Mend your relationships, solve puzzles, and drive around the sandy planet of Cigalo in Caravan SandWitch, a casual puzzle exploration game.
In Caravan SandWitch, the player is put in the shoes of Sauge, a girl who goes back to her home planet after receiving a distess signal from her sister, who was presumed dead for six years.
Sauge’s main goal is to disable the signal jammers that have mysteriously been reactivated in Cigalo, which are currently blocking her sister’s distress call. To do this, Sauge has to count on her friends as she navigates past relationships and her departure, which is a sore subject for some.
Caravan SandWitch
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 SandWitch is a casual exploration game, completely devoid of dangers or fail states, instead relying on simple puzzles and exploration as its bread and butter, which can either be seen as relaxing or boring depending on how you feel about games like this.
Every in-game day consists of exploring the planet and completing odd jobs, which reward you with parts that can be used to add new gadgets to your caravan. The game’s side quests lessen the grinding needed to unlock the next gadget upgrade, while also allowing the player to get to know the cast of characters better.
While the caravan can be equipped with different 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 a crash, so it makes sense that it isn’t in perfect condition, but being able to scavenge for parts to at the very least make the handling better would be nice.
The planet of Cigalo has been mostly abandoned due to a massive, never-ending magnetic storm called the Taraask, which made the Consortium, a megacorporation that is expanding at an alarming rate, leave the planet.
Most characters have different opinions pertaining to the state of Cigalo and the corporation. Most wanted the Consortium to leave, and some are even glad that the Taraask is there, while others are thinking of leaving Cigalo, as they don’t see a future on a dying planet.
Nobody necessarily seems to agree with the Consortium, as the Taraask’s existence might have been their fault to begin with, but it’s clear that the planet’s population depended on the megacorporation to make a living, regardless of how damaging its presence is.
Caravan SandWitch‘s map seems big initially, but after some exploration it’s noticeable that it’s almost entirely comprised of abandoned outposts and large swathes of empty land. The game does have a decent chunk of hidden items and tidbits of lore that reward the player for being inquisitive, but for the most part it’s just exploring a futuristic version of empty brutalist architecture.
Thankfully, the game is pretty good about marking important spots on your map once you discover them, so you don’t have to sniff every wall looking for secrets, as they’ll show up as icons around you, which helps to make the exploration painless.
One issue that does show up every once in a while, however, is that the interact prompt tends to stop working, which forces the player to either wait around hoping it fixes itself or reload the game. Pretty much every interaction aside from moving and jumping in the game is done with the interaction button, so it’s basically a softlock whenever this happens.
When it comes to its story, Caravan SandWitch‘s ending is not very satisfying, and tries to frame its “antagonist” in a way that clashes with what we are told. It’s very difficult to like the Consortium after everything we learn about them, but it’s much more difficult to sympathize with the alternative.
Near the end of the game, it’s revealed that the mysterious figure who stalks us throughout the game has sabotaged a Consortium project, which is what created the Taraask. Their reasoning being that if the planet was constantly afflicted by a massive magnetic storm, it would force the megacorporation to leave the planet and stop exploiting its resources.
The game’s lore dump at the end tells us why the sabotage happened, and is then instantly followed by the antagonist walking it back and providing us a way to dispel the storm, recontextualizing their sabotage from a righteous sacrifice into a misguided attempt at playing savior, which cost people their lives. The game seems to be unaware of this, or at least refuses to acknowledge it.
Overall, Caravan SandWitch is a decent casual exploration game, lacking in interesting mechanics and originality, but still feeling overall cohesive. The game’s story is possibly its weakest point, as none of the characters feel that interesting or deep, and by the end you might genuinely be siding with the actual bad guys instead, as the game’s attempt at creating a righteous antagonist fails.
The game does its best to stretch its playtime by having you half-explore places before being able to come back with the correct gadget and access one or two extra rooms, which would be enjoyable if its puzzles and gameplay weren’t simple to a fault, instead creating an overall forgettable experience.
Caravan SandWitch was reviewed on Microsoft Windows using a game code provided by Dear Villagers. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Caravan SandWitch is available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
