Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions

Developer: Onyx Lute | Publisher: Onyx Lute | Release Date: 2019 | Genre: Casual / Puzzle / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

The original Glass Masquerade was a pleasant surprise and offered a tranquil gaming experience. By combining the tried-and-tested jigsaw formula with stained glass-style artwork, the game was not only fun to play but also very eye-catching. Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions follows the same path as its predecessor, but this time with an Alice In Wonderland twist.

Glass Masquerade used a straightforward formula, which, while very addictive, also means there isn’t much for this sequel to improve upon. It’s still an artistic puzzle game where you aim to piece together a stained glass picture using the different shards. It felt like this game was slightly more challenging than the first one due to the abstract artwork used. The images are a perfect match for the dreamlike atmosphere of the game but can make it very tricky to determine where pieces will fit. This isn’t too much of an issue, though, as the focus of Glass Masquerade 2 is on the unique shapes of the pieces and not the images on them.

Anyone who has played the original game will feel instantly at home with Glass Masquerade 2. The interface feels more polished, and the art style is a lot busier, but other than that, it is business as usual as you select your puzzle and then try to assemble the pieces. The irregularly shaped pieces and the fact that you don’t have a complete picture to work from, like with traditional jigsaw puzzles, do make the game a bit more challenging, but overall, it is still a very relaxing experience. We did notice that all of the puzzle boards in this game are round, which is a bit strange as the original had ones in different shapes.

With more than 30 puzzles to solve, the game will keep most players busy for quite a while, especially as later puzzles feature more pieces. Not all of the puzzles are accessible from the start, so you have to complete what is available to earn keys that unlock new puzzles. In the process, you also unlock special shards, which are then used to complete the final puzzle in the game. The game also has an optional “Hard” mode, which does not automatically rotate the pieces to their correct orientation when you pick them up. Instead, players must use the mouse scroll wheel or A & D keyboard keys to rotate the pieces.

It ups the challenge, and boards that can be finished in about 20 minutes on the “Normal” mode can take upwards of an hour to complete on “Hard.” On the other side of the spectrum, the game can also be set to show the anchor points for a few of the edge pieces to get you started. This is great for players who simply want a relaxing experience instead of the frustration of sifting through random pieces just to get started.

Visually, Glass Masquerade 2 looks great, even though the art style is much more sinister than the original game. Once again, only the silhouettes of pieces are shown, so you have to pick each one up individually to see their picture and orientation. Pieces that you place in the correct position snap together with a satisfying click or fly back to their spots, rotating the board if you are wrong. The game keeps track of how long it takes you to solve each puzzle, but there are no time limits to worry about. It’s simply about beating your own best times if you are so inclined. The soundtrack by composer Nikita Sevalnev is very soothing and all the tunes are a great match for the game. However, because it is such a relaxing experience, Glass Masquerade 2 is also a great game to play while listening to something else.

Everything in the game is mouse-controlled, which works well, but you can also enable the option to rotate pieces using the “A” and “D” keys on your keyboard instead of your mouse. Other options include the ability to invert scrolling and rotation and adjust the dials’ sensitivity.

Overall, we had fun with Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions, and it provided a nice distraction from more intense games. It doesn’t do anything radically different from the original game, so if you liked the original, you will enjoy this one. As with traditional jigsaw puzzles, it’s not a game that will appeal to everyone, but if you are in the mood for some mindless puzzle-solving, you can do far worse than Glass Masquerade 2.