Recent reviews by castalyst

After playing its predecessor, it was a relief to see that Glass Masquerade 3 has brighter and clearer illustrations, even though it unfortunately comes at the cost of losing its unique "stained glass" appearance.

I understand that upon release, the devs made the mistake of omitting the unique puzzle shapes that the series is known for, but they have since fixed this in an update. As a result, each puzzle offers different options for the puzzle shapes as well as the usual difficulty options (rotation or no rotation). I really enjoyed the challenge of completing each puzzle with all of the possible settings.

Other than that, Glass Masquerade 3 offers the expected fun puzzles, good UI and a beautiful soundtrack. In my opinion, it's a solid entry in the Glass Masquerade series.

Glass Masquerade 2, in comparison to the first game, is both better and worse.

While the UI has improved, and a new difficulty mode (where you are able to rotate the pieces) adds a nice challenge, it's really brought down by the design. I'll admit that the darker, grittier vibe of the illustrations just isn't my cup of tea, while other players will probably love it. But the pictures themselves are muddy and very difficult to make out. I had to stare for quite some time at some of the completed puzzles to figure out what they were supposed to be.

Additionally, I find it a real shame that instead of the cool board shapes of the first game, all of the puzzles are now a simple circle and only have the one section.

That said, Glass Masquerade 2 is still a solid puzzle game, and I enjoyed playing it!

First of the Glass Masquerade series and the one that made me fall in love with the concept. I enjoyed it so much that I bought it again on Steam, even though I had already played it on Nintendo Switch!

IRL I am a huge jigsaw puzzle fan. I find most digital versions usually fall short, but with its interesting board shapes, beautiful stained glass illustrations and soothing soundtrack, Glass Masquerade has really created something lovely and unique.

Looking back, the puzzles in this first game are relatively easy to complete, while the sequels offer a bit more of a challenge, but it still has some of the best puzzle designs in the series.

For an autistic girl who enjoys puzzle games and likes things to be organised, this game is an absolute slam dunk. Add cute graphics and a cat, and you'll have a hard time prying me away from this game.

While I did not like *all* of the puzzles (a few of them had frustratingly fiddly solutions or just aren't my cup of tea), most of them are very enjoyable. Messing around with them makes for a very nice, cozy evening! The DLC are equally satisfying, but even if you're not able or willing to pay for those, there have been several free seasonal updates.

Controls are easy, intuitive, and work well on SteamDeck as well. I love the sound effects and objects "snapping into place" when you put them down.

Even though I have run out of levels to play, I still log in regularly to complete the daily puzzle or to play a few of the shuffle levels. If this game ever gets a sequel, I'm buying it day one!

Pros:
- Fun puzzle game that is easy to learn but more tricky to master.
- Well designed UI with satisfying visual effects.
- A large array of different game boards and rule settings, as well as different challenges that invite you to try them. I like that you're able to mix & match boards and rules to create whatever combination you're in the mood for.
- You can choose between different colour groups for the tiles, which is useful for players with low vision or colourblindness.
- There's an active Discord server where you can find some very friendly players willing to jump into a multiplayer game with you.
- There's a cat background, which is an illustration of the dev's cat! <3

Cons:
- It took me a while to figure out how to change my display name. The process is not very intuitive.
- Controls can be a bit fiddly on SteamDeck.
- For the price the content you get is very generous, but I do wish the game had a little more depth to it. After completing the challenges, I'm missing that spark to come back and play "just one more game".

Pros:
- The trait/equip system where different outfits give you different advantages in battle is really cool and genuinely enhances gameplay.

Cons:
- Interface is just Regency Solitaire with the Shadowhand theme somewhat clumsily wedged into it.
- A lot of levels are super frustrating due to having only a few matchable cards available at a time.
- I'm sorry, but the story is really bad and drags on for way too long. The way Shadowhand keeps running into more goons to fight is super contrived.
- The mask that covers cards which need to me matched more than once is CREEPY AS HELL. ;_;

Overall it's a "no" from me. There's a lot of card games on Steam that are more deserving of your time and money.

Pros:
- A ghost who follows you around and helps you investigate what happened to the dead? Really cool concept.
- Relatively amusing point-and-click game with a protagonist who isn't your typical social butterfly and has a strong personality and opinions.
- Fully voiced and has great voice acting, especially for the FMC.

Cons:
- Not the greatest introduction to the series. It definitely shows its age, but I have hopes that the sequels will offer a better UI and expand on the story.
- A few puzzles with frustratingly far-fetched solutions that really should have been reconsidered.
- The achievements that require you to listen to the (super rambly and seemingly unedited) developer commentary are a huge pain in the ass.

More of a visual novel than a true investigation challenging the player. This game probably doesn't offer that much to those who are unfamiliar with the source material, but for fans of Miss Fisher's it's a fun way to spend some more time with the characters from the TV show. Although the story isn't super exciting, the characters are faithful to the original and have quite a few witty lines (you get to flirt with Jack!) A fun way to spend an afternoon or two, but don't expect too much of it.

It's a shame the story will probably never be finished. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but I would have loved to know what happens next!

A bit of a hidden gem! This game has the rare combination of being both simple and very easy to learn, yet offering enough variety in boards and goals that it keeps its challenge even after a lot of plays. I can't comment on the multiplayer aspect as I've only played solo, but the AI opponents are decent enough.

I also love playing the daily to see how far up on the leaderboard I can get. There's so many players at this point that maybe the medal tiers ought to be expanded, but even so I've managed to rack up a few!

Pros:
- Generally speaking, it's a fun card game with a lot of levels, which will keep you entertained for several hours.
- Pretty graphics & music.
- Decent UI.

Cons:
- For those who like to challenge themselves, it's good to know that a lot of levels are basically impossible to win without making use of the power-ups, due to the low amount of face up cards being accessible.
- I don't expect much from a fun regency romp, but the story here is so bland that honestly they needn't have bothered.