Is This Seat Taken presents a grid-based puzzle where players arrange diverse patrons in public city spaces such as buses, cafeterias, and concert venues. Each patron has individual seating preferences related to proximity, aisle access, solitude, and neighboring behaviors. Players earn approvals by meeting those preferences and progress through level segments as patrons rotate and new ones arrive. Conflicting demands and social constraints require careful placement and occasional compromises. Humor arises from unexpected interactions, like odor or talkative companions overriding initial preferences. The design emphasizes empathy, pattern recognition, and strategic juggling of changing social dynamics.
Walking into a room you've never been in before can be one of the most nerve-racking experiences one can go through. Without prior knowledge of who's in there, what those people are like, and where the best place to sit is, it can be a serious anxiety trigger for the socially awkward among us. But what if there was someone who could mediate those anxieties on behalf of the people who have them?
Instead of having to go in blind, there's a person dedicated to finding you the perfect seat based on your preferences, freeing you of those mental shackles once and for all. That's exactly what indie developer Poti Poti proposes in its newest game, Is This Seat Taken, a charming puzzle game about finding the right places to sit or take in everyday social spaces.
Is This Seat Taken is a grid-based puzzle game grounded in this all-too-familiar situation. The player is presented with public city space like a bus, cafeteria, or concert venue, as well as a group of people of all different shapes (literally), sizes, ages, and backgrounds. The goal is to place all of these people within that space in a way that meets all of their individual public setting preferences.
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