Maquette

Maquette received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its world, but criticized its simplistic puzzles and story. It received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator, Metacritic. Eurogamer praised the recursive world of Maquette, writing, "Solving these puzzles is, mostly, a delight. The brilliance of that basic principle lingers... there's more emphasis on step-by-step logic here, and less on tricks of perception. It's cleverly twisted and re-presented in slightly different forms". Rock Paper Shotgun enjoyed the game's puzzle mechanics, but disliked the story of the game, feeling that it was filled with tropes and poor writing. "Everything is so idyllic, and predictable, and I am convinced no human has ever had a relationship like Michael and Kenzie." IGN liked the presentation of the game, saying "Its use of vibrant colors and ornate, warped architecture is some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in any puzzle game. Those impressive aesthetics also extend into its otherworldly particle effects as objects phase in or out of place, as well as its top-notch audio design". While enjoying the protagonists' banter, PCGamer criticized the puzzle design in context of the game's mechanics, "I also found myself trudging back and forth through a barren plain of nothingness to finetune the exact position of a miniature staircase. The galactic proportions Grateful Decay is working with don't mesh well with rote, adventure-game tedium". Polygon liked the way the world was presented in the context of a relationship, "how unevenly people fall in and out of love, provide contrast for the fantastical game world — the space Michael and Kenzie built together and in which they hold themselves up. Their relationship shatters for seemingly small reasons, but in their intimate world, the details loom so much larger". Game Informer praised the intricacies of the world of Maquette, but disliked some of the solutions to the puzzles, "a handful of puzzle solutions are so obscure that I had to scour the environment many times before accidentally stumbling into an interactive element".