Maskmaker [VR]

My first ten minutes in Maskmaker's workshop convinced me I'd found something special: hammer and chisel in hand, chipping a wooden block down to a blank mask face before mixing paint and pressing found trinkets into place. That tactile loop is the best argument for owning a VR headset that I've come across in a while. The core conceit is elegant: craft a mask that matches one worn by a denizen of the mask realm, put it on, and you physically possess that character out in the world. Each of the eight biomes has its own culture, its own guardian, and its own set of ingredients for the next mask you need to build. The workshop becomes a hub you never physically leave, but the worlds you step into through those masks range from sun-baked archipelagos and snowy mountain passes to dusty desert canyons. The crafting itself is the undeniable highlight. Using a spyglass to spot a blueprint out in a biome, then returning to the bench to chisel the mould, mix primary colours in a vat, paint regions of the mask, and press in organic decorations collected from the world, it all lands with a satisfying physicality that flat-screen games simply cannot replicate. The possession mechanic adds a light puzzle layer: you can swap between mask-wearers mid-puzzle, operating a gondola from one side while the other character rides it across a chasm, for instance. Smooth locomotion and teleport are both available at all times, and comfort settings are generous for VR newcomers. Where the game earns its caveats: the puzzles outside the workshop are considerably less interesting than the crafting that unlocks them. Most in-world challenges involve pressing levers, turning cranks, or operating simple environmental mechanisms, and the difficulty rarely climbs high enough to feel genuinely clever. Backtracking between biomes to gather ingredients for a single mask can make the pacing drag, and the narrator, whose voice acting is excellent, never quite stops talking, which undercuts the atmosphere in quieter moments. Some players have reported bugs serious enough to force a restart, so saving manually is wise. The whole thing runs about four to five hours, which is short, but the experience is tight enough that it rarely overstays its welcome. There are hidden memory fragments to chase if you want a reason to revisit, though no sandbox mode after the credits roll. Fans of A Fisherman's Tale will find a larger, more ambitious follow-up that doesn't quite match its predecessor's ingenuity spark, but offers more world and more time. For VR newcomers wanting a gentle, atmospheric introduction to what the medium does well, Maskmaker is a confident recommendation. For people hunting dense puzzle design or long playtimes, those expectations should be calibrated downward before pressing start.

Alex · Scout Team

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