Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is the sequel to Circle of Blood and the second game in the Broken Sword series.

The player alternately controls George Stobbart, the protagonist of the first game, and Nicole Collard, the French journalist he met in the first game and who has since become his girlfriend. The game starts with George witnessing the kidnapping of Nicole. This event eventually leads to an investigation into a conspiracy revolving around a forthcoming solar eclipse and the evil Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. The locations visited throughout the game include Paris, Marseilles, London, Quaramonte, the jungle, a Caribbean environment, and a zombie island. Certain locations from the previous game make a return.

The game is entirely in 2D and gameplay is in typical point-and-click fashion. The player moves the character around using the mouse, examines the environment, talks to other people, and collect items stored in an inventory. These items need to be used or combined with other items to solve puzzles.