Steam’s personalised calendar system is such a great path to discovering new games. It’s how I came across Mazey Village, developed by Slappy Inc.. This adventure takes me across various biomes as I hunt down lost objects within mazes. Talking to the people found in these areas to get quests that aid in progression. It’s a charming little game, and one that I’m enjoying working my way through.
Character customisation is first up, with the game reassuring me I can edit my looks later. And after just a small while, I can see why. Quests will reward new customisation options, with a place to change my looks found not soon after. My business in accepting these quests is helping people recover what they’ve lost. Or passing things from one person to another. Short and simple.
I am a cartographer, meaning I can easily map out these lands. There’s a nice effect of the land dropping from the sky whenever I reach a progression point. Represented by a cloud-like ball. As I wander this snowy land, I pet every animal I find. Which has them then follow me until I wave them away. By the time I had to enter my first maze, I had about six different animals following me.
As for those mazes, there’s nothing too difficult about them. More like puzzle rooms than actual mazes. Using levers to move parts of land, matching runes, and guiding a beam of light to a plate. Just like away from the mazes, there’s other things to find in them. Bugs to catch, plants to water, bushes to shake. Once the main object of the maze has been found, a portal out of it opens. Though I can still continue looking around it.
After a few mazes, I get to the portal that will take me to Mazey Village. The mayor of that village greeting me at the portal to give the lowdown on the situation. The village has been struck by a tornado. Destroying parts of the village and scattering beloved objects far and wide. The cutscene showing this is very fun. The tornado has a smiling face! How could you be angry at it! But that is deceptive. As this tornado seems to be making a habit of destroying villages.
Once in the village, I see the destruction for myself. The mayor wants me to talk to the villagers, helping them find what they lost. To do that, I now had access to the portal that takes me to the meadow. Where there’s more characters to meet, more mazes to tackle, and plenty more items to find. One of the people at the meadow wants to move into Mazey Village, giving me their house for me to place there. That also doubles as a shop.
The village can be customised, with new tiles able to be purchased to expand the village. Tiles can then be changed to paths or water. A different menu allows for items to be moved and placed. Where I spent a while picking up the fallen objects of the village, such as trees blocking paths, and restoring them to how they should be. And where I wanted them to be. Unless I put them into my inventory. What with the fixed camera, there is no rotating for a better view here, which can somewhat limit creativity.
The shop holds decorative items, which can be used around the village and also in restored buildings. That being the buildings where the villagers live. Once all their missing items have been returned, the villagers gets together to restore a building. Which I can then go inside, look around, and give a bit of a makeover to if I want. That adds to the great options for customising this village.
With that done, it’s time to continue exploring, including finding a new portal to go to a new biome. Where again, there’s plenty of people to meet, mazes to conquer, and quests to complete. It’s also here where I get fishing rod and net, letting me finally start reeling in fish and capturing critters. Which can be sold for a bit of extra money. Useful for continuing to expand the village, though the quests pay well anyway.
Mazey Village is a lovely cozy game. Exploring is fun, with a nice variety of areas to wander. The puzzles aren’t difficult, adding to the cozy vibe. Things can be done at your own pace. The only issue I’ve really faced is getting stuck on some objects of the world. But at least if I couldn’t free myself, there’s buttons on the pause menu to help. Mazey Village is an easy recommendation from me.
Images Taken From:
Mazey Village | PC
