A van and an open world; I don’t know why I’m so easily pulled into such a premise. I think the idea of being a nomad while comfortably placing my behind in a relaxing spot just speaks to me—and if you’re reading this review about developer Studio Plane Toast and publisher Dear Villager’s 3D adventure ‘Caravan SandWitch’, you’re likely feeling the same way I am.
This game follows the store of a young girl named Sauge who lives deep in Space City. After receiving a distress signal from her long-lost sister on her former home planet of Cigalo, she rushes over to find her and, in the process, meets old friends, family, and some uncomfortable truths behind the large magnetic storm that wreaks havoc on the place she once called home.
Sauge’s got plenty of room in her van—hop on in and let’s go for a ride.
Non-edible SandWitches
Caravan SandWitch’s Cigalo is one giant dust bowl. What was once likely a home to lavish plants, animals, and other bits of wildlife have now all but retreated to small corners of the world. Due to an incident 40 years ago, the planet is barely habitable and the major corporation that helped run its resources into the ground has left what little remains in its wake. The story that follows once Sauge touches down from Space City are aplenty. Families have been displaced, many have moved on to greener pastures, so on and so forth. Sauge’s duty, besides looking for her lost sister, is to help the remaining citizens scattered around the game’s decently sized map and do lots of part scavenging.
And that’s where your trust van comes into play! Once you land it doesn’t take long for a remaining relative to hand over the planet’s last-functioning vehicle to a little girl who says she can drive. For what it’s worth, Sauge can drive well (thanks to you) and that leaves us with lots of sand and rocks to traverse. Caravan SandWitch will primarily have you talking to the denizens of Cigalo, taking on short side quests while you work towards finding four types of electronic components scattered across the game’s map. As you undertake a small grocery list of chores, ideally you should be pillaging every green or yellow coloured-circuit as they’ll be necessary to advance the game’s narrative.
Exploration is what you’ll spend the vast majority of your time doing in this game. Little Sauge can run the course on foot but ideally, you’ll want to traverse the map in your trusty van. Said van will get more tools over the course of the game, allowing you to access parts of the map that are otherwise inaccessible. Driving the van is… Okay. I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed with how it interacts with the overworld. It feels very much like a toy car moreso than a real vehicle and it’s particularly noticeable when the van takes huge falls without so much as noticeable sound effects and a response from the car’s suspension.
But our van is trusty and reliable. Once you get your scanning system and grappling hook in place, you can use it to scale old buildings a lot faster. Speaking of scale, Caravan SandWitch really knows how to make a scene: climbing tall buildings and old, derelict towers and being able to see the distant sands and settlements is breathtaking. The game’s visual style is gorgeous, a blend of cell-shading and eye-catching colours kept me starring and photographing a whole bunch’a views on my journey. The scale of the destructive storm puts into perspective just how small everything around you can be, and I love this aspect of the game.
Caravan SandWitch will not race you through the game’s events. Heck, you’re more than free to take all the time in the world to gather your bearings and explore the map. Quests are split up between the game’s chapters: some will require you to complete them in that specific chapter while others arch over the whole game. The map sits at a perfect size, standing between “not too much” and “just enough things to find”—you can race from one end to the other in about four or so minutes. There’s no ‘true’ fast travel system but getting around isn’t a big deal.
Helping, Friendly Nomad
Sauge is a born helper. She will help everything and anything—even if there’s no pulse. Throughout the game’s story, the lives you come across will be impacted by her friendliness (and some choices here and there!). The people of Cigalo are varied and lovely and hanging out and about with ’em makes for a warm, fuzzy feeling inside me. Their lives are obviously impacted by this giant corporation, “The Consortium”, that has come to their planet many moons ago and left when there was nothing for them to chew up. You’ll find abandoned worksites where people used to live, destroyed helper bots show down eons ago, and you’ll dig up memories with the remaining people of Cigalo for better or worse.
Now the Consortium is one of the game’s main antagonists, but they don’t actually have a presence in the game. Instead, all you’ll find are remnants of their operations and the occasional warning that tampering with their software is illegal. I actually quite like this as it gives this post-apocalyptic world another sense of “danger”, even if Caravan SandWitch has no failstate system. Yes, you can even fall from a giant tower and Sauge will be A-Okay. I do wish some characters had more time to be fleshed out and sometimes I found the script to be a little too on-the-nose regarding its themes, but ultimately the game lands its narrative hook and pacing pretty well. And even though you can’t die, the underground sections are still very creepy.
And now I can air some of my frustration. I liked the story, but advancing it was not all-too fun. Remember the circuit scavenging I mentioned earlier? This system is your primary gatekeeper from the main storyline and depending on how well (and lucky) you are in finding the materials needed to continue will impact your enjoyment of the game. I spent quite a few hours more than I’d liked to scavenging parts and quest related items. I did get stuck hunting the “exotic” purple circuits a few times and the map isn’t very helpful in that regard either, as the number of landmarks you can place are limited (and you have to clear these pins out manually, one-by-one).
Mind you, I’m all for scouring nooks and crannies, but things can be missed and it’s not always easy to remember what areas you haven’t checked. Side quests do reward these circuits as well, which encourages you to complete them and experience their storylines. But outside the timed ones for the relevant chapter, the others may not be completable without advancing the main story. Ultimately, I began to find this aspect of Caravan SandWitch’s progression tedious. In other adventure games, minigames can sometimes help break this monotony, but sadly little Sauge is only able to run, jump, and forage.
Caravan SandWitch is a beautiful adventure that covers stories of struggles and grief, paired with pleasant French vocals and a vibrant art style. And even though I found its main progression to be tedious, I did enjoy exploring the world of Cigalo and learning about its lovely peoples. If you seek a nomad’s adventure, van included, look no further than this little journey right here. ∎
Caravan SandWitch
Played on
Windows 11 PC
PROS
- Beautiful overworld and music.
- Story lands its points just right.
CONS
- Scavenging isn't particularly fun and becomes tedious over the course of the game.
