“How about a puzzle game about not wanting to sit next to certain people” is likely how to pitch for Is This Seat Taken? started. This game is exactly that, a puzzle game trying to find where everyone is meant to be put, whether it’s at a concert, on a bus, in a restaurant, or pretty much any other social function we are forced to deal with people wearing too much cologne, don’t know how to shower, or don’t understand the concept of headphones. It’s a very simple concept for a game simply because we have all dealt with these kinds of people in day to day life, but as tempting as it is to just leave them off the bus, you have to find a place for them to sit. Just like real life.

The home of sprouts, waffles, that one statue of a kid taking a wee, and I don’t know what else..

The style of Is This Seat Taken? is fairly simple, but works well for the game. You can tell what type of event you’re at and that is more or less all that matters. Sometimes the characters, all of which are just shapes as if you’re dealing with Bill Cypher, can be difficult to tell if they’re meant to be adults or children, which does matter, but luckily hovering over them will tell you. The levels are based around major cities throughout the world, but these are mostly just to tell you you’re onto a new set of levels and not so much changing the actual background. Whether you’re in London or Brussels, it’s all just to tell you you’ve progressed the random little story that’s happening, and there is an actual story happening.

There’s a whole ongoing story throughout the game, I did not expect this game to have such deep lore.

Much like any puzzle game, Is This Seat Taken? gets progressively harder, as not only will you likely need to fill every seat at an event by the end levels, but people will also be far more picky sitting on a bus wanting to sit the same direction its moving, next to a window, won’t like strong smells, won’t want to sit near a kid, and will want to read, but they themselves will be wearing too much cologne. Sometimes people really can not be satisfied, but with a little brain work, and sometimes some brute force, there is always a solution to be found.

I wish there was more to say about the music besides it’s pretty relaxed. Of course, this is a puzzle game so you wouldn’t want anything high intensity anyways, so it’s just soothing tunes the whole way through, not offensive but certainly not memorable either. Just sort of there to fill out the space.

If this isn’t a Clint Eastwood film, why are you wearing cowboy hats to the cinema?

Overall, Is This Seat Taken? is a pretty neat little puzzle game that takes a bit of time to finish, but doesn’t overstay its welcome. There is a story if you’re into that, but it is a fairly shallow one just to fill out space while you’re in between sections of puzzles. It’s a great game to pick up and play between doing other things or when you only have a few minutes to spare, and a fairly short game all together.

Is This Seat Taken? is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC

Reviewed on PC

A copy of Is This Seat Taken? was provided by the publisher.