In Monument Valley you will manipulate impossible architecture and guide a silent princess through a stunningly beautiful world.
- Release Date: 3rd April 2014
- Developer: ustwo
- Publisher: ustwo
- Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Version Played: Android
Released in 2014, Monument Valley gained a ton of for its beautiful art, being one of the first smartphone games that felt like a showcase rather than just a distraction while travelling. It was wildly successful due to this, leading to extra content and sequels.
The game makes extremely heavy use of impossible objects – where you can climb down the side of an object, walk along it and end up where you began, able to climb down again, but you never went up. Perspective is key and you’ll need to make heavy use of it or progress.
Controls are simple. Tap to move Iva, then use the touch screen to move objects that you can interact with, moving them into place to progress though the level, finding switches as you go past. It’s all extremely intuitive and you get used to the perspective tricks very quickly.
However, there just aren’t a lot of possible options at any point, with there being one obvious way forward throughout most of the game. It feels more like an art gallery with lots of interesting moments and not a puzzle game, as it’s pretty much walk to the next section, move the one thing you can interact with then move on. There’s a few small moments towards the end that take a bit of thought, but it really feels like a tutorial.
I was hoping that Forgotten Shores add-on would take the mechanics form the main game and make it much more challenging, but it instead adds more ideas, again feeling like a tutorial. The final level of this section does finally do what I want: it’s a level with different sections, requiring you to combine parts and work out the correct order, this is great and I just want more like this
There’s also an additional level, Ida’s Dream, which was made to raise money for charity. It’s a very cute level with a couple of sections that have you analysing twisting paths, although not quite to the level of the end of Forgotten Shores. It’s a nice, relaxing end to the game.
For what it is – a lovely, relaxing game with some amazing sights, Monument Valley is a stunning experience, with lots of wow moments from the geometry and perspective tricks. It’s simple enough for anyone to get though, which is great if you want to just take it all in.
Fun
