Caravan SandWitch Review – A Gorgeous Indie Game of Exploration, Mystery, and a Beautiful Soundtrack
If you're into exploration, community-building, and environmental storytelling in a beautifully crafted sci-fi setting Plane Toast's Debut title Caravan SandWitch is the indie game made for you!
If you're into exploration, community-building, and environmental storytelling in a beautifully crafted sci-fi setting, then you're in for a treat! We'll explore the game's immersive world, its unique soundtrack, and the touching story of Sauge's quest to find her missing sister. So buckle up, and let’s drive!
Cigalo Signals
At the heart of Caravan SandWitch is a deeply engaging story. You play as Sauge, who receives a distress signal from her long-lost and presumed dead sister, Garance. This pulls Sauge back to her home planet, Cigalo, a once-thriving world now left desolate and abandoned by the Consortium—a megacorp that exploited its resources.
You travel through space back home and upon your arrival you meet Rose, one of the elders of your hometown, who needs your help. One of the game's standout elements is its focus on personal growth and the journey of self-discovery. Through your travels, you’ll piece together the story of how the Consortium’s ambitions led to the planet’s downfall and how the remaining inhabitants cope with their changed world. Your quest for Garance becomes more than just a search for a missing person; it’s a journey into the heart of a community that has learned to survive and find meaning despite its circumstances.
Early in your journey, you encounter a SandWitch. They are people who appear sporadically throughout the story—some characters don't believe they exist, while others describe them as mythical beings.
I don’t want to dive deeper into the story, as it would lead to spoilers. So, just go get the game and play it to find out more about the SandWitchs and what Sauge discovers.
Life Stranding
In Caravan SandWitch, gameplay revolves around exploration and discovery in a beautifully crafted, desolate world. You’ll spend a significant amount of time navigating the planet of Cigalo, both on foot and in your van. Rose, whom I mentioned earlier, owns the only van in the community and offers it to you for your journey.
The van isn’t just your primary mode of transport; it’s central to the gameplay experience. As you progress, you can upgrade your van with tech you scavenge from the remnants of the planet's industrial past. These upgrades unlock new areas to explore and help you overcome obstacles scattered throughout the environment. The van evolves with you, enhancing both your journey and gameplay experience.
The art director, Charles Boury, took inspiration for the van from the T3 series of Volkswagen vans. After doing some research, I became absolutely hooked. Here's one I found from @old_bull_lee on Instagram that looks very similar to what you see in the game. Go check out his page for his own open-world exploring
While you’ll often be driving across vast open landscapes, there are moments when you'll need to explore on foot. This might involve climbing rocks, navigating through abandoned buildings, or finding new ways into previously inaccessible areas. The game does a great job of blending these exploration mechanics seamlessly
You scavenge tech left behind to repurpose components for van upgrades, highlighted when you scan with your van. The creator of the game has described it as "Death Stranding-like," and as Death Stranding is one of my favorite games, I completely agree. You're often in a vehicle, exploring, constantly scanning your surroundings for loot, and, at times, it becomes a walking simulator.
Something I love about this game is that you don’t get bogged down with too many side quests. They are all manageable, and I recommend completing them all. A great feature is that, just before you continue to the next chapter, the game asks if you want to proceed and even informs you if there are any open quests you won’t be able to complete. More games need this feature.
Community Values
Another key element of the gameplay is interacting with the various characters you meet. Each character has their own story and contributes to the overall narrative. You’ll help them with tasks, learn about their backgrounds, and gain insights into the planet’s history
The team does a wonderful job at the start by giving you a task to gather items for a small welcome party, introducing you to friends both new and old. There’s a baker with a sketchy past, a mother and father raising their child in this new world, and an engineer who helps you understand where to go and how to get there. In this narrative-heavy game, I didn’t spend any time skipping through dialogue. Most characters offer meaningful details about why they’re there, what they need help with, and how it all ties into what happened on Cigalo. Most support your endeavor, with only a few trying to discourage you from what seems like a lost cause.
This game features a species of frog-like people known as the Reinetos, who share a deep bond with the planet and its resources. As an ancient and indigenous species, the Reinetos play a crucial role in helping you uncover items and unravel the mystery of the Consortium’s actions from years ago. And let’s not forget—they're frogs, and they’re amazing! Honestly, every game needs frogs.
Exploring Soundscapes
A huge part of the game’s identity is the ambient sound while traveling around Cigalo. Even with the music turned off, you’ll hear bits of vocals, almost as if the world is alive around you. Antynomy, the soundtrack lead, has created a distinct identity for the game. The first time you hear the lead song, it's without vocals, and it ties into a story beat. Each area you discover has points of interest with radios playing different styles of music, from grunge rock to pop beats. These tracks sound rough, almost like demos being broadcast in this abandoned world—someone still has the means to broadcast and is putting their art out for the world to hear. The soundtrack is out now—Enjoy!
It’s a masterful performance that blends perfectly with each chapter’s end, while traveling to new areas, and exploring this beautiful world. You can pre-order the vinyl on Antynomy’s Bandcamp page right now!
🎶Antynomy | Bandcamp | Website
A Picturesque World
Speaking of art direction, Charles Boury was instrumental in shaping the game’s final look and feel. The studio initially had a demo with a different style—it was more farming-based—but the foundation of an abandoned planet to explore was there.
Here is a quick look where they started:
What we have today is a beautiful improvement, where you could stop at any moment to appreciate the view. Almost every scene in the game is picturesque.
Throughout Cigalo, you’ll discover points of interest marked by sky-blue pillows on the ground where you can sit and take in the view. Many single-player games offer moments like this, but I often skip them to push forward. In Caravan SandWitch, I stopped at every spot, took a moment to relax, and appreciated this gorgeous indie game that I fell more in love with as each chapter came to an end.
Another Hit Game of 2024
Overall, Caravan SandWitch combines exploration, puzzle-solving, and narrative-driven interactions to create a rich and immersive experience. Whether you’re uncovering hidden tech, discovering new areas, or engaging with the community, every aspect of the gameplay ties into the larger story and world-building.
I expected to feel something deeper by the end, but I wasn’t sad or teary-eyed—I felt accomplished. After a long journey, you tie up loose ends and achieve what you set out to do, leaving you with a sense of uplifting positivity. If this is Plane Toast’s debut title, I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the future. Without a doubt, it’s one of the best games of 2024 and has topped my personal list.
🎮Caravan SandWitch | Steam | PS5 | Switch | Soundtrack
🗓️Release Date | Out Now!
Thank you to Dear Villagers and Caravan SandWitch for the key to review the game.
Nice review! How long did it take you? (the game, I mean) xD
I enjoyed the demo and I'm glad to see this game review so well.