One of the best things about video games is that they can act as a form of wish fulfillment for the player. Save the world, go to space, or harness the power of dragons. But one of the newest additions to Game Pass offers one of my personal favorite bits of wish fulfillment: having a clean apartment. A Little to the Left is a cozy puzzle game all about staying organized, and its relaxing but challenging experience is the perfect short escape from the unavoidable task of actually cleaning my apartment.
Separated into a number of stages each centered around a single mess in need of tidying, A Little to the Left’s puzzles take the form of household objects. A drawer of silverware needing to be sorted, for instance, or a pantry shelf on which the use of space is anything but optimized. In addition to the expected organizational tasks, more whimsical challenges like sorting pasta shapes can bring a smile to your face in the midst of playing. There is a light guidance to each puzzle, but everything is driven by intuition on the part of the player. You feel what is right and let your inner desire for order guide every movement until the result appeals to you.
Once you’ve solved one puzzle, you move on to the next. All of this is rendered in a gorgeous 2D art style that leans into a more muted color palette to enhance the chill vibes. A nifty feature of A Little to the Left, one that leans into the idea that this should be a relaxing, non-stressful experience, is the Let It Be option, which lets you move on from a puzzle at any given time. If you are satisfied with your work, then there is no harm in going to the next mess in need of your attention.
With a runtime of only a handful of hours, don’t be surprised if you find yourself entering a zen state of cleaning with A Little to the Left and finish every puzzle before you know it. It leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. Now all I have to do is actually clean. If you are seeking some motivation to do so (or a distraction from your own real-life mess), A Little to the Left’s addition to Game Pass makes its calming virtual clutter more accessible than ever.
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