Is This Seat Taken? from Poti Poti Studio and Wholesome Games Presents was released after Nintendo’s recent Indie World Showcase. It is a logic puzzler with elegant visuals, excellent audio design, and a lot of charm. I’ve been deep into many long games lately, and Is This Seat Taken? with its relaxed gameplay loop has been the best possible way to take a break from everything else.
On paper, Is This Seat Taken? is a very simple concept, but the execution is what elevates it into a genuine fantastic experience. Your aim in Is This Seat Taken? is to organize groups of people (represented by expressive shapes) based on their own demands in specific situations. The core game is split up into different locations that have their own puzzles, each with multiple parts. While the core gameplay slowly becomes more complex, you are still organizing people or objects alongside people based on their demands. This ranges from dealing with a classroom, trains, a concert, a cinema hall, and much more.
Each level has you dragging people into the vacant portions of a specific location, but the demands become more complex as you progress through the levels. Initially, you might just be tasked with making sure a few of the people have an aisle or window seat, but you soon run into situations where some haven’t showered, others who play loud music, and some families who can’t be split up. Positioning and making sure everyone is happy is quite a task. There is no timer counting down, though, so you have all the time you need to finish each puzzle.
You also don’t need to 100% clear each level to progress. You can always come back to a level you struggled with fully completing because one or two people weren’t happy with your placements later on. One aspect that might annoy some is that you will need to complete all the parts of a level in one go. You can suspend the system, but if you quit in the middle of a four-stage level, you will need to restart it when loading up the game again. Pay attention to the progress bar at the top of the screen before quitting the game.
In fact, with no undo or rewind option, one might think there’s a lot of trial and error involved, and while that can be true, I never felt like my time was being wasted. At most, I restarted a level instead of moving too many people back and forth. The one place I did have an issue is in the controls, but there is a solution here.
Is This Seat Taken? is clearly designed for clicking and dragging or touch input. While it does have controller support on Switch when played handheld or docked (with quite nice rumble), using an analog stick never felt as good as playing with touch controls. Everything took a bit more time. There are a few cursor options, but if you are able to, I recommend playing Is This Seat Taken? exclusively in handheld mode on Switch or Switch 2.
Speaking of Switch 2, this is a perfect game for a potential Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade that allows for Joy-Con 2 mouse controls and higher resolution visuals. Right now, Is This Seat Taken? looks fantastic on iOS and Steam Deck, but the Switch version on Switch 2 looks a bit soft in parts.
Is This Seat Taken?’s art style and the use of colors really elevate it above the same tier as Mini Motorways and Mini Metro. The expressive shapes for people, animations at the end of each level, and even animated font during dialog all come together perfectly. This is all complemented by the audio design. Not only is the soundtrack in Is This Seat Taken? equal parts relaxing and catchy, but all the sound effects perfectly fit the aesthetic.
Even if you aren’t planning on buying Is This Seat Taken?, I recommend checking out the soundtrack. I’m literally listening to Barcelona from the soundtrack while writing this review. I love how, despite the chilled out feel in the music, each song has its own vibe. The Brussels song even reminded me of some KK Slider tunes.
While this review is about the Switch version of Is This Seat Taken?, I also played it on Steam Deck, iPhone, and iPad. I found the iPad delivered the best experience with the larger screen, high-resolution display, and more-responsive gameplay. My iPhone screen is a bit too small for this, but both the Switch 2 and Steam Deck screens were fine for playing with touch controls. It would really benefit from a Switch 2 version offering a crisp native resolution, though.
Right now, my only issues with Is This Seat Taken? are with its controller support and some UI quirks with positioning. The former is likely not possible to solve for those who exclusively play the Switch docked, but if you are able to play this handheld with touch controls, you will only run into some position or touch target issues. These are minor annoyances that you will get used to after a few levels.
Is This Seat Taken? is a brilliant logic puzzler with a playful yet elegant aesthetic, incredible audio design, and I wish I could just play a new daily puzzle in it until the end of the year. A few interface quirks hold it back, but Is This Seat Taken? is an easy recommendation on Switch, iOS, or Steam Deck.
Review copy provided by Wholesome Games Presents
Version tested: Nintendo Switch
