That layer, its story, salvages the game quite a bit. One in particular involving a flight of stairs is so obtuse that I don't know how I would've solved it without the guide I was provided in the final hours of my review time.Ī first-person puzzler that frustrates with its puzzles doesn't sound promising, and yet, this is an Annapurna-published game, so you should expect another layer to it. There's no centralized logic to the puzzles, at least not throughout. This dampened my enthusiasm not because I got stuck - I don't mind and even expect to get stuck on most puzzle games at points - but because Maquette is so unpredictable. Later puzzles also add things like crystal balls that reveal hidden pathways and even allow you to move the entire dome at once, manipulating the world in your hands as yours spins in unison.Īfter the initial awe I felt marveling at the remarkable and unique scene, some puzzle solutions became so obscure that they elicited mostly frustration. While the first and third of six puzzle areas are mostly about this Russian doll format, the second puzzle adds a one-off mechanic involving gemstones that unlock doors when they're equipped. Trailers indicated the game would be about tweaking the little world at your feet to alter the one you live in and vice versa, and at first, it is about that. It almost feels unfair and at least feels less clean-cut than something like Portal, which all first-person puzzlers seem to unfairly be linked to eventually. Maquette's puzzle logic routinely shifts, which is a big reason the game spun me in circles for so long. The closest touchstone I know of is 2020's Superliminal, but if you think about Maquette's solutions in the way that game had you doing, it will often prove costly. If it's hard to explain, it's even harder to unravel in-game. An infinite reflection of smaller and bigger versions of your world. If ever you've sat in a barber or hair salon and looked into an endless reflection of mirrors behind and in front of you, Maquette is like that, and it will melt your brain.

Above you, though, is the same dome you look down upon, and you too are flanked by life-size versions of the diorama you see below. Before you stands an ornate reddish dome, housing several buildings beneath its extravagant roof.

Maquette Review: Love and What Comes Next Despite that, it's ironically painstaking to get to the end of this story of emotional closure. Rarely have I played a game that has stumped me so early and often as Maquette.īeyond its puzzles, there is a brief but poignant story being told with a pair of great Hollywood actors in the starring roles. Maquette is a first-person puzzle-adventure game, so naturally, it would seem to fit in the latter category, but that assumption may steer you wrong.

Maquette puzzle game