I am the kind of introvert who’s made an artwork of choosing the proper seat in public locations. With such honed expertise, I assumed a puzzler like Is This Seat Taken? could be second nature, and I used to be largely proper. This lovely indie won’t convey something radical to the desk, however it’s a superbly nice pick-up-and-play expertise, that may undoubtedly scratch any low-stakes puzzle itches.
Strung collectively by a unfastened story a couple of rhombus with goals of treading the boards (sure, actually), Is This Seat Taken is about organising folks into the suitable spots so that everybody’s preferences are happy. This could be on the cinema or museum, a taxi or a ship, however every particular person (properly, “form” could be extra correct) has their very own circumstances to fulfill, and they are often relatively fussy.
Issues begin easy: slot this handful of shapes right into a taxi, and ensure individuals A and C are sitting by the window. However every stage brings a brand new problem. Within the cinema display screen, some company will use their telephones or chat. On boats, you may get social gathering teams who have to be stored separate from those that simply wish to sightsee. And everybody needs to avoid company who forgot to bathe.
The thought of performing such feats of organisation in the actual world is sufficient to break me out in a chilly sweat, however Is This Seat Taken could not be extra chilled. There is not any timer and no punishment for placing anyone within the incorrect place. Heck, you’ll be able to even end the extent with out everybody sitting comfortably — although you’d lose useful ‘thumbs up’ factors, and my respect, within the course of.
Busier phases can really feel a little bit trial-and-error-y, and the absence of any sort of trace system meant I needed to pull everybody from their non permanent locations and begin from scratch on multiple event; I might love an undo/reset button for this type of factor. Happily, no puzzle outstays its welcome. I polished off each degree (during which there are 5 or 6 phases) in round six hours, and phases themselves are damaged down into micro-challenges, primed for anybody who needs to squeeze in 10 minutes of gaming whereas the pasta’s cooking. It feels tailored for exactly this.
The onscreen cursor is clean and intuitive, the characters are cute, and you’ll even use touchscreen controls in handheld. If all of it sounds relatively cell puzzler, that is as a result of it’s — I appreciated each new problem and tweak once I’d come again to the sport, however two or three ranges on the trot felt a little bit repetitive.
All in all, Is This Seat Taken is strong pick-up-and-play puzzler. It could not do something new or distinctive, however the condition-meeting gameplay loop is primed for anybody after a low-stakes distraction. It will not hold you occupied for hours on finish, however it’ll do an almighty job of reminding you that your seating preferences are to not be scoffed at.
