I, for one, am a massive fan of puzzle games. There is a certain satisfaction in sussing out the solution to a complex web of pieces. And yes – I do frequent escape rooms as much as I can when not glued to my PC. One of the things that I truly love about puzzle games is that they tend to be approachable to all people. Is this your first time completing a puzzle game? Great! We’re going to walk you through the process and slowly (yet surely) bump the complexity. A puzzle fiend? OK! The early puzzles might be a cakewalk. But it’ll give you the sense of the world of factors that you’ll need to consider. It should come as no surprise then when I opted to review Is This Seat Taken?
Is This Seat Taken? is the maiden voyage release from Poti Poti Studio and published by Wholesome Games Presents. This cute little casual puzzle game saw its launch on August 7th, 2025 to both PC (Steam) and Switch. It also saw mobile releases to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. I have already been connected to a lot of the publishing communications from Wholesome Games. I dabble in streaming and I love cozy games the way a duck loves water.
Without further ado, let’s dive into Is This Seat Taken?!
The World and Story
You may be asking yourself “Sean – how can a simple puzzle game have an actual story?”. Well, color me surprised, there actually is one! We’re obviously not diving into a deep story like what is presented in The Last of Us or Mass Effect, but we’re getting a cute little story nonetheless.
In Is This Seat Taken? we’re following Nat, an actor who wants to make it big in the cinema world. Inspired by Luca, the biggest actor in this world of little shapes, we’re taken on the journey of Nat’s travels to stardom. Along the way, he’ll develop a cadre a friends, including Alexis, Val, and Koda. Nat, along with his new cohort, take a journey around the world, getting entrenched in the world of film and exploring acceptance (after all, Nat is a different shape than others).
In the game, our travels start in Barcelona. We then travel to Brussels, London, and New York, to then return to our roots in Barcelona. And that…is pretty much the whole story! Honest truth though – the story is secondary to the puzzles and the cute aesthetic.
The Gameplay
Is This Seat Taken? is, as we noted previously, a puzzle game. Each of the “levels” that we play through involve placing the various people of this shape-based Earth in a seating arrangement in which everyone is happy! Sounds easy, right? Well, it definitely starts that way! And as expected, it gets progressively harder. We initially only have to contend with factors like “I want to sit next to a window on the bus.” and “I want to sit next to my parent.” From there, we get into the territory of “I want to sit next to the window. I don’t like people that smell. AND I’m sensitive to the cold.” It gets to be…a lot.
The levels take us from buses driving through the city, to travels going through Europe, to cozy little diners, to the park, to the beach! Seriously – there is a lot of variety to the levels!
It is worth saying that towards the latter half of this game, there is usually only one solution that will satisfy everyone at the end of the day. Now, do you have to satisfy everyone in the seating arrangement? No. But…not doing so will give you less Stars that are earned by satisfying each person’s sitting requirements. Why should you care? Each map in the game has a “Secret Level” which can only be accessed by getting a perfect in every other location on the map.
The Good
As I said earlier, I love me a good puzzle game. It itches that piece of my brain that I don’t always get to flex regularly and gets the thinking juices flowing. So right away, already an instant plus in my book. The satisfaction from getting a 100% for all the people in the seating arrangement is just *chef’s kiss*.
The art style to Is This Seat Taken? is adorable and just gives you some serious “feel good” vibes that I always tend to look for in my cozier games. The sepia tone that is also overlaid over the game is a unique choice that I think adds to the charm of the art style.
While I did note that the story is really secondary to solving puzzles, some of the exchanges and quips between characters are just straight up ridiculous and silly, and also very self-aware at times. Self-awareness in video games, while sometimes overdone, is balanced very well in this game. Specifically, one of the Secret Levels is just comically ridiculous, but makes the placing in that level all the more fun.
The Bad
I honestly do not have a lot of negative things to really say about Is This Seat Taken?. There was enough variety within the game play that it did leave each level feeling fresh – even if it was a revisit to a previously used “location”. There are really only two things that I picked up on that while I didn’t outright dislike, could have been improved upon.
The first piece is the puzzle difficulty. The game, understandably, slowly escalates the puzzle difficulties, which I would expect. However, there were several times where I would spend 30-45 minutes completing all the seating arrangements in one location. The next location, which you think would be harder, was finished within 10 minutes. Maybe the point was to give the player a little reprieve after a harder set of puzzles. Maybe not. This, at the end of the day, did confuse me as a choice.
The second piece is the music. I am well aware that sound design and soundtracking for games is a pricy endeavor. However, within the first hour or so of playing, I dropped most of the audio out of the game and listened to music or a podcast while I played. That being said, I know that that is a truly small nit to pick – the sound design is the last thing that is going to be a negative when playing a puzzle game.
The Overall
Is This Seat Taken? is truly a little hidden gem of a game that was an absolute pleasure to dip my toes (and ultimately whole self) into. The aesthetics, the comical exchanges between characters, and the truly rewarding feeling and getting 100% of the thumbs up from the little shapes in your seating arrangement. All were great!
If you’re a fan of puzzle games, you owe it to yourself to pick up this polished endeavor from Poti Pot Studio.
Is This Seat Taken? is available now on PC (Steam), Switch, Apple App Store, and Google Play store.
The reviewer was provided a code for this game by Wholesome Games Presents. This review was played on PC.
