Caravan SandWitch Review: A Simple Yet Grand Adventure
That SandWitch could really use a broomstick. Just look at all this sand!
Caravan SandWitch from Studio Plane Toast is a unique, story-based exploration game. You play as Sauge, a young woman looking for her sister who has been missing for a long while. When Sauge receives a ping from her sister's communicator, she’s determined that she is still alive and is even more determined to find her. As Sauge, you’ll venture to Cigalo, and explore lush forests, a vast desert and more while interacting with different communities to try and find the answers you seek.
At the start of the game Sauge will travel to Estello Village on Cigalo where she used to live to meet up with some of her old friends. While her friends are happy to see her, a lot of things have changed since she last lived there. Caravan SandWitch takes place on a planet dealing with some complicated politics. The citizens of Estello Village aren’t receiving the aid that they should and many of them wonder if it’s worth staying in their home at all because of it. Sauge’s main goal is to find her sister, but in the meantime, you'll also be able to run some errands for her old friends in need to help boost the community that Sauge loved as a child.
In order to help your friends and find Sauge’s sister, you’ll have to be able to get around Cigalo in style. Thankfully, Sauge inherits a caravan from Rose, another member of the Cigalo community. The caravan will let you travel long distances without fear of running low on fuel or getting stranded in the desert. As you progress, the caravan will be upgraded with different abilities like the grapple hook which can pull down locked doors that can be found around the world.
What I loved about venturing around Cigalo the most is that the entire world isn’t completely open to you at first. Some areas allow you to wander around and loot the rare components you need to collect to craft more upgrades, but others are locked. As you upgrade your van with more gadgets these areas are then made explorable and it gives you an excuse to revisit previous locations, finding more loot along the way. It’s a great way to make this mini open-world even more interesting by allowing the player to unlock it piece by piece.
Sauge will also eventually be able to unlock upgrades for herself as well such as a pulley which lets her travel around Cigalo much easier on ziplines. Traversing on foot can be a little clunky at times and I found myself falling off of ledges and having to start back down at the bottom of a building more than a few times, but sometimes that made the reward at the top that much sweeter.
While Caravan SandWitch is at its forefront, an exploration game, its strongest elements by far are its characters and story. Within the first hour you’ll be introduced to Sauge’s closest friends and you’ll want to help them in any way that you can. And as I mentioned before, Cigalo has a complicated history. The more side quests you do, the more the world will come to life and you’ll uncover many secrets not only about Sauge’s friends, but about the politics surrounding the planet itself. And in the same way that the world slowly unlocks as you upgrade the caravan, more of the world comes to life as this story unfolds.
Caravan SandWitch is an eye-catching, exciting and fun little adventure. Studio Plane Toast has mastered what it means to create a mini open world. The game’s inclusive set of characters feel like they truly fit right into the universe around them and the world itself has so much history to uncover. Those that are looking for a cozy, unique game with a moderately short run time will find just what the doctor ordered here in this simple yet grand adventure.
Breakdown
Game: Caravan SandWitch
Developer: Studio Plane Toast
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Availability: PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Game Length: 5-6 Hours
Accessibility Options: Adjustable interface size, additional visual and sound cues available and motion sickness reduction.
Pros
Lovely, inclusive characters bring a living, breathing world to life
Lots of different buildings and locations to explore
Fun gadgets that let you slowly unlock even more of the world as you progress
A story you won’t want to walk away from
Cons
On foot traversal can sometimes get a bit clunky
The van gets stuck on a little bit of everything
Final Thoughts
Caravan SandWitch is a short exploration game, but one that does a lot in its five to six hour playtime. It quickly introduces the characters and the world so that you’re able to focus on the task at hand and you’re not stuck trying to interpret what’s going on. With brilliant, inclusive characters, a truly intriguing story and fun gameplay, it’s well worth diving into this adventure, especially because you can finish it in only just a couple of sittings.
Review by Becca Smith
