Maquette: How Gameplay Enhances Storytelling
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS STORY SPOILERS FOR MAQUETTE (PS5 & PS4)
At some point in life, there is a sudden moment of realisation that the world is far bigger than you first thought. It is a simultaneously awe-inspiring and horrific recognition.
This simplistic existentialism underpins Maquette, a unique puzzle game developed by Graceful Decay. At the start of the game, you find yourself between four puzzle rooms facing into an ornate dome structure, which houses an intricate scale model of the world you’re walking in – the titular ‘maquette’. You quickly realise that whatever you do to the maquette, you do to your world. By moving objects from the sculpture into your own world (or vice versa), you can drastically change their size. By putting an oversized key into the maquette, for instance, you can construct a colossal golden bridge. Alternatively, a crystal that is too big for your own world might be just the right size for the maquette.
The studio defines Maquette as “a game of puzzles, exploration, and the relationships between things – bundled together with a clever twist”. Indeed, Maquette uses its imaginative yet simple puzzles to tell a superbly organic romantic story between the awkward characters Kensie and Michael, whose shared love of sketching blossoms into a romantic relationship.
At first, the story is conveyed through sentences that appear on walls like scribbled spectres from a buried past. This voiceless narrator recalls a relationship retold through a “graveyard of ephemera”. Soon, Kensie and Michael’s first meeting in a coffee shop builds a charming and uncanny relationship. Yet, whilst the superbly-realised story of a flourishing then stuttering romance is told through these two mediums, it is embellished excellently through Maquette’s mechanic.
As Kensie and Michael’s relationship begins tentatively and excitedly, the puzzles are short, simple and vibrant. The “graveyard of ephemera” which you use to solve these puzzles are small gemstones and golden keys, and, crucially, the world is small and maneuverable. You become single-minded and consumed by the puzzles’ surprising simplicity, whilst relishing the quaint environment around you. The tempo of gameplay – crucially achieved through the game’s “clever twist”, is integral to Maquette’s storytelling. And then, as suddenly as it began, Kensie and Michael’s relationship falters, and the confines of this two-dimensional model fall apart. It is then that the terrifyingly endless scope of Maquette is revealed. Beyond the walls of the puzzle is another replica of this maquette, but far larger. Beyond that, you see the dome of another vast maquette. And another beyond that. And suddenly, you are forced to question your purpose in this tiny and infinitely incomprehensible game.
This gameplay shift is a terrifying departure from the simplicity you had become reliant on. As you listen to the arguments, the anger and the sweetlessly honeyed words, you must push into those larger worlds, vast stretches of vacant environment lying before you. Everything seems dull, repetitive and pointless – indeed there is a bland vastness to the world that was – from your perspective – nonexistent before. Large fences loom, like skyscrapers, high above your head and cracks in the pavement become gaping chasms of self-doubt and depression. Kensie and Michael’s split is heard through audio, but it is told through gameplay.
And then, after a while, the mood picks up, and puzzles become snappier again. As Kensie and Michael push beyond the doubt and the pain – colour seeps back into the world. The insurmountable canyons transform into happier, swifter levels. Furthermore, Maquette offers you a sense of control. You can now pick up and move the Maquette, making your travel around the larger dome almost effortless. Kensie and Michael have wrestled back control of their lives, and pushed past their sorrow.
Maquette is an excellent example of how to weave a simple, yet delicate narrative into an ingenious and ambitious mechanic. Maquette’s shifting scale harnesses the emotional impact of a relationship and constantly considers the impact of it on the player, coalescing into an emotionally gripping and impactful narrative.