Choosy Chairs: Is This Seat Taken?

Working out seating arrangements is surprisingly cute and entertaining.

‣ Is This Seat Taken?
From: Poti Poti Studio, Wholesome Games Presents
Platforms: PC
Release: To be announced
Genre: Arrangement puzzle game
Steam Page • Demo Video • Developer Site

[This week’s article was produced by Christena Maurer—SFF author, engineer, coach, and mom. She spends most of her time battling in the manuscript revision trenches, fueled by tea, video game scores, and dog snuggles. Her story in Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls Who Invent and Imagine comes out July. Follow her on Substack.]

Everyone can be a little picky about seating in public spaces. Some like to grab the window seat. Others prefer to sit by themselves. Some demand to be both by themselves and at a window seat. Some are offended by strong odors. Others have…uh…forgotten to shower?

Now, imagine being the person responsible for getting them all on a bus together. Is This Seat Taken? is a fun little logic puzzle game that tasks the player with sorting out the seating to fit everyone’s preferences.

Indie puzzle games take on just about every variation of brain teaser out there, but very few use this sort of logic puzzle format. It’s refreshing to see something so unique, which also makes the gameplay and game goals incredibly clear at the very start of the first stage.

As stage one starts, two little shape-people NPCs are waiting to get into a taxi. One wants to sit at a window. The other wants to sit alone. The intuitive task is to move the NPCs into the car in an arrangement where everyone is happy. No need for rulebooks and tutorial stages here.

As those NPCs poof into thin air, the taxi gets to its next stop. Here, there is some additional challenge added through having more NPCs to look after (three this time) and a new preference (wanting to sit next to a specific NPC).

Each level increases the complexity with more pedantic arranging. By steadily increasing the preference-variety and number of NPCs through the rounds and stages, the game bumps up the challenge at an impressively intuitive pace that never leaves the player feeling like they’ve been suddenly dumped into the deep end.

The game also provides visual cues to aid in explaining the NPC preferences. NPCs smile when they’re happy with their seat. They frown if another NPC is impinging on their demands. NPC traits that have to do with proximity (too much cologne, too noisy, etc.) have the range of those effects indicated visually.

These visual cues are a big help in clarifying what’s making one NPC or another unhappy. An option to turn them on or off as desired could also provide a way to add an extra challenge to the puzzles—hopefully the developers consider this (though players can toggle the speech bubbles that provide clues).

There are five stages (plus one bonus stage) in the demo, providing unique puzzle settings from taxi and limo rides to a wedding reception. Each stage is then broken down into rounds of puzzles.

The first introduces the basic preferences the NPCs will have in the stage and how they interact with others. As rounds advance, more NPCs join in, and more picky preferences are introduced, adding difficulty with each round. In some levels, choices made in early rounds will impact later rounds, adding to the complexity of the seating requests.

📽 Demo Snapshot: Let’s go to the movies!

In the movie theater, for example, NPCs eating popcorn in the first round will leave crumbs behind, causing later moviegoing NPCs to refuse those messy seats. This was a neat extra challenge, making the player consider how current rounds might make future rounds more difficult.

The art and music are simple and cheery, with just enough story and NPC chatter flowing through the demo to add a sense of playfulness without stretching into over-the-top silliness. When the logic puzzle premise could easily turn the game into something stale and rote, the art and sound design (as well as the “click all the things to see what happens” side mechanics) add plenty of whimsy to balance out the more analytical aspects of the game.

Is This Seat Taken? is a fun little game. There is plenty of space for variety in stage design, and potential for the introduction of different NPC sets or other variations if the developers choose to add more replay options.

It’s a delightful puzzler with cute artwork and a fun storyline. For those who enjoy logic puzzles, it’s a great demo to play through, even with little replayability. Fans of cosy logic puzzles should keep an eye out for the full release.

Is This Seat Taken hasn’t announced a release date.

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Explore The Game with Youtube Chapters:

• 📽 00:40 Stage 1 – Taxi

• 📽 02:20 Stage 2 – Limousine

• 📽 03:20 Stage 2 – On the Importance of Personal Hygiene

• 📽 05:15 Stage 3 – At the Movies

• 📽 08:38 Stage 3 – The Inconvenience of Big Hats

• 📽 12:15 Stage 4 – City Bus

• 📽 14:05 Stage 4 – Time for a Quick Nap

• 📽 17:18 Stage 5 – Concert

• 📽 20:52 Bonus Stage – Wedding Reception

• 📽 25:11 Settings Check

• 📽 25:50 Bonus Stage with Settings Adjustments

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