Up next for review is Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions from developers Onyx Lute and Stage Clear Studios, and published by Digerati.
Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions is probably the most difficult review I’ve had to write lately. It is an insomniacs dream. (Is that a pun? If so, it was most definitely intended.) Almost every time I sat down to give this puzzle game some quality time ended up with me snoring with my controller in hand. Whether it’s the calm soundtrack or the slow pace of the gameplay I find my eyes to constantly be watering up as I yawn. I should have been better prepared for this though as the game is described as a dreamlike collection of artistic jigsaw puzzles to piece together at your own pace.
Dive into the rabbit hole of the abstract and the fantastical, putting together stained-glass fragments to solve dreams and riddles. Enjoy baroque depictions of 20th century imagination, in puzzles more intricate and complex than the original. It’s no wonder my mind keeps trying to fall into a dream state.
There are 30+ puzzles included, featuring gorgeous stained-glass depictions of 20th century surrealism and fantasy. There are options to up the challenge or randomise shard angles should you feel like a little extra challenge too. Composer Nikita Sevalnev also lends an original soundtrack to accompany the puzzling, aiding in sending me in to a dream-like state.
The game play is simple; Fit the puzzle pieces together to form a picture. While the concept is simple, the colors and shading as well as the outlines of the glass shards can be tiresome on the eyes after a while. You can start out with a number of hint shards that are easy to place on the board right away or turn that off for more challenge. The default setting also shows your highlighted shard as being in the correct position in terms of what is up and down or left and right, so you don’t need to rotate the piece to fit in, just line up the edges where they belong. Of course you can play on the harder difficulty with shard rotation if you so choose.
Visually the game is very pretty, as you would expect of stained-glass. My gripe is that even upon completion of the puzzle it can be difficult to see what exactly it is a picture of. Sometimes it looks like a piece isn’t going to fit just right but you’ll find that it does after all. There isn’t much in the way of sound effects in Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions, but the musical soundtrack can be almost hypnotic, putting one into an almost trance-like state as you stare at the different colored pieces.
I really want to like this game but it’s hard when it just puts me to sleep. It’s good for achievement hunting and curing insomnia. Personally I’d rather put together a real jigsaw puzzle than play one on TV.
Conclusion
Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions is definitely made for a select audience. Unfortunately it’s an audience I don’t see myself being a part of for very long. But if you are passionate about jigsaw puzzles you get a fairly large assortment for the cost of $11.99. Sweet dreams.
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