Mask The Man: A Security Camera Stealth Puzzle

Sun Jan 25 2026

Built for Global Game Jam 2026, Mask The Man is a top-down stealth game where you guide a masked thief past a network of security cameras — get caught in a solid rec-light beam, and it is game over.

Written by: DarthPackman

Mask The Man was built for Global Game Jam 2026, a top-down stealth puzzle game told from the perspective of a building’s security camera network. The player guides a masked thief through a space watched by CCTV, timing movement to stay out of camera sightlines — get caught while a camera’s rec light goes solid, and the run ends immediately.

Core Gameplay Loop

Movement is point-and-click, with the win condition tied to reaching an exit gate and the loss condition tied to a camera successfully spotting the thief. The tension comes entirely from reading camera coverage and timing: cameras stay locked to fixed positions, and player success depends on threading gaps in their field of view rather than reacting to a mobile pursuer.

Core Technical & Design Elements

1. Point-and-Click Navigation: Built character movement around a click-to-move system rather than direct control, suited to a slower, planning-first stealth pace.
2. Camera-Based Detection System: Implemented a lose condition tied directly to camera sightlines, with a visual “rec light” indicator communicating detection risk to the player in real time.
3. CCTV Visual Filter: Styled the game’s presentation around a security-camera aesthetic, reinforcing the framing that the player is always being watched from a fixed, external viewpoint rather than experiencing the world directly.
4. Level-Based Progression: Structured multiple levels with their own camera layouts and exit gates, plus supporting menu, pause, and win/lose feedback systems.

Final Result

Mask The Man successfully delivers a tightly-scoped stealth puzzle built entirely around camera-sightline tension, using a simple point-and-click loop and a strong CCTV visual hook to make the “don’t get seen” premise immediately readable.

You can download and play the game here. You can watch a quick dev diary [here] (https://www.tiktok.com/@darthpackman/video/7612814994685676807).