I never used to have the patience for jigsaw puzzles. Well, that’s not completely true, I used to love them when I was a kid – but those were fifty piece puzzles that took about twenty minutes to complete. Normal sized puzzles, like 500-1000 pieces, I definitely used to not have the patience for.
More recently, they’ve become of a bit of a favourite thing for me to do because it really allows you to take some time for yourself, sit in front of a puzzle, and relax. Glass Masquerade is a beautiful jigsaw puzzle game with an enchanting soundtrack that had me sitting in front of my computer for a full two hours until I was able to complete each puzzle. It didn’t last long, but I enjoyed every minute.
Glass Masquerade is from developer Onyx Lute and all of the puzzles in the game were inspired by art deco as well as stained glass artisans of the 20th century. You as the player are involved in the “International Times Exhibit” where you have to put together each of the puzzles to reveal the hidden image portrayed on the glass. The puzzles are all found on a large map, and each image that you put together is related to what country you’re in. For example the puzzle for Britain is of the great Sherlock Holmes, and the image for Greece is that of a minotaur head. Every image is hard to make out at the beginning when you only have a few pieces in place, but like with all puzzles, when the images are revealed they are great sights to behold.
The gameplay for Glass Masquerade is very simple. At the beginning of each puzzle you’re given an outline (or background) where your pieces are going to end up and to fit with the “International Times Exhibit” theme these background are actually clocks with moving hands. To help you start off the game does give you a few “hint pieces”. The hint pieces are highlighted for you and you match then up with the places highlighted on your empty puzzle board. This makes it so that you aren’t overwhelmed trying to figure out where you start; you can simply try a few pieces with the ones that are given to you at the beginning. Of course, if you’re looking for more of a challenge then you can always turn off the hint pieces in the settings. The only gameplay aspects that I didn’t like in Glass Masquerade were that sometimes that puzzle pieces looked much bigger than they actually were and therefore didn’t look as though they would fit into the places that they were meant to be. It made for a couple of confusing moments where I hovered a piece over an area where I thought it would go, it didn’t seem to fit so I put it back, and then it ended up fitting where I had originally thought. It’s a very minor issue that didn’t hinder much of the game, but did happen a few times in a couple of different puzzles.
Glass Masquerade‘s soundtrack and artwork are by far the highlight of the experience; together they make for one of the most lovely games I’ve had the pleasure to look at and listen to recently. The music was incredibly relaxing, reminiscent of what you might listen to at a spa or during a massage, making me almost want to leave the game on so I could fall asleep to it. It felt very appropriate with the rest of the atmosphere of the game. Along with this, each of the stained glass images continued to blow me away as I got further into the game. It’s clear that the developers have a strong eye for design and anyone with a love for art would agree that they’ve done a fantastic job.
Glass Masquerade features 25 countries for you to “visit” and complete puzzles for, including Argentina, Egypt, Madagascar and India, and each one is completely unique. I completed the game in about two sessions but that’s simply because I found it so relaxing and wanted to keep going. I was, of course, disappointed that out of the hundreds of countries in this beautiful world of ours only 25 were featured in the game but I’m hoping that they decide to add a few extra puzzles in future add-ons. I’d snatch them up in a heartbeat!
Glass Masquerade is a unique and enchanting jigsaw puzzle game that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something they can unwind with. It’s a shame it’s so short, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent with this simple title. If you’re looking for something to help you relax, then Glass Masquerade is a perfect choice.
