Tetris meets tiny living in this delightfully introspective camper van sim about spatial logic, emotional baggage, and an alarming number of coffee mugs.
There have been a lot of cozy puzzle games lately, but Camper Van: Make It Home still finds a way to be surprisingly personal. This simple van-life puzzler was made by the independent group Malapata Studio. It feels like an unintentional cousin of Unpacking and Wanderstop.
You might think at first that it’s just another pretty block-fitting sim for your leisure time, but the more you play it, the more you realize it’s doing more than that. This isn’t just about making the best use of space or how beautiful you make your van. Camper Van: Make it Home is about the weight of emotional baggage, both real and imagined, and what it’s like to try to fit your whole life, habits, and tendency to hoard things into a 6-square-meter mobile home.
It wasn’t supposed to be a deeply emotional journey, but somewhere between the bookshelves that turned and the shower stalls that were shaped in strange ways, it turned into one. Camper Van doesn’t use dialogue or dramatic cutscenes to tell its story. Instead, it’s built into the things you carry.
Camper Van: Make it Home lets you play as a young woman who is going on a road trip by herself along a vaguely defined coast that is more internal than geographical. Each destination marks a turning point in her thinking. At each stop, she takes her life apart, puts it back together, and figures out what it all means again.
As you watch how her collection of things changes over time, you can feel the quiet sadness that runs through the journey. A mug from an old breakup. She keeps adding to the stack of books she never seems to finish. There’s a new bathing suit for every color to avoid the truth. You start to see patterns in both the puzzles and the way she acts when she’s upset.
The character talks less in the game, but you still learn about her. The mess created by her starts paving a path to knowing her. Camper Van: Make It Home looks like a simple puzzle game where you can place blocks. Every level is a different place on your trip, like a beach with sun or a foggy lookout. The first thing you see on each level is a van with no furniture inside.
There is a bed, a sink, a cab, and a closet. Put these in first. The real challenge comes next: her things. There are pots, plants, books, electronics, storage boxes, the cursed mug collection, and some clothes that don’t look very good.
It’s your job to rotate, move, and slot each item into a 3D grid until everything fits. It’s kind of like Tetris meets Marie Kondo, but with the toughness of someone who isn’t ready to let go of anything.
It doesn’t have any timers, fail states, or judgments. Do not rush. Do things again. You move the yoga mat five times because you know it should be by the door. It’s not about making it work better; it’s about making it feel right.
There is no battle here. You only have to fight your own need to be perfect and your deeply flawed sense of where things are in space. Each piece in the puzzle has a specific shape and job to do. Some things can be stacked. Some can’t do it. Some people need to get to the floor, the wall, or the ceiling. Surprisingly, everything in the van fits together with its surroundings very well.
In later levels, there are tighter layouts, stranger furniture, and items that are more emotionally charged. You’ll have to choose between a rice cooker, a guitar case, and six funny bath towels at some point. All of them are important. They don’t all fit. This is where the game really shines.
The best thing about the puzzle system is how it shows how the character is feeling. It’s getting harder to set up her van as she feels worse emotionally. Each level is a metaphor for emotional triage. You could throw away that box of memories, but you’re not going to because she’s not going to. You move and twist things until there is just enough space for everything.
There isn’t a traditional challenge curve, which might turn off puzzle fans who really like them. You are not rushed to find the answer or keep up with the scoreboard. But that’s the point. You are not putting puzzles together; you are making a life fit into a box. Sometimes, that’s even tougher than beating a boss.
You don’t get XP, level up, or gain power over time. In this case, human understanding is the progression system. Over time, you learn what items can be put together, which shapes work best in which corners, and how to better visualize 3D space. You not only get better at the puzzles, but you also learn more about the woman you’re helping. Her habits. What she needs. She doesn’t want to give up a candle she never lights. It’s an emotional leveling up that is calm, satisfying, and all inside.
The art style of the game is soft and cute, with warm pastel colors and smooth object designs that make you want to touch them. You can change the colors of the van, and each item has just the right amount of detail to feel unique without making the screen too busy. It’s not a great piece of visual art, but it’s not trying to be either. Here, it’s all about being clear and charming, and Camper Van does both very well.
The environments outside the van change slowly from one level to the next, making it seem like time is passing and the seasons are changing. They’re never the main point, but they give the story a soft sense of progress.
The sound design is just as well thought out as the visual design. It sounds like soft guitar strums, gentle wind effects, and things clicking into place, which is a soothing sound. It’s made so that every sound keeps you in a meditative state. It’s great that there is no voice acting or dramatic music. It’s not about words in this game; it’s about vibe. It also has a great vibe.
Camper Van: Make It Home is one of those games that you don’t expect until you play it. You start it up because you think the small van can hold some boxes. It makes you wonder why you can’t get rid of that one stupid souvenir from a trip you don’t even remember fondly.
It’s easy puzzles and cozy looks that hide a much deeper story about who you are, how you act, and the things you carry around in your mind, both literally and emotionally. It’s never too preachy. You’re never rushed. It just lets you be and asks you to be okay with it.
This game is for people who have ever tried to pack for a trip but ended up sitting on the floor in existential dread because their shoes didn’t make them happy. Oh, and maybe by the end, you’ll also understand yourself a little better.
