Caravan Sandwitch from Studio Plane Toast and Dear Villagers is a work of art. It’s a game that everyone should at least try out to see if they like it or not. Extremely reminiscent of other titles that are incredibly story-driven such as Firewatch and Road 96, Caravan Sandwitch has successfully cemented itself into my mind as a must-play artistic game for 2024 because of what it has to offer.
So, what exactly makes it so good you might be asking yourself? The answer to this lies with the game’s storytelling and gorgeous visuals.
Players in Caravan Sandwitch will take on the role of Sauge. A girl mysteriously gets a message from her sister two years after her disappearance on the planet Cigalo. Sauge immediately sets off to Cigalo in search of her sister and encounters her old friends along the way.
This is where Caravan Sandwitch excels. Sauge will converse with her pals and learn more about what’s been happening on the surface of Cigalo. Players will slowly be fed tidbits of story information and it draws you in and doesn’t let go. The way the characters are written means that your conversations with them feel like you’re really revisiting old friends and there’s a sense of community that’s built up by the game. Everyone wants to help Sauge as well as each other and it’s very feel-good even with the character’s own interpersonal relationships coming into play.
Gameplay in Caravan Sandwitch is fairly straightforward and simple. Players will move around with Sauge and speak to NPC characters. You’ll be able to find and collect parts out in the open world and there’s some very light platforming that goes on in the game. You’ll also have access to the titular caravan and can drive it around from place to place in order to complete your objectives. Driving the caravan is quite fun and soaking up the gorgeous visuals along the way contributes to the game’s charm.
Caravan Sandwitch is definitely not a title for fans of action-packed games. Coming in at around 7 to 8 hours long, most of the gameplay involves speaking to NPCs and performing some very simple puzzle-solving and quest completion. There’s no real sense of urgency or pressure here. The game’s excellent soundtrack adds to the overall vibe and ambience immensely but if you’re expecting an action-packed game, this isn’t it. This is an extremely chill, story-driven game with a lot of heart at its core. If you like cosy, feel-good titles that are atmospheric, Caravan Sandwitch will definitely appeal to you.
Graphically, Caravan Sandwitch is flat-out gorgeous. Every single scene in the game is screenshot-worthy because of the art style. I wish there was a photo mode in the game since it quite clearly would benefit immensely from having one.
As mentioned above, Caravan Sandwitch is definitely not for gamers who want action-packed games. If you enjoy games that give you the freedom to explore and take things at a casual pace, Caravan Sandwitch will appeal to you. I just wish there was a little bit more substance to the game. As it stands right now, it checks a lot of the right boxes and is a game that I can wholeheartedly recommend but I can’t help but feel like Studio Plane Toast could have added a bit more to the game to fully flesh it out and expand on its great foundation some more.
Final Verdict
Overall, Caravan Sandwitch is a solid 8/10 game and one that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It does a lot of things right and will leave you wanting a bit more. Maybe we’ll get a future title from Studio Plane Toast which expands upon the foundation they’ve laid here but for now, give Caravan Sandwitch a try if you like artistic laid back story-driven games.
Caravan Sandwitch Trailer
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