#Maquette soundtrack full#

You’re introduced to this when you first walk past a comically giant cube placed nearby in the square where the centrepiece dome resides. The idea is that there is always a bigger or smaller version of the same object in this world. READ MORE: ‘Ghosts ’n Goblins Resurrection’ review: the punishing classic is back with more fighting chances.Think beyond that and your mind might just melt. Peer beyond the edges and you’ll notice an even bigger version of the world, as if you are in fact the one inside the diorama. Maquette takes this further with the concept of recursion, as the model set inside a dome structure in the middle of this first-person game isn’t just a diorama – it’s actually showing the world you’re inside. In fact, if looked at from a different and scaled-down perspective, the game subtly reminds us that our closest relationships can be much like a challenging puzzle themselves.Dioramas in video games are a popular aesthetic, perhaps because it reminds us of our childhood where we disappeared into our own worlds of play sets and figurines, though of course even in adulthood, our fascination with the craft and design of model sets continues.

#Maquette soundtrack full#

And while some will find its full relationship tale to be upsetting, you could easily see it as a cautionary encouragement that even the most loving relationships require hard work and commitment. Maquette is, without question, a very creative and at times difficult game. We hear a single exclamation of “What the h-!?” in the dialogue, as well as references to drinking wine. (We never hear or see anything sexually intimate.) The two main characters obviously live together, but it’s not clear if they ever marry.

The tale also jumps from abstract drawing to drawing and spans quite a few years, so the details of the relationship aren’t always well defined. There’s a resolution to be had, but it’s not a happy ending. Parents of younger players should note that the latter stages of Michael and Kenzi’s story-as cracks begin and spread to eventually crumble the relationship-could leave players feeling quite bittersweet.

The characters are well defined, and the voiceover work is excellent and moving. In the early stages of the relationship, the pair’s interactions are a delight to be a part of. It can be played in one long several-hour stretch or easily broken up into smaller challenges as you focus on mastering a puzzle or two and then come back for another chapter later on.Įach of those path-blocking puzzle obstacles also reveal more and more of Michael and Kenzie’s story. The whole perspective-shifting journey is wonderfully creative. Sometimes they change your size as well, shrinking onscreen avatars down and forcing you to make your way through a Gulliver-sized world. The puzzles here are very well thought through-ranging from easy to incredibly difficult. In lettering penned on walls and buildings and through heartfelt voiceover (delivered by real-life married couple Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel) we retrace the rise and fall of a couple who have big dreams that don’t quite take shape. Those drawings also represent the developing relationship between the narrator, Michael, and a lovely artist he meets and draws with, whose name is Kenzie.

The story of Maquette starts with an artist’s sketchbook-a collection of whimsical drawings that we soon realize are the source material for the colorful, aesthetically pleasing world around us. To solve puzzles, both huge and miniscule, the player will return over and over to that central maquette to find yet another creative way forward. So, for example, a normal sized key can be placed between scaled down buildings in the maquette and instantly create a massive key bridge back in the larger version of the world that you inhabit. When items are placed within, or moved about in that scaled-down model, it has the magical ability to change those very things in the outside world. And that’s literally what’s at the center of this game’s world, with full-size buildings, neighborhoods, fairgrounds and parks surrounding it. The French word “maquette” refers to a scale model. On top of that, it also reveals the slowly paced story of a failed romance, peeling back the tale’s cathartic layers one by one. Set in a beautifully crafted world, it’s filled with creative, mind-bending puzzles that constantly challenge you to shift the size, scale and scope of everything you see. The new puzzle game Maquette is a difficult thing to describe on paper.