A Little to the Left Review (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Having spent a considerable amount of time stacking up rubber ducks and paper clips in Unpacking, I feel as if I’d make a rather suitable candidate for a similar line of work. Granted, I’m certainly no expert when it comes to the art of Feng shui, let alone the steps of which one would take to acquire such results. With that said, I do, more or less, know how to arrange things in an orderly fashion, which, when all’s said and done, is really the only thing that Max Inferno’s A Little to the Left asks of you.

A Little to the Left is a lot like Unpacking, in the case that you’re only real objective is to unpack, stack, and organize household items, as well as keep that inner OCD demon from getting on your last nerve. Oh, and a cat, apparently—an anarchy-loving feline who, in spite of your best efforts to keep it at bay, seeks only to erase your progress. Remember the Persian cat that nudged the glass over the table, despite its owner’s pleas for it to, you know, not? Well, that’s pretty much the case in A Little to the Left. There’s a house that’s bursting at the seams with unorganized puzzles to solve, and a curious cat that essentially bathes in the idea of letting chaos run its course. Tidy. Well, sometimes.

Max Inferno’s latest creation has just this moment arrived on consoles and PC, which means you’ll be able to go toe-to-paw with the little fur ball for yourself and, you know, see what all the fuss is about. Before you sign your life away to the world of chore core and organizational leadership, however, be sure to hear us out. Here’s what you should know about A Little to the Left.

Quite the Jumble

A Little to the Left isn’t a complex game, nor is it the most challenging, bar a couple of jumbled puzzles that require you to line up certain items in a numerical or color-coordinated manner. Aside from that, the first dozen or so levels out of the hundred-plus are essentially comprised of adjusting portraits on a wall, bundling toys into a basket, or assembling sticky notes to reveal a doodle. Aside from that, there are also levels that require you to sort through ingredients by food groups, condiments by weight, books by genre, and so on and so forth.

If you haven’t put two and two together yet, then just know this: A Little to the Left isn’t supposed to be for those with a sweet tooth for wall-to-wall pandemonium. On the contrary, it’s for those with a soft spot for lo-fi and ASMR-type aesthetics and light puzzle-solving elements. It’s also a game that’s highly suitable for those who are relatively new to video games, in general, too, as its gameplay mechanics don’t exactly stretch much further than simply pointing, clicking, and scrubbing a cursor over the screen to identify and organize set pieces. In other words, it’s perfectly digestible, even for younger players.

All in all, there are a hundred, give or take, levels to work through in A Little to the Left, each of which contain short puzzles to solve. I say puzzles, when really, a good portion of said levels don’t ask much more than to scoot a painting a little (over to the left, usually), and shuffle a few papers in order to locate a final piece of a drawing or document. That’s about it. So, like I said: clean and simple, wholehearted serotonin fuel on a pastel platter.

Simpler Times

A Little to the Left doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, and I’m honestly so happy about that. At no point does it aim to incorporate unnecessarily drawn-out clutter (excluding the actual mess that’s located directly in front of you, that is), nor does it act as a vessel for countless other genres, either. It is, in short, a textbook tidy ‘em up game that’s oozing with its own character and charms, and that’s exactly what I love about it.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a few puzzles that test your patience every once in a while. For example, on occasion, you’re told to organize a certain set of items, but at no point are you told how, or in what order they should be, whether it’s numerical, color, or by size. For instance, there’s a selection of puzzles that task you with stacking a few books, all of which feature their own colors, authors, and titles. Naturally, you’d think that, by stacking them in alphabetical order, you’d have the job done and be ready to move on to the next. Weirdly enough, though, this isn’t always the case, as some puzzles don’t always have multiple solutions, but rather a single answer, and one that isn’t always clear.

For the most part, puzzles are pretty self-explanatory, and so there isn’t a huge amount to stress over. With that said, there are some tricker segments that require a bit more time and effort — particularly in sections that involve snapping scribbles together to form a picture that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Moreover, there are also puzzles that require a lot of trial and error; for example, one level tasks you with labeling a calendar with stickers — but refrains from telling you which order to use them in.

Let it Be

In spite of the game’s best efforts to chalk up a molehill or two for you to clamber over, it does also offer an exclusive hint system—a feature that allows you to visualize the entire scene in a small pop-up window. It isn’t really a hint, as such, but more a dead giveaway, and in ways, a cheat sheet that should only be used as a last resort. Personally, I didn’t have to use it, though I did feel tempted to take a look beneath the veil on the rarest of occasions — especially when it came to confronting yet another contextless doodle that I had no real intention of tidying up.

There’s another cheat, too: “Let it Be”—a built-in option that allows you to gloss over the level at hand, and simply progress onto the next with no real repercussions. It’s a neat feature to include, for sure, but also hardly one that’s worth implementing, what with it being a puzzle game and what have you. What’s more, as the vast majority of players will already be well aware of what they’re getting into before starting out, it does seem slightly redundant. Ten points for accommodating the slightly less patient players, though, Max Inferno.

Verdict

A Little to the Left is as cozy as they come, and not to mention a real delight to work through, piece by piece, portrait by portrait. Its puzzles are lighthearted, and unsurprisingly easy enough to breeze through without having to resort to cheat sheets or any online jargon about what’s what and which component fits which socket. Sure, one or two of the puzzles can be a little repetitive, but if you’re willing to bypass the monotony of tidying up the same spills several times over, then you’ll actually come to find that A Little to the Left can be a real joy to work with for an hour or two.

Aside from its laid-back gameplay style and cutesy art design, A Little to the Left does also adopt a wondrous soundtrack that’s both floaty and therapeutic in all the right places. And while the occasional paw print of a cat swooping in to scatter your ensembles can get a little annoying after a while, at no point is it enough to steer you away from the tranquility of the experience at hand. And so, again, while there are some slight issues with one or two of the levels, there certainly isn’t enough of a wedge to drive you away from finishing up your duties and seeing it through to the finale.

A Little to the Left isn’t the longest puzzle game in the world, but it’s definitely one that you’ll want to remember, if not for its soundtrack, then for its elegant art style and wide array of original levels. Needless to say that, if you did happen to scrub through Unpacking back in 2021, and are only now looking to scratch that post-completion itch, then you should consider planting your feet in Max Inferno’s latest cookie-coated puzzler.