Puzzle games are among my favorite genre, and Is This Seat Taken? finds itself in a unique position within it. Starting with a problem to solve, it then requires deduction to eliminate possible problems and the pieces start to come together. The game essentially has you playing an inverse “Guess Who?” as you know the players, you just need to know what position they will fill. The final element to the game is ensuring all needs are fulfilled and do not clash with others around them. Is This Seat Taken? is a quiet, cozy gem of a game that will occupy only half a dozen hours of your time, but is incredibly well spent.
What was unexpected for me is that there’s an overarching narrative, albeit light, to take you through Is This Seat Taken? It follows a group of friends as they grow up and are pursuing their dreams. Eventually they meet their heroes, regret it, and explore other avenues before it all comes full circle and dreams become reality. In fact, there’s a groundedness in how pursuing dreams can often be met with adversity, and it’s how you overcome it that matters.
I’ve stated that this is played like an inverted “Guess Who?”, in that you have to put people in specific positions for them to fit correctly in every given environment. You have the names, looks, traits and characteristics of each person you must essentially matchmake into the right place on the board. There are adults, kids, some are smell from not showering, there are people who wear too much cologne, or talk too much, or simply want to be alone. These people also have preferences and pet peeves because the smelly person might want to be alone, or the person wearing too much cologne wants to chat with people, and most often the kid wants to be with their parent at all times. This is the core of Is This Seat Taken?, and understanding the needs of each person and having to accommodate them the right way.
Once you have everyone placed into the environment, you’ll either be given a red thumbs down which indicates something is wrong or a yellow thumbs up which says you have everyone perfectly positioned. It’s incredibly satisfying to see that thumbs up, and know that you’ve met everyone’s needs. This concept starts off rather easy but increasingly becomes more challenging. It’s the kind of game that is easy to find the solution for, but you could also either accidentally or brute force the solution as well.
There are five locations you’ll travel to during your time in the game, starting off in Barcelona, then onto Brussels, a quick trip London, off to New York, and finally you’ll return to where it all started in Barcelona. Developer Poti Poti Studio ensured that when you go back to Barcelona, you are getting entirely different levels. There are five to six levels per city, with several stages that build upon one another which adds complexity and challenge each one presents. It is worth noting that if you exit a level without finishing all the stages, your progress won’t be kept. The cities you’re visiting take little precidence as opposited to the environments you’re actually in, but it gives the game a sense of place it otherwise wouldn’t have.
Environments to matchmake people ideally will start small in taxis, but then move on to buses, diners, boats, theaters, classes, and airport terminals. It won’t be long before you have to put people near outlets to charge their phone or air conditioning units so they can cool off. You’ll even have to finagle luggage in a very traditional puzzle sense so that everything fits, or no one goes anywhere. Everything and everyone has their place, and as the demand grows, the satisfaction of finding a place for it all does too.
Pressing the red thumbs down will cause characters to speak so that you can fix what’s wrong. Conversely, you can finish the level as-is with no penalty other than not seeing the score max out. The fact that Is This Seat Taken? has progression without requiring perfection solidifies its cozy nature. Now, if you seek perfection or to complete everything, the game has you covered because perfecting each level within a location, you’ll unlock a bonus level to play. The bonus level is indicated by the number of stars on the path, and opens up when it is reached. These bonus levels are even more difficult than anything that comes before it, but that level of challenge is likely what you’re after if you’re perfecting all the levels prior.
While there are no graphics options to speak of, this is a game that has an impressive visual style that is bright with colorful pastels. I did find myself wanting a “dark mode” I could switch to, on occassion. But on the whole it’s often not too bright to play during any time of day.
My PC Specs:
– Linux (6.16.0-5-cachyos)
– Intel Core i9 13900K @ 5.8GHz
– ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360 ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
– G.SKILL TRIDENT Z5 6000MHZ 64GB (32×2) DDR5 RAM
– ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X
– WD_BLACK SN850X M.2 (4 TB)
– LG UltraGear 34GP950B-G (21:9 Ultrawide @ 3440×1440)
In a lot of ways, you’re acting as customer service or even some levels, as a wedding planner to find the right place for everyone and get seating arrangements just right. Seating people in such a way that they don’t interact or interfere with others is paramount. You may be stumble into or seek a methodical solution, but no matter how you arrive at solving these puzzles, is a rewarding experience. The little bit of story you get is icing on the cake that compliments the wonderful gameplay for this distinct puzzler. Is This Seat Taken? as a puzzle game doesn’t hinder or restrict the player, but instead provides frictionless entertainment for all ages to enjoy.
A Steam code was provided by the publisher for review purposes
