4.5/5 ★ – clunkymechanics's review of Carto.

Completed: January 17 2021 Time to beat: 9 Hours Platform: Windows via Game Pass Sunhead Games is an independent game studio based in Taiwan and they absolutely DELIVERED with their first major release Carto. I can not express how fun, unique, and special this game is. I went into Carto totally blind outside of a few screenshots which sold me on the art enough to give it a try. As soon as they introduced the main gimmick I was hooked. Carto is a puzzle-adventure game in which you play as a child named Carto, who must use her cartography (get it?) skills to help characters across multiple biomes which present unique challenges and circumstances. The way this game works is your map is divided into tiles which you can pick up, rotate, and drop, changing the map you adventure through. As the game progresses new mechanics are introduced that alter the way you are forced to interact with the map, making all 10 chapters an absolute blast. This type of puzzle solving was made for me, I really enjoyed the way these puzzles worked and only a few times were the instructions too obtuse for my thick skull. I think with a little added effort I could have solved those puzzles myself, but I am a sucker for looking up the answer when something takes slightly more effort than I am willing to give up. The music, writing, art, and overall tone were an absolute joy. There were multiple moments where I laughed out loud at dialogue, which is always a really nice thing when playing a game - totally alone with headphones in. Carto is free on game pass and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys puzzles and a little whimsy. It certainly brightened up the few days it took me to complete it.