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Review
You were only a courier until you agreed to run deliveries for the resistance and even then, you had no further involvement.
And yet, here you are, trapped in a lab with law enforcement closing in…
Masks is a short Twine game about protest and defiance in the face of brute force. You play as a courier in the middle of a delivery gone sideways. It brought you to a university campus lab, but the recipients have vanished. Meanwhile, city-wide protests prevent you from leaving.
Gameplay
Gameplay is linear and involves waiting for the inevitable raid by law enforcement. It begins in the lab where we've been hiding for several days. Equipment in the lab monitors the air quality and sound levels in the room. We soon learn why: law enforcement’s go-to tactic against dissenters is tear gas and loud noise.
Every night the police blast a playlist of weaponized sound through the streets below.
There's not much for us to do than to look out the window and wait. The turning point occurs when (Spoiler - click to show)we decide to open the package we were tasked to deliver. Inside are some masks. The player selects a mask to wear and waits as the door is torn down. Game ends.
I’ve got mixed feelings about this. While it’s a suspenseful way to end the game, it also leaves the player wanting more from their experience.
Story/Themes
While details are kept at a minimum, it portrays a society undergoing a spike in violence against civilian protesters. Most of these protestors appear to be students. Aside from that, all we know is that something is happening. The game was inspired by the Hong Kong 2019 protests but leaves the game’s story open-ended for the player.
The futility of the protagonist’s situation is underscored by the resilience they feel when they discover the masks in the package.
It’s just a mask. But it’ll have to do.
In this case, a single mask is not going to save you from what's coming. But it does allow you to face it on your own terms. The game ends before we see what happens next.
There is only one ending. However, the game always ends with a choice: “Once more or give up?” Choosing “once more” restarts the game. But if you choose to give up, the game does not let you.
You cannot give up.
The game then begins again, reinforcing its point about not giving up.
Design
Overall appearance consists of a basic white screen, large grey text, and blue links. Word-count is kept to a minimum. A creative feature is the use of colour-coded icons on the left side of the screen that depicts air quality and sound levels. This allows us to see when these levels become unbearable for our character.
An acoustic cannon perforates your bones.
It doesn’t take long for the levels to go from green to red.
Masks also demonstrates how timed text can build suspense at key moments. Here, text automatically changes as the situation escalates, emphasizing the inevitable descent of police forces on your hiding spot.
An explosion out in the hallway rocks the lab. They’re here.
The game ends with (Spoiler - click to show)a ten second countdown as the barricaded door- your only exit- is torn down. This is effective in making the player feel just as helpless as the protagonist.
Final thoughts
As an overall concept, Masks is a well-rounded game especially being only 2-3 minutes long. However, the content’s depth is surface-deep. I understand the game limits its exposition to be more open-ended. The downside of this sparseness is loss of the subtly behind the protagonist’s situation, making it difficult to find deeper insights.
Nonetheless, Masks is a game that stands out for both its meaningful subject matter and creative implementation. The author knows how to build a suspenseful scene with a smaller word-count. If you’re looking for an uncomplicated game with themes on protest, try Masks.
