Peaky Blinders: Mastermind Reviews
Clever, rewarding and a lot of fun, I have always wanted to control a family up to the neck in crime and now I can.
It’s abundantly clear that James Marsden and the team at Futurlab put a lot of love into developing Peaky Blinders: Mastermind. Not only is it a fun game that gets satisfyingly more challenging the closer you get to the end, but it also shows great respect for its source material, hitting all the right story beats for a Peaky Blinders tale.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is an interesting puzzle game, whose well-matched mechanics offer a very welcome experience to the genre. Even for those who don't know the series, it's a title worth checking out.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind has some clever mechanics that highlight the meticulous planning Tommy Shelby is capable of, all whilst providing an interesting story and plenty of variety in character actions.
It's a well made game but if you are a huge fan like myself then by order of the Peaky Blinders buy it.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind offers one of the most essential puzzling experiences of 2020. The masterminding may come to an end far too soon, but when it does the the sublime gameplay mash-up you've just had will make you realise that Futurlab have forged an entirely new genre: rewind time strategy. Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is so good that it compelled me to go and watch the original TV show. Now, how many games based on a franchise can say that?
The gameplay itself is inventive, engrossing and rewarding. It’s a great feeling to reach the end of a mission having carefully planned each character’s route and actions, watching them all play out like clockwork.
Although the game is far from perfect, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is the title Peaky Blinders fans have been waiting for. While the rather disappointing campaign length and slightly underwhelming form of storytelling may leave players desiring more, the expertly designed puzzles offer a satisfying time manipulation system that few games ever master. We just crave more.
Although it’s not the longest or most immersive game out there, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a brilliant mix of puzzles, strategy and time-manipulation which will keep you hooked for hours. Taking control of each individual then swapping so that you can work in conjunction with your past self is very creative and the whole process works seamlessly. The lack of voices is a shame, as it loses some immersion due to this, but I enjoyed the narrative and dialogue, it held the game together nicely and linked all ten levels into one long story. As far as TV show tie-ins go, this is one of the best I’ve played for a while and will be enjoyed by puzzle and strategy fans whether you’ve actually seen the show or not.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind surprised us with a very satisfying and well-thought-out "time rewind/record" mechanism that makes us feel like a real gang mastermind like Tommy Shelby was, perfectly orchestrating and timing all our companions actions. Some controls might have been better refined, but it's definitely a game to try, even for people who never watched the TV series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite a truly intriguing gameplay formula, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind ends just when it really begins to show all of its potential.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A great way to reflect the spirit of the TV show: Peaky Blinders Mastermind is a fun tactical game that will make us repeat several times every single level in order to improve our best timing. Technically simple, it causes a true inmersion.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind’s puzzle-solving is intuitive and clever, whilst it manages to capture the vibe of the TV series perfectly – even if it is lacking voice acting and the iconic theme music. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, with the puzzles themselves only offering one real solution and lacking any real replayability after you’ve beat them once. Still, that initial playthrough is thrilling and you’ll feel as clever as Tommy Shelby when a plan plays out perfectly. Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is one of the better TV show adaptations out there and fans of the series will certainly enjoy the puzzling-action that the team at FuturLab have whipped up.
GOOD - Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a good puzzle game with some cool time travel elements. If you’re a fan of the show, you can easily give it a half point extra for that since you’ll understand the characters and who they represent. For a non-fan, this game is still a solid puzzle experience and a good amount of fun.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind makes clever use of its licence, incorporating Tommy Shelby's knack for scheming and planning into the core of its time-manipulating gameplay as well as working each and every one of the gang from the hit TV show into proceedings. It's a shame that it takes quite so long for it to up the ante to the point that missions are really satisfyingly complex but what's here is certainly both fun and highly replayable for those who want to perfect each job on offer and grab gold in every mission.
Although it's based on a long-running British TV show, no previous knowledge is required to enjoy solving the tricky time-manipulation puzzles of Peaky Blinders: Mastermind. In a world where tie-in games are generally awful, this is a rare entry that works for show fans and non-fans alike.
Picky Blinders: Mastermind introduces some new and creative features, but the point is, it can't do this well. The narrative style of the game falls from the beginning and the game falls into a repetitive cycle. But we still see the spirit of the series in a new format that is entertaining for the fans.
Review in Persian | Read full review
A few issues aside, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a celebration of the TV sensation that translates much of what is loved about the show into tangible game play systems. The last third of this game is a brilliant showcase of the time manipulation mechanics and puzzle depth that can really push the player and offers oodles of tension. It’s simply a shame that it takes two thirds the game for that to be realised and for it to end so soon after it begins.
I can Peaky Blinders: Mastermind featuring in the upcoming end of year Christmas sales and this would be the best time to pick this up simply because of the very ‘one and done’ feel once you know how to complete the levels. But as a puzzle game, this certainly has enough clever elements to offer a fun experience particularly if you know the show and just as a puzzle game it works well. It just needed more substance to the earlier levels and the story to really make it stand out more and perhaps if there will be DLC or a sequel, they can focus on that and perhaps storylines from the seasons to help give the game the punch this sadly lacks.
While I've heard of the series I've never seen Peaky Blinders, and in general it seems like a curious choice for a license since I know maybe only one or two people familiar with it...