- Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
- Release Date: Mar 2, 2021
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is just fascinating. It is a game that has one central mechanic and ties it into a narrative not often told by games and media. That unique blend of challenging, but mind-boggling recursive gameplay, jaw-dropping set-pieces, and heartfelt narrative moments really crafts an experience that mesmerises and stuns at every turn and is another great title from Annapurna.
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Mar 9, 2021Maybe there’s no healthy way to insulate yourself from heartbreak, but there’s still beauty in the retrospective. Maquette casts a rosy lens on a love story softened by time’s eventual passage. It’s an important lesson, that the sorrow of love lost can be soothed and sanded down by the steady movement of the clock. The story’s frequent puzzle breaks mean that you’re eased into the worst of it. You’re given a long runway before the inevitable climax, which might be a blessing in itself. Even if a reflective journey through a complex relationship doesn’t appeal to you, the intricate world and it’s fascinating puzzles will surely have you hooked.
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Mar 8, 2021The first half of Maquette is close to flawless, with its puzzles and narrative sharing a symbiotic relationship that whilst brilliant, makes the flaws of the second half glaringly obvious. Full of character, ambition and love, Maquette is a unique experience. If you enjoy story-driven games, Maquette is a must. Maquette is a wondrous exploration of human relationships and packs an emotional weight that will leave a lasting impression on its players and it'll be interesting to see what Graceful Decay does next.
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Mar 25, 2021It’s not always a perfect combination. A few of the latter puzzles feel needlessly complicated, requiring you to place the objects at pixel-perfect angles to trigger the next area. But that doesn’t take away from how remarkable the game is. Like Portal before it, Maquette redefines what puzzle games are capable of, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting about these characters any time soon.
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Mar 3, 2021While it misses the chance to transcend the sum of its parts, Maquette tells a beautifully relatable story with a gorgeous presentation, accompanied by a clever and unique size-bending puzzler.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is a puzzle game with a lot of silent walking, self-reflection, and a deep storyline. There's no action and its platforming doesn't compare to the mobility of Super Mario or other engaging platformers. Maquette isn't a game for everyone, but it could be an essential game for many. Maquette chooses to be uncompromising in its vision and message, and it challenges players both mentally and emotionally as a result, with a suitable payoff waiting for those willing to sink in the hours to get there.
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Mar 1, 2021A unique, thoughtful narrative puzzler with a mind-bending recursive twist that succeeds by focusing more on evoking its themes than unpacking them. Some minor lapses in polish aside it's a short, sharp hit of emotion and wonder that should be on every indie puzzler fan's list.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is a great puzzle game that uses perspective and out of the box thinking very well. The story of Michael and Kenzie is neatly entwined within these puzzle, adding heart and soul to the game as you make your way through the world, big and small.
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Mar 12, 2021Aesthetically pleasing 3D puzzle game with smart mechanics, embedded in a love story. It doesn’t reach its full potential, though.
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Mar 4, 2021An interesting mix between a puzzle game and a narrative adventure.
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Mar 2, 2021Maquette it's an interesting proposal, both in terms of gameplay (recursive worlds), and the way it tells the tale of a relationship. It's not perfect (frame rate issues, some puzzle design maybe are too complex and abstract...), but the precious message and the mark it will leave are, simply, magnificent.
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Mar 1, 2021When Maquette is firing on all cylinders, it is a beautiful journey through a series of ever-larger environments, and Maquette’s love story is poignant and a little heartbreaking. Sadly, my interactions with the puzzles were also full of heartbreak. While Maquette has some missteps, I look back fondly on my time with it. Much like a real-life romance, my affection for this game is complicated.
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Apr 7, 2021Overall, Maquette is a solid and unique puzzle game with a sentimental, well-performed story that may hit a little too close to home for some, while maybe providing some closure for others. If only the developer found a way to intertwine the puzzles and the story together to feel more complete.
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Mar 4, 2021In the end, Maquette is a fair and unique experience, even if tainted by some flaws.
