Given that my wife and daughters can tend to be very specific and picky about things, I’ve become quite accustomed over the years to very carefully planning and navigating through social issues. Even without very particular people in your family, every parent should know the pain of having to juggle different people and their quirks, just trying to keep the peace. For me, that’s what Is This Seat Taken ends up being all about, trying to work out how to manage a load of people and trying to make sure everyone can just get along.

Functionally, this is a series of puzzles where you’ll need to use deductive logic to manage a whole lot of little geometric divas who won’t be satisfied unless their needs are met. Some people just want to be alone, while others need to remain with their family or a like-minded person, some apparently don’t bathe and that obviously can cause issues, and some also seemingly can’t help singing in public… and you can imagine how well that goes. Depending on the environment you’re stuffing everyone into, and the configuration of the seating, this can make for some challenges, and to get through things quickly you’ll need to learn how best to prioritize needs, essentially placing the most challenging people first and then moving from there.

As simple as this may sound, it’s actually handled in a cute and fun way. The little characters each have expressive faces that will let you know whether they’re happy or there’s going to be a Karen situation if you don’t move some things around. What’s great is that if you’re feeling frustrated, and just want to move on even though you haven’t worked everything out perfectly, you’ll be free to do so. Just be aware that without fulfilling all objectives you won’t be able to unlock additional challenges. This is a great system that will allow people to play the way they’d like, and even if you moved on early, you’ll still have an incentive to return to figure things out, and enjoy everything the game has to offer. It may not be a revolution, but it’s smart, satisfying, and a great bite-sized challenge that doesn’t overstay its welcome.