alittletotheleft

A Little to the Left Review

Developer: Max Inferno

Platforms: Mac, PC, Switch (Reviewed)

Genre: Casual, Puzzle

Publisher: Secret Mode

 

A Little to the Left is a cosy puzzle game. This game is developed by Canadian indie studio Max Inferno and published by Secret Mode. A game that is similar to A Little to the Left would be Unpacking.

This game; is a single-player game where you progress through many different puzzles themed around the chapter you are playing. The puzzles include such: things such as stacking, fixing frames, organising books, fixing patterns and a lot more. You try to arrange the different household items of your house whilst keeping an out for your cat that’s; ready to cause destruction.

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The controls of this game are very simple. On the Switch, all you need to use is; the move analog and a button to interact with items. On the screen, you have a little cursor hand that; is used to interact and move around the screen. The analog controls for this game are a bit too sensitive. For example, sometimes you want to put a piece into place, but due to the high sensitivity, it goes farther than you want. Besides that finicky control that can get a bit frustrating for some puzzles, the rest is really easy to use. In chapter 5, there is a bit of a synth guitar added, which; creates a more lively vibe. The soundtrack choice of this game is very graceful and creates a calming, relaxing home feel. The soundtracks match really well with the title of each chapter. What I like about the soundtrack is that there is; a great variety of the atmosphere that is; being portrayed. For instance, starting in chapter 1, it’s like this gentle piano music; that creates some sort of fantasy, whimsical elegance.

The soundtrack for the game features a simplistic yet wonderful-sounding array of instruments that are great to be solving puzzles too. In addition to the music, the sound effects for some objects also make the game much more pleasant. Take, for instance, the one puzzle with the stars, there; were sound effects of fireflies in the back or the subtle yet much-needed rock sounds even, the seashells had some; sort of sound effect to them. A hundred percent would say that the soundtrack and art style complement one another.

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There are five chapters in this game that; are based on five different themes. All these themes revolve around things that; you would have in your home, so in turn, the game captures this environment of chaos that you put upon yourself to clean up. There are all different sorts of puzzles that the game indulges you on, some more convoluted than others, but the developers of the game added two wonderful features to help out as you work your way through them. The ‘Let it be’ feature allows you to skip the puzzle and come to it at a later time. The ‘Hint’ feature shows you a hint on how to solve the; puzzle. What I like about the hint feature is how it is presented, it’s presented on a little notepad that’s scribbled on over with a pencil, and you have to erase it with an eraser to reveal it. This little detail goes a long way and adds more character to the game.

I enjoyed this game as it truly did capture the overall essence of what a puzzle game should be but; has more of a lively and welcoming feel to it. The addition of the cats also makes it so much better.

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You see the cat’s paw slowly reaching in from the side of your screen to grab your mail and just make work a lot more chaotic for you. The difficulty of the puzzles, I would say, is very well balanced. Some puzzles; just come to you and are very straightforward to solve, whereas some require more logic; to be used. The sound effects in the game are also; extremely helpful, as you can hear a ‘snap’ when you are on the right track. I will not lie, but receiving a star after completing a puzzle is so; rewarding and makes you want to continue through all the rest of the puzzles. Now you initially get one star, but the number of stars indicates the number of ways you can solve a certain; puzzle. What I like about this is that the developer is not only stuck with one way to solve a; certain puzzle. There are multiple different ways for the puzzles to be solved. Something else that is so nice about this game is that even if you’ve finished the game, you can check back on the game daily and try to solve the daily puzzle. A puzzle is refreshed daily; for you to solve it’s a nice way to not just leave the game once and be done.

If you want a game that you can sit back and enjoy as you solve a number of puzzles in the most pleasant home with your most disruptive; cat, then this game is definitely for you. Check out A Little to the Left, which is available for Mac, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Overall: 9/10

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