Have you ever looked straight up at the sky whilst standing directly below a skyscraper, when your head starts to spin as your brain tries to comprehend the sheer size and height of the building in front of you? Replicating that dizzying sense of scale and expanse you get in real life is not easy, but Maquette manages it in this beautiful first-person recursive puzzler. Despite a rather simple story which can detract from the games overall elegance, Marquette’s beautiful art-style and imaginative puzzles make this a perfect game for a rainy day and fans of puzzle genre will thoroughly enjoy it.
The game itself is split into 5 sections each with their own different set of puzzles to complete, and each represent a different stage of a relationship between a young couple. The gimmick of Maquette is each environment has a smaller identical environment within it which you can use to manipulate your surroundings. For example, any item which is in the actual environment around you will have a miniature version within the identical model. That miniature version you’ll then be able to pick up and use and vice versa. It’s a concept which is very hard to explain but is an incredibly satisfying game mechanic to use, a seemingly immovable bridge can be easily picked up in miniature form or perhaps a key which is too small to fit into a lock can be enlarged. You have to use your imagination and change the way you think about size and space but when you finally have that “a-ha” moment it’s immensely satisfying.
One of the major strengths of the game is how impressive it looks. Marquette’s use of colour and architecture is absolutely stunning and alongside the brilliant visuals it has some very effective sound design. When dropping an object in the miniature model you will hear the loud clatter of the enlarged version dropping in the environment outside, which simply elevates the game’s wonderful sense of scale. Each section of the game has its own style, generally reflecting a certain stage of a relationship; be that the beginning where everything is new and full of colour and life or perhaps the end where everything feels very grey and overbearing. Other than the gameplay itself the aesthetic and art design is really where the game shines.
You have to use your imagination and change the way you think about size and space but when you finally have that “a-ha” moment it’s immensely satisfying.
Where Maquette slightly falls down however is its focus on a story which struggles to add much of value to the game itself. Don’t get me wrong it’s not unpleasant to experience or even uninteresting it’s just nothing particularly special and sometimes it feels as if the focus is more on the story than the puzzles themselves. It’s also fair to say that it isn’t the hardest puzzle game I’ve ever played, don’t get me wrong there are a fair few head scratchers but I progressed through the early stages at a pretty speedy pace and I do wonder if the developers intent on telling a story meant they put less of their attention into the puzzles. Even so the story presents a nice enough backdrop to the game and the puzzles themselves do a decent job of keeping you interested from start to finish. It’s also a relatively short game coming under an average playtime of 4 hours so it doesn’t ever get to a point where it feels repetitive or dragged out.
In conclusion
Maquette is a beautifully designed first-person puzzler with some engaging gimmicks based around recursive puzzle design. The simple story leaves a little to be desired, but the stunning visuals and clever game design make Maquette a thoroughly enjoyable experience. This is one of those games which is perfect for a rainy day or a cosy evening. It’s something which if nothing else will enjoyably tickle your brain for a few hours and leave you pretty satisfied by the end.
Maquette is out now on PS4/PS5/PC for £14.99/$19.99
Armada Gaming 