Cat Quest III

Cat Quest III missed the main list because it is primarily an action game, cat puns and all. The combat is light enough to stay breezy rather than stressful, and the open-world pirate setting has genuine charm, but if you are specifically chasing that cozy exhale you get from A Little to the Left or Coffee Talk, this is a different kind of relaxation. More like an easygoing afternoon than a quiet evening. Worth picking up on PS Plus if you want something light and playful rather than strictly mellow, especially since the co-op option makes it a decent couch session with a second player.

Cat Quest III is the kind of game you download expecting to play for twenty minutes and then look up to find it is an hour later. The shared-screen co-op is breezy and low-friction, the pirate-themed action RPG format is charming enough that a non-gamer partner will actually watch what is happening on screen, and the PS5 version is the cleanest the series has ever looked. It missed the main list purely because it caps at two players locally and lacks the group-play flexibility of the top ten. For pairs specifically, this is one of the better couch RPG pickups in the catalogue right now.

Cat Quest III is not trying to be Horizon Forbidden West. It knows exactly what it is: a light action-RPG with good-natured pirate energy, a manageable skill floor, and a co-op mode that works without any setup friction whatsoever. I'd describe it as the game you suggest when someone asks for something to play together that won't require a 90-minute onboarding session. The combat loop is straightforward and the world is small enough that you're never lost. Local-only is a real limitation if you can't share a couch, but for a casual evening with someone in the room, it consistently delivers.

Cat Quest III is an action RPG that asks almost nothing of either player. The cat puns are relentless and the combat is simple enough to pick up in about ninety seconds. I'd place it here rather than in the main list because the co-op design is not particularly interdependent; you're both just moving through the same world rather than actively depending on each other. But for couples where one partner is genuinely new to games and wants something with zero barriers, it's one of the most approachable things on PS5. Short sessions, forgiving difficulty, and it looks cheerful enough that nobody is going to complain about playing it.