One of the more interesting developments with indie games continuing to expand their reach and find their audiences has been the rise of “cozy games”. I think you could view cozy being a modifier that stands as the counterpoint of the popular roguelike trend on the more hardcore side of gaming. Rather than being focused on amping up the risks and challenges in just about any genre you could imagine, the cozy movement instead has a focus on slowing things down and making them more approachable for the less adrenaline-driven crowd out there, which seems to be responding favorably to the influx of more relaxed content.

In the case of Caravan SandWitch, it feels like the developers have taken a third-person exploration game that may have had an edge with some combat or perhaps perilous platforming, and pulled back on those elements. What’s left in its place is more of a leisurely affair, with you taking on tasks, exploring the landscape to look for supplies, and slowly shutting down signal jammers which act to impede your progress. Thankfully there are at least some Metroidvania-esque elements to the experience, with the van you’ll use to get around taking on a variety of upgrades to help you deal with specific obstacles you’ll hit at different points.

The problem is, it would be hard not to notice that the lack of enemies, or some other element to introduce some challenges or adversity of some kind to the formula makes the mix pretty bland. Perhaps there’s some room for games that aren’t as demanding in the landscape, but I believe Caravan SandWitch makes a case for there needing to be a new or fresh element that would have filled in the space where more challenging content would normally have been. Without some of that variety and spice included the experience just doesn’t have much flavor. I suppose the hope is that the game’s story elements, featuring a search for a sister who has been missing for 6 years, would suffice, but that can’t make up for the game’s quests that are pretty much stuck in “go find this” mode which lack in variety given that anything more perilous was taken off the menu. The result is a nice enough experience while you’re in it, but sadly not one that’s likely to be terribly memorable.