1. Is the game free to play?
Yes. Cozy River is completely free to start — there is no download, no sign-up and no purchase required. You open it inside Telegram and begin with a free rod and free casts that regenerate over time, so you can catch fish, sell them for gems and swap those gems into USD without paying anything.
That said, a free player cannot fully access the game. High-rarity fish (Epic and above) are locked unless you own the River Pass, and Golden Bait — the item that guarantees an Epic-or-better catch — also requires it. So the game is genuinely free to play, but reaching the rarest fish and the biggest Season 1 rewards needs the River Pass.