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Mar 2, 2021The stunning world Graceful Decay has built in Maquette is perpetually gorgeous and dream-like throughout its short time, never failing to blind you with its beauty. The puzzles utilise size manipulation to provide you with a satisfying mix of challenges, too.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is interesting and has some really good ideas, although there are many ups and downs throughout it. If you like the genre, make sure you check it out.
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Playstation Official Magazine UKApr 6, 2021This playful space is engaging and sequesters some neat solutions but we wish Maquette thought more outside the box and followed its own fun. [Issue#187, p.86]
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Mar 9, 2021Maquette starts off strong, but halfway through the story we forgot why the gameplay and the story were such a great match. Maquette offers a fun way to play with scale and is therefor still worth the try.
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Mar 7, 2021Maquette is an intriguing recursive puzzle game that offers a variety of logical challenges, certainly ingenious but sometimes difficult to solve.
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Mar 5, 2021As a drama about two people falling in and out of love, the script is an amalgam of every relationship ever presented on television and in film, so it is easily relatable if rather trite. If you like abstract puzzles framed around a grounded narrative, then Maquette does offer some value but I don’t see it leaving any long-lasting impressions.
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Mar 5, 2021Maquette has its issues, but is still a solid experience. The grievances I have can be fixed if the studio has the manpower and time to do so. If you’re looking specifically for puzzle games there are others I would recommend before this. But it’s free for PS Plus members for March 2021, and it’s hard to say no to free.
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Mar 5, 2021Maquette is a beautiful game with a compelling narrative that is a perfect weekend experience. Across its four-hour runtime, I was able to feel emotionally invested in this relationship as I begged to see it through until the end. The puzzles hinder progression, but the lack of interaction with the environment limits any additional playthroughs or unique playing experiences.
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Mar 2, 2021A love story told through a first person puzzle game that delights in playing with scale and recursive environments, even if its conundrums eventually feel a little undercooked.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is a realistic, empathetic portrayal of two people falling in love and what comes next. If it was only that, it would make a great audio drama, or with some tweaking, a touching movie or book. But it's a game, and despite the awe-inspiring first impression it delivers, the cagey puzzle logic can leave you more hopeless than the central pair's prospects for longevity.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is an intense love story mixed with Esher-esque puzzles. Short, not perfect but original and sweet.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette never quite delivers that sense of mind-boggling euphoria you might expect. Finicky mechanics sometimes get in the way, and it would help if there were more rewards for experimentation. That said, it’s still a fascinating premise that’s fleshed out in ways that keep pushing you to think outside the box. Paired with a love story that feels personal and authentic, it’s both intellectually and emotionally worth exploring.
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Mar 1, 2021Definitely give Maquette a try if you like puzzle games, but be aware that you’re likely to come up against numerous brick walls as you vie to reach its conclusion. The earlier puzzles are truly satisfying to crack but they quickly lose their charm, while later conundrums might leave you scratching your head in frustration. What doesn’t lose its charm, though, is the small yet beautiful narrative that you’ll want to savour every moment of. It’s just a shame there isn’t more of it.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette is a fascinating puzzle game with a unique central mechanic. This leads to some super clever puzzles that will really test your grey matter. However, we can't help but feel that the concept's potential isn't quite fulfilled. Similarly, the story is pretty unique among games, but the execution just isn't quite there. Overall, it's an enjoyable experience that puzzle lovers should sample — just don't expect it to change the world.
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CD-ActionNov 15, 2021Maquette’s central mechanic is brilliant and leads to some cool (but also repetitive) puzzles. The game itself is pretty rough around the edges though and I felt the developers could have squeezed so much more from this great concept. [05/2021, p.60]
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Mar 4, 2021Certainly an imperfect production, Maquette remains an indie that lovers of the genre would not be hurt to try, perhaps taking advantage of the current inclusion in the PlayStation Plus lineup (or future discounts, for PC users).
