[Steam] "Carto" Review

Hello, here's Nota👋

I'm gonna review about <Carto>, which is made by Sunhead Games.

✏ What is "Carto"?

The game <Carto> tells the adventure of a young girl named 'Carto' who gets separated from her grandma after an accident while traveling together in an airship as cartographers. The story revolves around Carto's journey to meet her grandma again.

 

A cartographer is someone who creates maps. Carto possesses the ability to rearrange and connect existing paths or creat new routes by dividing maps into pieces. Now, she must explore new places and areas using her unique ability in order to reunite with her grandma.  

✏ Map = Puzzle, Puzzle = Map

To discover new paths or areas, we need to combine and detach the divided map pieces repeatedly. At times, we need to rotate the pieces to match them back together. So, 'Map pieces' mean 'Puzzle' in this game. The device required to match these puzzles is incredibly simple - just a KEY BOARD; we don't even need a mouse. Personally, I found myself frequently opening and closing the map window due to confusion over the key for rotating peices while playing 😑

 

Tutorial

 

I think this approach to the puzzle game is very innovative. While rotating or matching puzzle pieces seem straightforward, the inovation is in how it triggers the dicovery of new areas. As we progress through different areas, there are additional constraints on how we match the map pieces, like rivers must connect to rivers, mountains to mountains, and grass to grass..Furthermore, there are times when multiple pieces are connected and need to be moved together, which significantly increases the difficulty.

 

I thought my head was going to break on this glacier map

✏ But It's so cute and warm

I think the first impression of a game is determined by graphics, which are the visible elements. In that sense, <Carto> believe it can capture the hearts of those who appreciate cute and charming graphics. Characters, landscapes, and various objects feature overall smooth, rounded lines, and the color palette consists of warm tones that are not overly vibrant.

 

It's also fun to see the map topography that changes from chapter to chapter

NPCs personalities are warm as well. While there are NPCs who might frustrate players at time during the game, they do not act as villains. NPCs express gratitude when Carto resolves their problems, and sometimes they repay Carto's kindness. For Carto, who has parted ways with her only family, her grandma, and landed in a strange land, everything could be daunting.  However, the people and world she encounters are warm, allowing players to feel warmth, irrespective of the game's difficulty.

📋Overall Review

Carto is a puzzle game with an overall cute and warm atmosphere in both story and graphics. Players expand and explore new worlds by solving puzzles with map pieces. Although the difficulty is not extremely easy, it is not excessively difficult either, and the simple controls make it a recommended game even for beginners.

 
* Steam URL : Carto on Steam (steampowered.com)

* Kor version : https://gamers-tryto-it.tistory.com/85