Critical Play: Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a puzzle game that has been developed and published by Ustwo Games. In this game, the player leads Princess Ida through a series of architectural puzzles with isometric graphics and impossible geometry. It is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Target Audience
Interestingly, according to Ken Wong, the lead designer of this game, there is no intended target audience for this game. This type of design philosophy has led this game to be something more than a run-of-the-mill puzzle game that only avid puzzlers would enjoy. Instead, this game has incorporated a beautiful visual experience involving perspective, geometry, and optical illusions into each puzzle. Therefore, anyone who appreciates this type of visual art would also enjoy this game.
This game even appeals to people who study architecture as the puzzles have been inspired by the architecture of several real-world buildings, as you will see in later images.
Formal Elements
Mechanics and Onboarding
This game only two mechanics. First, you can move Ida by tapping the path. Second, you can change the environment by sliding or rotating different components. The game introduces these mechanics in the very first level, which acts as a tutorial, thus blending the tutorial into the game itself. It is very easy to get familiar with them as the game makes the player use each mechanic to solve the first level. There game even provides unobtrusive messaging that is only a few words long to assist the player in the first level. The tutorial seems very purposefully designed as it equips the player with the minimum knowledge to play the game, while also hinting towards the type of perceptual thinking required for solving puzzles in Monument Valley.
However, once the tutorial transitioned into the main menu, I found the menu buttons on the top of the screen very unintuitive. For example, the concentric circles direct to an ‘about’ section, the plus button directs to in-app purchases, and the concentric squares direct to a settings menu. It seems like the game designers are trying to incorporate the beauty of lines and geometry in every single aspect of the game, and this is an instance of where this doesn’t work too well. Fortunately, as the menu is fairly simple, and the player rarely needs to use it, this does not seem like a very obvious problem.
Dynamics and Puzzles
After the first level, the game introduces new elements of the game that form up the dynamics in each subsequent level. In fact, the dynamics are spread out between the levels so that the player can conveniently learn and get familiarized with them, without being too overwhelmed. For example, in level 2, the game introduces a button that Ida can stand on to trigger a mechanism. In level 3, the game introduces a sliding wall with three circular grooves on it. Interestingly, the game introduces these dynamics without using any text or obvious clues, thus maintaining the immersive experience. Therefore, the game evokes a strong sense of discovery as the player guides Ida through new levels.
Starting from level 4 of the game, the puzzles become very novel as they start suspending the rules of everyday life. For example, in the left picture above, Ida can walk on walls, essentially defying the laws of physics. This encourages players to start thinking differently, leading to perceptual shifts. For example, in the middle picture above, it seems like the player is stuck as there is no way to jump to the other ledge. However, as seen in the right picture, once the player starts experimenting with the environment, it discovers that even the whole monument can be rotated and the same puzzle can be viewed from a different perspective, literally. Fortunately, as the puzzles are designed in a manner that there is only one right solution, the player inevitably stumbles on to the solution, thus ensuring that the puzzle is not too hard. This was one of most favorite levels in the game as it seamlessly introduces so many new concepts, and demonstrates the unusual use of the puzzle environment, creating a strong sense of challenge.
Narration and Sense Pleasure
As mentioned above, the game brands itself as a narrative experience. At the start of every level, the player can see the name of the level and an accompanying line telling the story of that level. The game also calls the levels “chapters” to hint towards the narrative elements in the game. Interestingly, the player is supposed to experience the story by solving puzzles and progressing further into that level. For example, in level 3, the player has to reach this dark hallway that transitions into an encounter with a spirit in the form of an old lady who is familiar with Ida. From a design perspective, the story is beautifully told as the game only gives very subtle hints about the narrative without revealing the overarching storyline, always keeping the players hungry for more. However, in my personal experience, I found it very easy to quickly skip through these narrative hints and consequently, I did not understand the story completely. Only after I replayed the levels and explicitly focused on putting all these clues together was I able to start understanding it. I won’t spoil the story for you, as it is an interesting experiment to test the effectiveness of the narrative experience.
On the other hand, every level in this game is a prime example of delightful sense pleasure. Every time Ida moves, or the player interacts with the environment, zither-like sounds start going off in the background and they come together to form a short yet beautifully serene melody. In contrast, the player encounters crows, especially in the latter half of the game, that make loud and discordant cawing sounds. Initially, it seemed like Ida would ‘die’ if she comes too close to these crows, however, they simply caw loudly and do nothing else. Therefore, the whole idea of introducing crows seemed quite weird to me. However, as I kept playing the game, I started dreading their cawing sound so much and realized that this is an even more potent dynamic than simply killing off the player.
In retrospect, as I was keenly looking out for such interesting elements, I truly enjoyed the game. However, an average gamer might not use headphones, or even have the sound off, while playing the game. This would severely handicap the types of fun that the game delivered for me. Instead, the scene transitions might start feeling inconvenient and boring, increasing the likelihood of a player dropping the game midway. Therefore, the game should have a short disclaimer such as “Monument Valley is best enjoyed with headphones” to make sure that every new player is able to fully immerse themselves into the game and truly enjoy it.
