Picture the following premise: following in the basic structure of a hero’s journey, an unlikely hero, tied to the routine of his boring job, finds himself with the task of saving the world he lives in by restoring its supply of Mana, the essence that keeps reality alive. A typical premise you’d expect from, say, a JRPG, right? Well, we aren’t talking about one today. We are talking about Mirage: Ignis Fatuus, a puzzle game revolving around using deceiving perspectives in order go through obstacles. Oh, and your protagonist is a sentient block. No face, no nothing. Just a block.

Oh wait, how am I able to cross this gap?

It sounds completely bonkers, but Mirage: Ignis Fatuus does a good job at explaining its simple but creative gameplay loop via the first few levels. In essence, it’s a mixture between Monument Valley and Fez, especially in the sense that the perspective you see onscreen dictates the reality you’re in. From a certain angle, there might not be a way to cross a river, but you tilt the camera in order to perfectly allign some planks of wood, a bridge may be formed, and you can use it to solve a puzzle. In a very summarised way, this is how Mirage works, and I honestly think it’s pretty neat, especially since you also need to take into account that you move in a grid, and you are not a cube, but a block. You are taller than you are wider, so this is also part of each level’s puzzle.

Just spin the camera around until there’s no gap between both platforms. That’s Mirage: Ignis Fatuus’ core gameplay loop.

In theory, that results in a very engaging puzzle experience. It runs well, has a distinct (as in, low-poly as hell but colorful) look, and lots of different levels. I do feel, however, that the game doesn’t do the best job in the world at teaching you all of its tricks and mechanics in a proper manner, and feels overly punitive as a result. If you do any mistake whatsoever, it’s back to the beginning of the puzzle. No rewind features make you even feel afraid of making a mistake, as some of these puzzles can be a bit long and complex. I did ragequit a handful of times out of frustration, even if I was truly enjoying the core gameplay loop.

You need to take a platform’s size into account, as you will fall down if you don’t have enough space to stand up.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy my time with Mirage: Ignis Fatuus. It’s a funny little puzzler with a very creative and innovative gameplay loop. When it works, it works oh so well. It’s just way too punishing and demotivating due to its lack of either a rewind function or some kind of mid-level checkpoint. If this could be added later down the line in an update, then ignore my complaints and pick it up right away. As for now, just be aware of some harsh consequences for your mistakes; if that’s something you can deal with, then go for it and give this little indie title a go.

Mirage: Ignis Fatuus is available now on PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of Mirage: Ignis Fatuus was provided by the publisher.