We got to know every inch of our homes during the pandemic-related lockdowns because that is where we found ourselves spending a lot more time than usual. Domestic objects become a symbol of a sense of oppression and discomfort that we have all experienced together, but each closed in the privacy of his own house when habit and commonplace everyday existence remove the glaze from what we see and use every day.
A Little to the Left, created during these really difficult years, makes an effort to view the household setting differently. To build a stunning and unexpected puzzle game that may bring out the hidden beauty of everyday objects and get us to think beyond the box, Annie MacMillan and Lukas Steinman began with household items and furniture.
In our A Little to the Left review, we discuss the great features of Max Inferno’s video game.
From Canada with love
Together in both life and business, Annie MacMillan and Lukas Steinman made their debut video game at the 2020 GMTKJam. In the intriguing teaser shown in conjunction with the Summer Game Fest 2022, they undertook the production of A Little to the Left after deciding to leave their daily life for their videogame job and opening the doors of their Canadian house. It was immediately clear that A Little to the Left would have a character for sale. In order to communicate to the public the significance and hidden magic of the items we look at and use on a daily basis, MacMillan and Steinman compared the furnishings in their home to their digital counterparts.
Order, but with imagination
A Little to the Left has a very straightforward plot: within the backdrop of five distinct chapters, each inspired by a different room in the house, players must complete tasks involving organising furniture, cleaning, and categorising household items. It’s an enjoyable and soothing chore, and Max Inferno’s calming ambience is accentuated by the game’s outstanding soundtrack’s subtle piano chords. All of the levels may be finished in less than four hours, and there are a variety of tools to help you go forward.
First off, there is the option to skip a challenge by choosing Let It Be when you want to come back later to tackle the puzzle that has stumped us, perhaps with a fresher head. Then, you can decide to get a little assistance: the answers to the level’s puzzles are written on a piece of paper full of scribbles and can be erased at a whim using a player-controlled eraser. This allows the player to decide whether to reveal the entire solution or just a sneak preview.
They are great suggestions because, particularly in the game’s latter levels, the puzzles’ underlying logic might not be very evident and it takes a lot of mental effort to find the objects’ hidden harmonies and get to the conclusion.
The variety of solutions reflects the inevitable differences that exist, even within a couple, in tracing the mystifying harmonies of things. For example, MacMillan and Steinman have two different perspectives on domestic tidying up. It should be noted, however, that many puzzles can be solved in more than one way. As a story of hidden chords and a quest for the hidden rhythm and music of our everyday lives, A Little to the Left stands above all of this.
A mischievous kitty
When viewed in this light, A Little to the Left’s puzzle progression seems incredibly slow and silent, bordering on tedious. This is not the case: although recurring themes can be identified (for example, “arrange the objects in ascending order of height” or “look at the book covers and construct a figure by rearranging them correctly”), Max Inferno manages to amaze by coming up with unique variations on the various themes, forcing the player to reevaluate what he has learned and observed thus far and seek new and unconventional solutions.
Additionally, A Little to the Left’s domestic equation contains an uncontrollable element. This is the cat who occasionally gets to wreck everything and make solving puzzles more difficult. A Little to the Left frequently transforms into a hymn to the cat as the capricious divinity of the house, always ready to bring her its irrationality but nonetheless endearing for it. This could be due to cleaning up its paw prints or avoiding its desire to grab things and throw them on the floor.
The daily reorders, which are sent to players every 24 hours to extend the experience generated by Max Inferno and provide a few minutes of leisure even after A Little to the Left is finished, round out the intriguingly humorous picture. There is still a year’s worth of highly enjoyable cleaning-up adventures to accomplish, since solving the riddles earns you a trophy for every three, seven, one hundred and eighty, three hundred and sixty-five tidying up finished! During the game’s review session, we had the opportunity to play these extra levels as well, and we can state that the extra puzzles’ quality is on par with the original game’s.
The daily reorders, which are sent to players every 24 hours to extend the experience generated by Max Inferno and provide a few minutes of leisure even after A Little to the Left is finished, round out the intriguingly humorous picture. There is still a year’s worth of highly enjoyable cleaning-up adventures to accomplish, since solving the riddles earns you a trophy for every three, seven, one hundred and eighty, three hundred and sixty-five tidying up finished! During the game’s review session, we had the opportunity to play these extra levels as well, and we can state that the extra puzzles’ quality is on par with the original game’s. The use of gentle tones and tranquil music aids in focusing on the game’s sole objective, which is to establish order both inside and outside of us. In order to ensure the complete flow of the experience and to provide players with a range of options when faced with situations that may appear insurmountable, the occasional obstruction in solving the puzzles can be remedied by selecting to skip the level or to glance at the solution on the handy notepad.
