A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars review – Shooting for the moon and delivering more

Puzzle game DLC means exactly more of the same, right? In the case of Seeing Stars, the second premium expansion for developer Max Inferno’s 2022 hit A Little to the Left, it’s a case of yes and no.

Yes, in the sense that there are loads more charming organisational puzzles to solve at your own pace. No, in that the add-on introduces some new gameplay components, welcome quality of life improvements and, VERY IMPORTANTLY, more mischievous cats – though you don’t really have to worry about the latter interrupting your efforts this time around.

Players who have tackled the household tidying-up challenges in the original A Little to the Left know that on completing a level you receive a star. Some puzzles have multiple solutions, potentially earning you multiple stars. A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars leans into the star-collecting aspect.

A larger DLC than A Little to the Left: Cupboards & Drawers (which added 25 new sorting puzzles), Seeing Stars features 38 new levels – five of which are unlockable – with some of the new stages having up to five solutions to discover. In total, Seeing Stars adds an additional 100 stars to collect. Which means you’re going to be kept busy for quite some time, especially as some of the new challenges are just that: a considerable test of your problem-solving skills.

The greater number of solutions also means that, if you’re someone frustrated when a puzzle’s insisted solution doesn’t match your organisation method – as we noted in our 2022 review, everyone’s brain works differently – well, there’s now a higher chance that your approach will feature. If not, with Seeing Stars, A Little to the Left has overhauled its hint system. Whether you purchase the DLC or not, every single puzzle solution is now available via the Pause menu. The “two factor” reveal system remains, where, if you accidentally end up on the hint screen, you won’t have the answer instantly spoiled for you. You need to actively erase the pencil scribbles to see each end result.

As before, A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars is best enjoyed in shorter play sessions, focusing on a couple of levels at a time. Trying to marathon the game will lead to fatigue, and likely lessen your enjoyment. This is especially true as variety gives way in later stages to levels that are predominantly drawer themed, with players forced to find the exact arrangement of items within a confined space, jigsaw puzzle style.

This isn’t to say these asks aren’t enjoyable. Particular level highlights in Seeing Stars include a nostalgic gut-punch of packing away old consumer technology like stiffy discs and flip phones; and a drawer of adhesive products, which playfully includes a stick. Get it?

As before, these scenarios are delightful, conceptually and visually. Many now include a new level of interactivity which becomes part of the solution. For example you can close and open items, and put caps on bottles to make them better fit a storage slot. As a side note, playing on PC, I found I had finer control in this regard with mouse than controller.

Anyway, you really can’t beat the gratification that comes from creating neatness out of domestic chaos; finding the perfect place for everything. This effect is enhanced by the game’s audio and visual indicators that you’ve got things right. Speaking of the sound design, it’s top tier, making the interactions more immersive, and is particularly notable in a level themed around musical instruments and noise makers.

With so much to savour, you don’t want to try and complete all the content of Seeing Stars in one or two sittings, as already noted. Things will likely start to feel repetitive, or, worse, overwhelming as you clear a cluttered level only to be faced with a scenario just as daunting.

This complaint rests primarily on the approach of the player, though, and can be avoided. A bigger issue is that certain puzzles, which combine both micro and macro organising, can be frustrating due to a rigid order insistence at the greater level. In the case of the bookshelf stage, for example, you may perfectly decipher scenes on the book spines, but if the sets aren’t on the “correct” shelves, you must move each tome individually to reassemble the set elsewhere – which is a tedious process.

Still, while they may have you seeing red rather than seeing stars, these instances are not the norm. And A Little to the Left’s Let It Be menu option means you can always skip ahead to the next puzzle, and return later if you like. While levels like the example above make it hard to give Seeing Stars a higher score than the original game, if you’re a fan of A Little to the Left, and want to extend and enhance your experience, the new DLC is absolutely worth snatching up.

A Little to the Left is playable now on PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4, with the base game also currently part of Xbox Games Pass. The Seeing Stars DLC released on 25 June 2024.