Beautiful Puzzler Maquette Gets Release Date, Bryce Dallas Howard to Star

The beautiful puzzle game known as Maquette, which stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel, will be released on PS5, PS4, and PC on March 2, 2021. Developed by Graceful Decay and published by Annapurna Interactive, Maquette is "set in a recursive world where players experience the life cycle of a relationship and solve spacial puzzles as the story unfolds." Howard and Gabel will play the romantic couple Kenzie and Michael, and are characters that will guide players through the game but won't be "explicitly seen on screen." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/08/maquette-cast-announce-trailer"] Speaking to THR, Howard talked about how there isn't a villain in this game, and that this story is more about two people who were together at one point in their lives and simply moved on, after having a huge impact on each other's lives. "This is about a relationship that ultimately doesn't work out," Howard said. "But it's not a tragedy in any way, shape or form. I think there's something really nuanced about that that I really appreciated." Kenzie is described by director Hanford Lemoore as a "San Francisco hipster." "It's an interesting archetype, the hipster, and there's this inherent sense of irony," Howard added. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/01/maquette-gameplay-walkthrough-trailer"] Lemoore also discussed how the idea of this game came about while exploring the architecture of his neighborhood in San Francisco about 10 years ago. "Something set me off about trying to do [a game] in 3D with physics," Lemoore explained. "I thought about how physics is so chaotic; with a physics simulation you can knock an object and you know it's going to tumble, but you don't know how it's going to tumble. I thought about the idea of copying that really complex, almost random behavior, onto multiple levels of recursion." As to why Howard chose to join the project, she described Annapurna Interactive's games as "real art," and is always drawn towards choose your own adventure opportunities. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/27/maquette-reveal-trailer"] "I was always drawn to choose your own adventure opportunities. The opportunity to be active in the storytelling and have your own ability to have an impact on the eventual outcome — as a reader — was what I was drawn to." Howard concluded. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.