There’s a new big dog in town, and it’s wearing a frilly dress. Dressmaker is a new cozy crafting game on Steam all about sewing together frocks and gowns. The game began as a humble three-week project and has since blown up to a full-fledged release that is tearing up the Steam charts. Currently, Dressmaker is number 10 on the Steam Top Sellers, outdoing recent releases such as Silent Hill: Townfall and The Blood of the Dawnwalker.
For some, Dressmaker‘s rise feels like it came out of nowhere. In reality, Dressmaker’s development has been a hyped one for people who closely follow games in the cozy genre. It was featured in showcases like the 2026 Wholesome Games Direct and has garnered millions of views on YouTube. The game has been covered by major outlets like The Guardian and IGN.
Dressmaker is also clearly and deftly meeting an underserved market demand. Millions of people have enjoyed experiences like Roblox’s Dress to Impress and Infinity Nikki, but these free-to-play games come with some heavy caveats and limitations. Cozy games have had their moment, but many of them are about farmsteading or decorating houses. And as the ongoing popularity of character creators has shown, gamers love an excuse to flex their style. Enter Dressmaker, a $14.99 title that takes its name very seriously.
Every aspect of making a dress — choosing fabrics, designing patterns, sewing pieces together — is a part of the gameplay. This attention to detail, on its own, sets Dressmaker apart given the huge variety of fineries players can make. Part of the appeal also comes from Dressmaker‘s townspeople, who make requests for clothes with specific styles, colors, and fabrics. Reviews on Steam say that the NPCs aren’t too picky, but the scenarios they present are compelling. What kind of dress would you make for someone starting a new job? What about for someone who is hosting a get-together? How well can you dress someone on a limited budget?
Though it’s only been out for a few days, Dressmaker already has nearly 2,000 reviews that have given it an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on the PC platform. By and large, the reviews are ecstatic. Many of them compare Dressmaker to Barbie Fashion Show, which is widely considered to be one of the best games in the niche. It’s a hit with young girls and people who never saw themselves playing a dress-up game.
“I am a straight white man and this (is) my game of the year so far,” reads the top-voted Steam review.
“My daughter (9) is completely overwhelmed by this game, she is doing all her homework and chores without an argument so I let her play in the evening on my Mac,” another review reads.
