Release Date: 27/10/2020
Played On: XBO
Available On: Mac / NS / PS4 / XBO / Win
Time Played: 4h 7m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Sunhead Games
Publisher: Humble Games / X D Network Inc
I'm usually quite sceptical of subscription services of any form, as it usually benefits the service a lot more than the subscriber. However, since I entered the world of Xbox and Microsoft GamePass, I have to admit that I've been pleasantly surprised with the rotations of games on offer. Not least because I've ended up playing a bunch of new little indie games that I might have missed if I weren't paying attention to the GamePass library.
Carto fits perfectly into the category of small game that I probably would have missed any other way, but ended up playing because it was put on GamePass. In fact, whenever a game goes straight to GamePass on release, I wonder what kind of deals are being done to ensure such a good deal for the player. I can only assume that these smaller developers are given a good payday to incentivise adding their game to the service… or at least I hope that's what happens.
Thanks to a bright and colourful art style, Carto caught my eye as soon as it entered the library. It only took a second glance to realise that this was something I could see myself playing, as it promised to deliver an adventure that relies on puzzle solving and creating the world as you play through the story. Needless to say that this kind of creative approach to world building and storytelling was going to hook me no matter what, so I'm glad it caught my eye in the first place.
The basic concept behind Carto, is that you have lost all the pieces of a map, and need to find each one to rebuild the world around you and find your way home. If you've ever played something like Carcassonne, you might recognise a few mechanics here and there, but ultimately you're given a series of tiles with which to create a landscape and all the inhabitants you might find within.
Each tile of the map that you find has a certain layout, which ends up providing limitations on where it can be placed in relation to the whole world. Some pieces may be covered in forest, and only able to be attached to another forest tile, while many reveal a combination of different environments that can only matched with their suitable counterparts.
While you can only attach a water tile to another that has water on its edge, there are enough possible combinations to keep things interesting. In fact, the map that you make as you play through the game, will no doubt differ in some substantial ways to my own. The only solution that needs to be solved in order to progress, is to create a map that provides access to certain areas and characters.
Let's say you have a tile with the end of a road, surrounded by grass, and with a cottage at the end of the road part. The game might task you with reaching that cottage, but all you have is a combination of road and grass tiles, which can be put together in a number of different ways to get you to your destination. Perhaps you connect all the grass edges and take a cross-country path, or maybe you line up the roads and journey along the dirt paths you've created. Whatever you choose to do, the entire game is about manipulating the tiles in order to reach and reveal certain places of interest.
In the late game, Carto throws up some real mind-bending areas that require a good imagination and some lateral thinking to solve. With only a few tiles at your disposal, it might be necessary to pass a section, then rotate it so that you can retrace your steps and head in a different direction. Maybe there are underground sections to the same tiles you've already placed, but they don't line up in the same way that they do on the surface.
All these permutations only serve to ensure that Carto's progression is steady and not without challenge along the way. It might not be the most difficult game you'll encounter, but solving each map and discovering what was hiding behind a rotation or repositioning comes with its own sense of achievement.
Overall the presentation is a welcomed compliment to the core puzzle solving mechanics that drive the game from moment to moment. There are also a range of distinct characters to meet along the way and help out as best you can, breathing life into an otherwise empty world. In fact, if it weren't for the nice character designs and simple motivations, this could have been a game that did nothing more than ask you to place tiles.
However, as it stands Carto is a beautiful little game with a wholesome premise and some truly touching moments throughout the story. It doesn't outstay its welcome, but it gives you enough to really sink your teeth into and reward the time you spend with it.
If you're a GamePass subscriber like me, then Carto is a no-brainer and I would put it on your list right away. Not only is it a fun little game to experience, but the discovery of games like this is precisely why I like the service in the first place. Hopefully if the powers that be see that here's an interested in these kind of games on something like GamePass, they will continue to support them and push them forward.
Carto is the kind of game that you can play through in a single sitting and feel incredibly satisfied when you've completed its journey. While there are hundreds of these little indie games being released every single day, it can be hard to pick out something worth playing, but I'm here to tell you that Carto is one to keep an eye out for.
It's not too flashy, but it's far from disgustingly cutesy-poo. Instead this is just a nice little chilled out game that'll have you scratching your head every now and then as you solve its riddles. This is the game to play when you're tired of the white-knuckle shooters and exhaustingly epic RPGs, as it serves as the perfect little palette cleanser between those big fatty meals.