What The Critics Are Saying About Maquette

PS5 owners got quite a surprise when Sony announced the free PS Plus games for March 2021. Alongside heavy hitters like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Sony gifted PS5 gamers with Maquette, the all-new first-person puzzle game from Graceful Decay and Annapurna Interactive. Maquette tasks players with solving a series of increasingly-complicated puzzles in a colorful 3D world. These puzzles are solved by manipulating small models of the surrounding environment, which will unlock more of the world and its story.

Critics have already gotten a chance to play through Maquette. While the game doesn't take a terribly long time to get through, it appears as though reviewers have found plenty to enjoy and recommend in this unique puzzler.

Maquette will be available for PS Plus subscribers from March 2 to the end of the month, and it is also available for purchase through the PlayStation Store and Steam. Before you dive into the game's mind-bending puzzles and engrossing love story, here's what the critics have been saying about Maquette.

Forbes' Matt Gardner praised the game's "diverse" soundtrack and architectural design, ultimately calling the game "the finest indie game debut in years." Gardner wrote, "It's rare for such a bold debut to make such an magnificent impression but, much like What Remains of Edith Finch before it, Maquette isn't just enjoyable to play–it stays with you for a long time afterwards."

Critics have commented on Maquette's ability to tell an engrossing story without the characters ever actually appearing on-screen. Game Informer's Ben Reeves remarked, "Given the heady nature of the gameplay, Maquette's narrative is surprisingly down to earth, but the characters and their struggles were so relatable that I sympathized with their plight."

The lead roles in the game are performed by Bryce Dallas Howard and her husband, Seth Gabel, which should explain why they sound so familiar to many gamers. Screen Rant praised the performances of the actors, calling Maquette as a whole "gorgeous and heartbreaking."

While Maquette has received mostly positive reviews, there were a few elements that didn't quite work for critics. On the negative side of things, some reviewers felt that the game's environments are relatively static. As pointed out by IGN, there's not much to interact with outside of the puzzles, and it can be kind of a bummer to see a fantastical set piece that can't be touch or moved in any way.

Other critics felt that the game had some weird hangups in other areas, particularly when it came to the dos and don'ts of some of the later puzzles. In addition to calling out a few "tricky controls," Inverse's Giovanni Colantonio wrote, "There are a few arbitrary puzzle rules ... which left me scratching my head as to why I couldn't drop certain objects, like door-opening crystals, in specific spots."

Despite those small issues, it seems as though Maquette offers up a unique puzzle challenge for PlayStation and PC gamers.