A Little To The Left

The Switch is probably not the best place to experience the game – this was originally a PC title – but playing it handheld on the touchscreen is easy enough, and this is well worth investigating for those looking for something a little different.

If you enjoy relaxing puzzle games, A Little to the Left is definitely worth checking out. I hope some of the control issues can be addressed in future updates.

When it all clicks, A Little to the Left provides an experience that is a weird mingling of the semi-passive and viscerally intrusive. It is only the occasions when tiny touch targets cry out for a mouse pointer that the magic falls away. Once that happens, the plainer, less surprising puzzles aren’t able to carry the show on their own. As a piece, it can’t always sustain its best rhythm, but when it does, it's stimulating, quiet, and memorable.

Overall I found A Little to the Left to be enjoyable in the moment, but after playing I rarely have thought about the game since. The puzzles are very clever and the way they are seemingly integrated into real life objects and locations makes A Little to the Left stand out from many other puzzle games. It should be very accessible to people who do not play a lot of games, even though I felt that by the end that the game had run out of steam and felt a bit too abstract for its own good. While the Switch version performs fine enough, the controls did feel like a drag when using a gamepad, which caused me to play the game in handheld mode with touch screen controls. A Little to the Left has a clear and unique identity among other puzzle games and while it won’t last you an entire weekend there is enough here for those looking for a new type of puzzling challenge.

A Little to the Left is a cute puzzle game in which you organize everyday household items. There’s even a cat who shows up every once in a while, which is always nice (even if he’s always making a bigger mess for you to clean). With a very cozy and relaxing vibe, this game is perfect for those who like to wind down and play something easy, but also a bit challenging.

As I said, there’s pleasure to be found in a bit of neatness and order, and A Little to the Left appeals to that specific part of the brain. But it doesn’t do it consistently enough to make the game worth playing, unless you like having a bit of frustration mixed in with your cute and cozy puzzles.