Platform(s): PC (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch 1|2, PlayStation 5
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle, Murder Mystery

SFB Games’ latest adventure title, The Mermaid Mask, is arguably the easiest game I’ve reviewed. No, I’m not referring to the game’s difficulty, far from it. The Mermaid Mask has pretty challenging logic puzzles and a lot of deduction work you need to work through, though the latter is done through thought bubble segments flipping through multiple choices.

And there’s no death or fail state; you get to progress through the game’s chapters after searching every nook and cranny in the game’s setting: a submarine being run by the formerly-living Captain Mortuga whose murder you have to solve.

The reason it’s easy to review is that I can wholeheartedly recommend this title, and really can’t say much beyond the synopsis and its gameplay structure.

Deep Sea Diving (and Investigating)

The whole crux of The Mermaid Mask is its intricate whodunnit mystery and plot. Our detectives Grimoire and Sally (who is a snarky and deadpan gem from start to finish) charmingly and snarkily piece together the case, interrogate the 8 living suspects on board ranging from a pale illusionist child to a tall and well-built diver who “cosplays” as a mermaid with feet.

Without spoilers, the plot is well-paced, its cast incredibly charming and entertaining, and you can wrap it all up in about 6 to 8 hours and feel fulfilled about how it all plays out from start to finish. Coupled with a lovely and mystique-emanating score and quirky art style mixed in with lush 3D graphics and environments, and you have quite a humble looker of an indie adventure title.

Gameplay-wise, it’s pretty simple to navigate and figure out. You can pick spots to explore and investigate through the simple map option. You click on objects of interest, and eventually activate a puzzle that rewards you with a clue of the mystery when solved. Like I said earlier, they’re all seemingly complex brainteasers that just need a bit of gray matter-thinking for you to solve.

All solutions to these puzzles are either self-contained or pertaining to the motion of the story and case. My favourite involves pirate pieces and flags, as well as one involving a diver helmet and connecting nodes. You’re sure to find a favourite, but all of them are a good balance of not being too tough, but not too obvious with its solutions.

That said, it can be a pain to backtrack through the game’s locations as you gleam information from your suspects before grilling them. You can essentially “brute force” clues and answers by going through every room and clicking on each pixel and object until you get the prompt to move the plot forward. While it’s way better than what older adventure games have, this trope does need to be brought up and does still plague adventure games these days.

Don’t Sleep With The Fishes

The Mermaid Mask is a well-written adventure title with a quirky and fun cast of characters and weirdos, great pacing, brain-taxing logic puzzles that fit with the world it’s in, and a juicy mystery with good amounts of deducing and second-guessing on the player’s side.

It also is intuitively laid out and mostly easy to control, with only a few gripes at some quirks when it comes to going back and forth between the same rooms. While billed as a follow-up to the previous game Tangle Tower, you can dive into this submerged seaquest easily.

Final Score: 90/100

Review copy provided by publisher.