Is This Seat Taken? has been sitting (pun intended) on my Steam wishlist for a while now, and for good reason — it’s all about being picky about where you sit.
A demo is available now as part of Steam Next Fest, and as someone who meticulously planned their wedding seating chart, I feel overqualified to tackle it!
The demo features five levels, with a special bonus level unlockable if you ace all the others (which, humble brag, I obviously did).
Scenarios include taxi and limo rides, a bus trip, a movie theatre, and a concert. The bonus level turned out to be a wedding reception! This game was made for me!
Your aim is to create a seating situation that everyone is happy with. You get to dictate and rearrange where tiny geometric people — little rhomboids, squares, and triangles — sit.
Each has a unique personality and preference: some hate bad smells (so don’t seat them next to an unshowered mess), others demand aisle seats (fair), and some want to steal popcorn (respect).
It’s a straightforward yet surprisingly engaging puzzle of social dynamics.
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Some characters wear too much cologne, some blast music, and others… well, hygiene isn’t their strong suit. The area each person affects can be seen via blue patches, which appear as you place them down, so you can plan accordingly.
Hovering over each character reveals if you’ve met their needs, and they’ll complain via speech bubbles if you mess up. There are also handy arrows that point to what’s making them upset, which is considerate UI design.
Each level features specific groups that need to be accommodated before progressing.
By the fourth level (the bus), things got a little more interesting. Seated characters started lingering rather than disappearing, making it more challenging to adjust to the needs of new arrivals on the fly.
I appreciated this small but effective difficulty spike, and I can only imagine what other curveballs will be thrown in the full game (not allowing people to move, perhaps).
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One of my favourite details happened during the concert level. You have to seat the band members onstage first before the music starts. It was a small touch, but it made the world feel alive.
The entire demo only took me about 30 minutes, and it was a wonderfully chill experience — no timers, no rush, just pure strategic relaxation. A refreshing change from my usual adrenaline-fueled gaming habits. It’s left me eager to see what other quirky scenarios the full game will include.
There’s no release date yet, but rest assured, I’ll be first in line when it launches. If this sounds like your kind of cosy puzzler, wishlist Is This Seat Taken? on Steam now.
