izigame.me

"Cozy post-apocalypse" has almost become a whole genre. I guess that says something about the times we live in, but let's not think too hard about that now.
While the choice of title may be a bit questionable (the person occasionally looking over my shoulder only learnt today that it's not about some kind of food truck), I found Caravan SandWitch a pretty good adventure. It was compelling enough to draw me in and make me want to continue, but I never felt like I had to right now. I really enjoyed the freedom to explore, the impressive visuals, the atmospheric sound design with chill music.
The story centers a mystery, a sibling relationship, but also a group of people who didn't really find their place in mainstream society (so it shouldn't surprise that they are much queerer than a random sample) and are trying to build up a sustainable community.
Let's blame the laid-back game logic on the Mediterranean influence that doesn't only show in the landscape and architecture: Your big mission is tracing an emergency signal, but it can't be too urgent to sit down with some good food and music, and if you're going to drive around looking for tech bits then you might as well give rides to people and do all kinds of side quests on the way.
The result is a good balance of nice (although littered) landscapes, social stuff, breaking into industrial ruins and a bit of sci-fi.
Gameplay is platformy enough for some frustrating falls if you're as clumsy as *cough* some people, but not too bad. I'm also pretty sure if the local traffic police saw me play, they'd want my driver's licence.
There's a mostly helpful quest log neatly integrated into the game world (and maybe we ARE developing towards texting while standing right next to each other). Sometimes I was left with no idea what to do for a quest though, especially a few of the main quests when I wasn't paying very close attention. Which wasn't too bad, because there were always other things to do until I figured it out by chance, epiphany, or once or twice consulting the forum.
The writing isn't mind blowing (at least not in English), but it doesn't have to be. Suggestion for a hardcore drinking game: every time the word "receptacle" is used for something that's definitely not a receptacle.
I honestly can't tell how coherent the story is, because you can find out a LOT about what's going on and none of it is documented in a place where you could look it up (there's not even a dialogue log).
I still managed to follow roughly, but both for story and quest purposes I wouldn't recommend taking a longer break from playing.
The game's strength, in my opinion, lies in the satisfying exploration with your "caravan"'s gimmicks and the whole atmosphere. My favourite experience was (spoiler for a location) the mushroom cave where the frog aliens live. Also the fact that you don't take fall damage and there are LOTS of high places to jump from :D You can't die or fail at all, there's no stamina bar, no time pressure, it's all really chill. The various places to sit down and gradually get a bird's eye view are a nice touch as well.
A little heads up, then, that the ending is not of the "and they lived happily ever after" type. Other people have criticised it, I'm not sure I'd go that far. It didn't leave me warm and fuzzy, but it wasn't really a downer either. There were hopeful notes, and nice postcard-like epilogue bits during the credits to watch out for. You have to make a choice at the end, but you can explore the other option by loading your save later.
All in all I really enjoyed this game, and I might come back for the question marks left on the map in places that I haven't fully explored.
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If you like chill and story-driven games, check out my curator Peaceful Adventures and Stories. You're also welcome to join the group.