There’s nothing I value more in a game than focus – a game with a clear vision that knows exactly what it aims to be – and Is This Seat Taken from Poti Poti Studio is a fantastic example of that. If a game is a meal, this game is popcorn: light, easy to eat, and a perfectly portioned snack. Is This Seat Taken takes a beautifully simple premise – sitting people in chairs – and iterates on it in consistently creative and exciting ways. Thanks to its cute aesthetics and clever puzzle design, it’s an experience I’d even recommend to people who don’t usually play games.
In Is This Seat Taken, your goal is to drag people (represented as anthropomorphic shapes) into their preferred seats in different environments. Each person has specific preferences about the placement of their seats or their proximity to other people, so it gets complicated quickly. On a bus, for example, some people might prefer window or aisle seats, while others want to sit at the back or the front.
To make matters more complex, some riders are kids who want to sit with their parents, extroverts who want to sit by someone who can hold a conversation, or people with bags they want on the seat next to them. The sheer variety of desires presented across the game’s 30 levels was surprising, and I always looked forward to seeing what new preferences would arise in the next areas.
Buses and trains are straightforward seating environments, but others introduce additional wrinkles to the formula. At the sports game, fans of opposing teams don’t want to sit next to each other, and some want to stand rather than sit, blocking the view of those behind them. At a concert, some might want to sit or dance while others need to play on stage as a member of the band. And the airport has you check each person’s flight to see if they should be in line to board or seated at the gate.
All these variables are arranged in a wonderfully paced sequence, where you never stay in one locale too long, and there are very few repeat environments. Whenever you get comfortable, you’re introduced to something exciting and fresh, making it an incredibly engaging puzzle game. Complete every level in a city without messing up a seating request to unlock bonus levels, like a wedding or a beach, that each showcase level-specific mechanics.
The whole journey is presented through a loose story starring Nat, a rhombus who wants to be an actor, on their journey through several cities around the world. Much like the puzzles, it’s all about Nat trying to fit in, and I found it charming and effective; just present enough to be a pleasant throughline, but not so distracting that I felt the need to skip through dialogue.
With my 100-percent playthrough clocking in at about five hours, Is This Seat Taken is a satisfying snack of a game. Complete with a chill soundtrack and a cute art style, it felt like a breath of fresh air. While I played it on PC, it would feel right at home on the go on its other platforms, Switch and mobile. It’s an easy recommendation for anyone even slightly interested in puzzle games.