better:

• It’s a legacy game. Once both sides of the board are full, the campaign is done.
• The Tabletop Family calls it “heavily reading dependent”. Kids who want to play without a grown-up should be about 10. Amazon lists 8 and up.
• One reviewer finds the story writing weak and the choices less important than they look.

Who is Cozy Stickerville for?

Families who play together on weekends, and anyone who sank 200 hours into Stardew Valley. The Tabletop Family says the ten-game campaign was a joy with their 6-year-old.

If you want tension and a winner, this isn’t it. Try Castle Combo or Bomb Busters instead. For crafty people who like decorating more than winning, also see the Rolife book nook.

Where can I buy Cozy Stickerville?

Amazon sells it from the Asmodee store. It was about 40 bucks at the time of writing (October 2026), with a 4.8-star average from about 140 ratings. Most game stores carry it too.

Finally, a sticker book you’re allowed to finish as an adult. Take my money!