A Little to the Left is like Unpacking if there was a cat messing with you

Not-E3 is well underway and while many are sure to be excited by reveals like The Callisto Protocol gameplay and Aliens Dark Descent, I'm more interested in what is perhaps the first Unpacking-like: A Little to the Left. One of 2021's hit indies, Unpacking was a simple game about, believe it or not, unpacking things. It's a light puzzler where you find the 'correct' place for objects in the protagonist's various homes throughout the her development as a young person to an adult. It's very calm, very chilled out, and when there are so many games that pride themselves on bombastic, edge of your seat experiences, it made a good change of pace. 

Now the next opportunity to sit back and relax comes with A Little to the Left from developers Max Inferno. Quite the name for a cosy game studio right? A Little to the Left is about putting things right, a bit like Unpacking, but there is a bigger focus on the puzzle element. 

You're tasked with clearing up a shelf, or papers, or cutlery in a way that makes sense. Whatever that means is up to you. Find patterns and shapes for these objects that fit some kind of order and you win! Sometimes there is more than one way to do so, lending some extra replayability. 

Only, right as you get finished shuffling that last key and getting things just so, a cat named Rookie might swoop in and mess it up. That's right, just to add a little flavour, a little spice to the gameplay, Rookie just upturns everything you worked on, forcing you to start again. It's pretty cute actually, I don't mind more work if it means this little guy turns up here and there. Just like owning a cat in real life I guess. 

I for one am happy to see more cosy games make an appearance. They're a breath of fresh air, especially compared to some of the more hardcore titles Summer Game Fest showed off just before Day of the Dev. Keep up the good work Max Inferno.