Glass Masquerade is a jigsaw puzzle game with a stained glass aesthetic.
Visuals
The game’s visual design is one of its biggest strengths. The art looks great in most puzzles, with only a handful of outliers that are a little too cluttered. There’s also a surprising amount of variety in the subject of each stained glass window. It not only helps avoid repetitive visuals but also improves the puzzle design.
Audio
Music takes a backseat, but it still pulls its weight. Your focus is on the puzzle, and the soundtrack knows it. You won’t find experimental pieces of music that grab your attention or great tracks that you want to listen to over and over again, but you will get top-quality background music that sets the tone of the game.
Gameplay
Mechanically, Glass Masquerade is simply a series of pretty jigsaw puzzles. I typically don’t enjoy this type of game because of its simplicity, yet I constantly found myself in a “one more puzzle” loop. I suspect it’s because the game doesn’t show you what the puzzle looks like until you solve it. Instead, every window is based on a different country, which slightly hints towards what the subject might be without explicitly revealing it.
If Glass Masquerade had any negative, it would be the controls. It’s a simple drag-and-drop mouse scheme, but it has a slightly janky feel to it sometimes. Even so, this is barely a problem, and it didn’t significantly affect my enjoyment.
Verdict
Glass Masquerade is defined by its simplicity. There aren’t any deep mechanics, and there’s no engaging story. Instead, you get a virtual jigsaw puzzle. It won’t have mass appeal, but for those intrigued by the premise, it’s worth an hour or two of your time.
