Restore your relationships, solve puzzles and drive around the sandy planet Cigalo Caravan Sand Witcha casual puzzle exploration game.
In Caravan Sand Witchputs the player in the shoes of Sauge, a girl who returns to her home planet after receiving a signal of displeasure from her sister, who had been presumed dead for six years.
Sauge’s main goal is to disable the signal jammers that have mysteriously reactivated in Cigalo and are currently blocking her sister’s emergency call. To do this, Sauge must rely on her friends as she navigates relationships and her departure, which is a sore subject for some.
Caravan Sand Witch
Developer: Studio Plane Toast
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows (reviewed)
Release date: September 12, 2024
Players: 1
Price: $24.99
Caravan Sand Witch is a casual exploration game, completely devoid of dangers or failures, instead relying on simple puzzles and exploration as its bread and butter, which can be seen as relaxing or boring depending on how you feel about these types of games.
Each in-game day consists of exploring the planet and completing chores, which reward you with parts that you can use to add new gadgets to your caravan. The game’s side quests reduce the work required to unlock the next gadget upgrade, while also allowing the player to get to know the cast of characters better.
Although the caravan can be equipped with various gadgets, the vehicle itself has no upgrades, which is a bit of a shame. The caravan is old and we get it second hand after an accident, so it is logical that it is not in perfect condition, but it would be nice to be able to look for parts to at least improve the handling.
The planet Cigalo has been largely abandoned due to a massive, never-ending magnetic storm called the Taraask, which caused the Consortium, a mega-corporation expanding at an alarming rate, to leave the planet.
Most of the characters have different opinions about the state of Cigalo and the company. Most wanted the Consortium to leave, and some are even happy that the Taraask is here, while others are thinking of leaving Cigalo, seeing no future on a dying planet.
No one seems to necessarily agree with the Consortium, as the Taraask’s existence may have been their fault in the first place, but it’s clear that the planet’s population was dependent on the mega-corporation for their livelihood regardless how harmful her presence is.
Caravan Sand WitchThe game’s map initially seems large, but after some exploration you notice that it consists almost entirely of abandoned outposts and large swathes of empty land. The game has its fair share of hidden items and tidbits that reward the player for being curious, but for the most part it just explores a futuristic version of empty brutalist architecture.
Luckily, the game is pretty good at marking important spots on your map as you discover them, so you don’t have to poke around every wall looking for secrets, as they appear as icons around you, helping to make exploration easier . painless.
However, one problem that occasionally crops up is that the interaction prompt tends to stop working, forcing the player to wait and hope it resolves itself, or reload the game. Pretty much every interaction aside from moving and jumping in the game is done with the interact button, so it’s basically a softlock when this happens.
When it comes to his story, Caravan Sand WitchThe ending of the book is not very satisfying and tries to frame its ‘antagonist’ in a way that clashes with what we are told. It’s very hard to like the Consortium after all we learn about them, but it’s much harder to sympathize with the alternative.
Near the end of the game, it is revealed that the mysterious figure who has been haunting us throughout the game has sabotaged a Consortium project, creating the Taraask. Their reasoning was that if the planet was continually hit by a massive magnetic storm, it would force the megacorporation to abandon the planet and stop exploiting its resources.
The game’s lore dump at the end tells us why the sabotage happened, and is then immediately followed by the antagonist walking back and offering us a way to dispel the storm, recontextualizing their sabotage from a righteous sacrifice to a misguided one attempt to play savior. which cost people their lives. The game seems oblivious to this, or at least refuses to acknowledge it.
General, Caravan Sand Witch is a decent casual exploration game, lacking interesting mechanics and originality, but still generally coherent. The game’s story is perhaps the game’s weakest point, as none of the characters feel all that interesting or deep, and by the end you might actually side with the real bad guys instead, as the attempt of the game of creating a fair opponent fails.
The game does its best to extend playtime by making you half-explore places before allowing you to come back with the right gadget and gain access to an extra room or two, which would be nice if the puzzles and gameplay weren’t simple. , instead creating an overall forgettable experience.
Caravan SandWitch was reviewed on Microsoft Windows using game code from Dear Villagers. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy can be found here. Caravan SandWitch is available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows (via Steam).