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LEVEL (Czech Republic)Apr 12, 2021Maquette is beautifully crafted, and I was really hoping to get to know Kenzie and Michael better over the course of time. However, superb voice acting, a great soundtrack, and some interesting design ideas were just not enough. The gameplay regrettably fails to stand up to its true potential while the rules of the game are frequently broken. And after just two or three hours, it is all over. [Issue#310]
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Edge MagazineMar 25, 2021The arguments and the heartbreaks are worth it, it suggests, to have the chance to see things from another perspective - and in doing so, to have your horizons expanded. When it's all over, the world seems a little bigger. [Issue#357, p.114]
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Mar 15, 2021If you can pick up Maquette from free as March 2021’s PlayStation Plus title, it’s difficult to argue against. But if you’re looking to pay full price for this 3-hour puzzler, you’re money’s better spent elsewhere.
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Mar 8, 2021Maquette is colorful and sometimes quite smart, but the trial and error gameplay is frustrating.
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Mar 3, 2021The puzzles compel, while the narrative stalls, and there is something worthy in that mismatch. I only wish that breakup at its core yielded something worth holding on to.
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Mar 3, 2021Maquette has something special. It delicately tells a very credible story with some clever puzzles mechanics and brilliant emotional moments - thanks to the performance of Bryce Dallas Howard ans Seth Gabel. But it's flawed by some painful pacing issues and some other problems that prevent it from being truly memorable.
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Mar 3, 2021Maquette - and the development team - deserve better. There's some real talent evident in the unique, interesting, contemplative and rewarding puzzle design here, and that kind of quality occurs less and less frequently in this vapid and action-obsessed industry. The development team also know how to write interesting and emotionally engaging narratives - we don't see stories about love told with this kind of sincerity anywhere near often enough. Unfortunately, the one and only problem that the game has is also the thing that almost breaks it; the two elements that the entire experience relies on are at near-complete odds with one another.
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Mar 1, 2021Maquette's core concept of puzzle solving in recursive environments is undeniably neat. But despite the handful of wow moments it enables, developer Graceful Decay ends up squandering much of the idea's potential due to pacing issues and rough edges.
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Mar 8, 2021Maquette's short length makes this inconvenience slightly less frustrating than it would be otherwise, but it's still a glaring oversight that is sure to sour completionists' opinion on the game. Maquette's short length does make it an ideal candidate for the PS Plus lineup, as this way gamers can experience the story, art, and soundtrack without having to make any financial commitment beyond their existing subscription. But those on PC and PlayStation 4 may find it more difficult justifying spending even $20 on such a brief puzzle game.
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Mar 22, 2021Maquette is a clever game with some original game mechanics. Playing around with the scale of objects is challenging but fun, however the game also suffers from some technical issues and can even cause motion sickness. But even if that doesn’t bother you, you will reach the end soon – too soon, even for an indie game.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Mar 9, 2021Maquette is a good puzzle game that does not get rid of some inconsistencies, its control and the design of some of its puzzles have room for improvement, as well as the integration of its narrative with the playable mechanics. However, he knows how to keep his puzzles fresh faithful to his idea of perspective management until the end of the adventure, managing to evoke emotions in the player through the artistic and sound section of him. I have really enjoyed the 3-4 hours that the title lasts, being a very pleasant experience which, despite its possible shortcomings, I have to recommend to those who like the puzzle genre and the more purely narrative adventures.
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Mar 3, 2021What comes as a result is a sense of distraction, above all. Almost a sense that Maquette suffered from too much budget, from misplaced attention to themes or scale. The first half - three hours or so - is a brilliant success, a gorgeous, ingenious, delicately poised construction of spaghetti-brain recursion and latent atmosphere. The time you spend there, submerged deep in focus, is wonderful. The rest is interference.
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Mar 3, 2021The magical world of Maquette never wears off, but the relationship fades. And so the world does shift with it, the colorful fantasy turning gray, the maquette tattered and broken. (At least, for Michael.) This isn’t necessarily a spoiler; it’s something that’s clear from the beginning, an overtone that shades the whole story, even in its happiest moments. The player knows from the beginning that the relationship — no matter how good and perfect it seems — eventually ends.
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Mar 5, 2021Perhaps the style made more sense when the game’s creative director Lemoore conceived Maquette back in the early 2010s, but the world is a different place now, and the game, despite its clear technical achievements, feels like a time capsule.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 35 out of 91
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Mixed: 38 out of 91
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Negative: 18 out of 91
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Mar 6, 2021
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Mar 4, 2021
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Mar 6, 2021