Game: Elfie: A Sand Plan
Genre: Casual, Indie
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Pressed Elephant | Sol’s Atelier
Controller Support: Not compatible
Price: US $6.99 | UK £5.89 | EU € 6,89
Release Date: May 12th 2026
A review code was provided, many thanks to Pressed Elephant.
A Relaxing Day at the Beach
Elfie is a friendly elephant spending her day at the beach, and she wants to build some sandcastles. You will be the one in charge of this job — Elfie will show a view of the castle she envisioned and give some blocks to work with, but the rest is up to you! Pick up the blocks, start building the castle and pay close attention to the picture to build a perfect replica of Elfie’s design in this charming puzzle game!
Not a Kids Game
With Elfie: A Sand Plan, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking this is a kids’ game. And although the art style and the atmosphere of playing on the beach may look like it, the game gets progressively more difficult. The first challenge is that you cannot move your camera or change the angle you are looking at the castle — Elfie wants her friends close by. That means that you have to plan accordingly and build the castle from the most distant blocks to the closer ones, and even deconstruct a bit if you happen to forget a block.
The various shapes of blocks that Elfie gives you have different looks, depending on the view. You can rotate the blocks to better assemble the castle, but you also need to remember that the blocks will add their shapes and may come out with a different result. For example, if you place a thinner block on the front and then a cube block behind, the final result will be a cube shape. You must pay attention to this in order to perfectly build the castle.
While the first levels are super easy, once Elfie starts adding more than one view per castle, things get complicated. Maybe that cube that fits the front view won’t work for the side view. And this is the moment you have to see each block as a whole. Sometimes you will need a pyramid on the front and a cube on the side, so choosing the correct block for each case is nothing trivial.
Once you get to the double blocks, everything gets even more intricate as you have to now match the shapes with bigger blocks that take two spaces instead of just one. Those levels can be quite hard sometimes and these blocks can be a bit tricky to work with. Sometimes they will not rotate the way you want or the placement may be a bit rough.
It’s interesting how Elfie: A Sand Plan makes an innocent activity, such as playing with geometrical forms, into a super complex game that needs planning. Some of the levels won’t have the exact match for the shape you want, and that’s when you need to add the blocks so they can form the shape you need. This will sometimes require a deeper understanding of 3D models and forms and be a very good exercise for the brain.
Beyond the Gameplay
There are a few other features that are nice to add about Elfie: A Sand Plan. I was presented with way more levels than I was expecting. At the beginning, I thought this would be a super short game, but I have spent a few hours playing with Elfie, and I can tell you that this game is longer than you think, which was a great surprise.
You can also customize Elfie as you want: you will unlock new cute outfits and accessories while playing. Elfie is also super chatty and will ask you a lot of questions. I did find it a bit annoying in the beginning when she talked to you at every new level, but after a while you can ask her to talk a bit less. Although I prefer to focus more on the puzzle and less on the talking, I think she is quite a charming character and her lines make her even more adorable.
Conclusion
Elfie: A Sand Plan is a much more complex game than it seems to be. Definitely not the kids’ game it appears to be, although a super smart kid may be able to play as well. This is a great exercise for the brain — and I mean it in an actual brain training kind of way. It takes a super simple idea and builds intricate puzzles that keep getting more complex as you advance in the game. Maybe not a game to play for long periods of time as it can be a little bit mentally exhausting, but Elfie: A Sand Plan is definitely worth playing in smaller bits.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up 
Do you like our content?
Subscribe to our daily news and never miss a review!