A Little to the Left explained

A Little to the Left
Developer:Max Inferno
Publisher:Secret Mode
Platforms:Windows
macOS
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
Programmer:Lukas Steinman
Artist:Annie Macmillan
Lukas Steinman
Genre:Puzzle
Modes:Single-player
Released:November 8, 2022

A Little to the Left is a 2022 puzzle game developed by Canadian[1] indie studio Max Inferno and published by Secret Mode.

Gameplay

In each level, the player must drag and drop objects to clean up an unorganized space. Some puzzles have more than one answer.

Development

The game was initially made for the GMTK Game Jam 2020. In the game jam, contestants had 48 hours to produce a game following the theme Out of Control. After the event, developers Annie Macmillan and Lukas Steinman established Max Inferno in 2021. It was planned to release by October 2021.

According to Macmillan, she and Steinman developed A Little to the Left as a side project. They were approached by publisher Secret Mode, who would expand the game's prototype.[2]

Release

The game was released for Windows and Mac on November 8, 2022.[3] Max Inferno had planned to release A Little to the Left in December, but due to it being developed ahead of time, it was released alongside both ports. Within a year of release, the game had received a million sales.[4] After Alice O'Connor of Rock Paper Shotgun described that one of the puzzles had an unclear solution,[5] Max Inferno added the Let it Be feature to allow players to skip levels.[6]

Reception

On Metacritic, A Little to the Left has a "generally favorable" for its PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X ports.[7] [8] [9] On OpenCritic, the game has a 69% approval rating.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Game dev duo in a seaside town making a tidy puzzler, A Little to the Left . December 2, 2023 . Max Inferno.
  2. News: Dealessandri . Marie . August 24, 2022 . A Little to the Left dev: "I want people to reimagine the mundane as something with hidden potential" . . December 18, 2023.
  3. Web site: Dring . Christopher . January 4, 2024 . How digital showcases helped make A Little To The Left an indie hit . March 30, 2024 . Gamesindustry.biz.
  4. Web site: November 20, 2023 . [From the industry] A Little to the Left cleans up with 999,999 sales ]. March 30, 2024 . MCVDevelop.
  5. News: O'Connor . Alice . May 20, 2022 . Alright, you tell me how you would organise these keys . . December 18, 2023.
  6. News: Bell . Alice . October 12, 2022 . Lovely tidying game A Little to the Left has added a skip puzzle feature because of an article we done . Rock Paper Shotgun . December 18, 2023.
  7. Web site: A Little To The Left: PC Critic Reviews . March 30, 2024 . Metacritic.
  8. Web site: A Little To The Left: Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews . March 30, 2024 . Metacritic.
  9. Web site: A Little To The Left: Xbox Series X Critic Reviews . March 30, 2024 . Metacritic.
  10. Web site: A Little to the Left . December 3, 2023 . OpenCritic. November 14, 2022 .