Is This Seat Taken? Review (PC)

”Is This Seat Taken?” he asked, half expecting to secure the best spot in the room without provoking an uproar from the audience. “No, it isn’t,” I replied. “But I could find you another spot—a seat that is as equally comfortable, perhaps even more.” It didn’t work. The agitated patron made a direct command to receive a seat that would benefit their backside as much as it would inflate their ego. But I had other people to take into consideration—a whole room full of people, at that. It was just another day on the job, and weirdly, I found myself enjoying the commotion of it all.

The chitter chatter was one thing, but the irritating echo of salty popcorn shuffling in a bucket was a headache that I simply could not stand, nor the elder who yearned only for a quiet place to marvel at the big screen in silence, apparently. With that, I had a choice to make: either move the elder to a more appropriate seat, or find somewhere else for the confectionary-consuming child to gnash their teeth without pushing the buttons of other cinema goers. Sadly, I didn’t have the option to simply remove either person from the room. No, I had to find a fitting spot for all backsides, after which I’d have yet another ragtag group to allocate, either on a bus, in a park, or at a local haunt of a restaurant. It was all happening, but funnily enough, I actually adored my position as a seating liaison. Weird, that.

Take Your Seats, Please

Perhaps I’m getting old, or maybe I’m just a sucker for simple puzzle games that don’t require any strenuous effort to complete. Thankfully, this game in particular doesn’t ask much of you; in fact, it asks only that you converse with citizens to understand their respective requirements, and find their appropriate seats in one of several locations, be it a local cafe or a theater, a jam-packed bus or a neighborhood garden party. With no timers hovering over you or complicated tasks to complete on the side, the job is, to some extent, an easy one to shovel through. The only caveat here, of course, is the fact that people, in general, are annoyingly particular about where they sit. Go figure.

In an ideal world, you would bundle patrons into a pot and let them sort things out between themselves. Here, however, things aren’t quite as simple. Well, they are, but as with any puzzler, there is a bit of a challenge to overcome in order to achieve the desired results. For example, anti-social citizens may prefer to isolate themselves from extroverted individuals, or similarly, prefer to avoid particular areas that are slightly louder than others. Such is the case with most scenarios in the game, unsurprisingly. Therefore, the objective that you need to tackle is self explanatory: figure out who needs to go where, and gradually learn the needs and traits of each individual in order to help them find their position. Needless to say, it’s a pretty simple concept.

No, Not There!

While the gameplay is as simple as one might imagine it would be, it is still a real delight to work through — especially during situations that involve multiple needs, conversations, and seating arrangements. It isn’t a particularly taxing experience, nor is it one that gets the cogs in your brain churning. That said, it isn’t a game that’s intentionally designed to test your patience, or even present you with insurmountable obstacles that you can’t control or complete, for that matter. If anything, it’s a simple puzzler with hand-holding mechanics, eccentric, cartoon-like visuals, and a lot of unique characters. It doesn’t strive to be anything more than that. And to be honest, I don’t think it needs to prove itself as anything else, either.

For a short puzzler, there is a surprisingly chunky banquet of levels to work with here. Granted, the idea doesn’t evolve the more you play it, but the characters and scenarios, on the other hand, do escalate over time, with each citizen becoming more lenient with their requests, and locations generating additional challenges to overcome. That said, as the game doesn’t promote any competitive advantages or leaderboards for you to clamber up, it isn’t necessarily a tough cookie to crack — which is great.

To give credit where it’s due, Is This Seat Taken? also benefits from a clean interface that gracefully rejects any form of visual or technical issue. With little to no bugs there to dampen its composition, it works and flows as it should. It’s cute, to the point, and teeming with tiny details that make an otherwise mundane task surprisingly entertaining. And that’s all that it needs in order to draw you into playing it.

Verdict

Is This Seat Taken? is an easy one to sit through, if you’ll excuse the pun. It’s easy, mainly due to the fact that it doesn’t force you to compete against other users in order to obtain the best possible results. It’s also easy to slug through thanks to its palpable size and comprehensible mechanics, which, when combined, formulate a good starting point for players who might either be new to the genre or have little experience in the field of formal allocation. Or, you know, something along those lines.

All in all, you’re looking at a five-hour campaign here—a campaign that just so happens to boast a good collection of unique levels, characters, and humorous encounters for you to enjoy. And so, if you’re looking to unwind to a simple yet satisfying allocating system and reap a few benefits along the way, then you should definitely consider parking a seat at this table the next time you’re in need of a scratching an itch. Just, eh, don’t be too picky about your designated spot — you’ll have plenty of disgruntled passengers to deal with.