Caravan SandWitch: A Unique Blend of Indie Charm and Open-World Exploration

Exploring the World of Caravan SandWitch

The soft pitch for Caravan SandWitch is killer. What happens when you take the smooth brain checkboxing of a Ubisoft open-world title and filter it through a French indie lens? Gingerly sprinkle in some tried and true genre tropes and vaguely cozy aesthetic touchstones, and you’ve got the individual components to build something charming and contemporary.

The Story of Sauge

Caravan SandWitch plops you in the Lois Griffin-coded shoes of Sauge, a young woman compelled to return to her backwater home world after receiving a distress call from her older sister. The kicker is that this sister disappeared several years ago and your dad, her ex, and almost everyone in your hometown tells you that a distress call is impossible given that the planet has been effectively annexed by the Consortium, a mega-corp that has a monopoly on every aspect of life in this sci-fi world.

Living in Cigalo

• Something of a mining town without a mine, Cigalo is a world in the grips of a glacially paced apocalypse.
• An ominous energy storm dominates the otherwise cloudy blue skies to the south but nobody seems particularly fussed.
• The various residents busy themselves with busted water filters, failing crops, and the thousand other bits of busy work to be found in a place ravaged by industry.

A striking landscape of jagged cliffs allows Caravan SandWitch to dabble in frontier aesthetics and vertical world design while keeping the game within relatively balmy tonal parameters. Shot through with sci-fi trappings, Cigalo practically begs exploration.

The Gameplay Mechanics

As you progress through the game's story, the van will pick up several tools that allow for deeper exploration of the map and points of interest. These upgrades are purchased using scrap found in the world. Toss in some map uncovering via radio tower destruction and a few collectable questlines, and you’ve hit all the markers on Ubisoft’s golden path to smooth-brained joy in an open world.

But Caravan SandWitch digs potholes for itself before setting off which frequently turns smooth into bumpy. The world is effectively open in its entirety after the game’s first hour, but there are moments when your impulse to roam is thoroughly roadblocked by your inability to interact.

Game Design Challenges

This is a shame because the various comings and goings of Caravan SandWitch’s cast and world are charming if not always compelling. The game’s bigger picture ideas dabble in momentary depth but largely settle into a comfortably familiar cadence.

Ultimately, your mileage on Caravan SandWitch’s tensions will vary greatly depending on your relationship to open-world titles however, an immaculate eye for aesthetics and some hidden gems bring it together to be almost more than the sum of its parts.