Critical Play: Monument Valley

A story of forgiveness

Monument Valley is a surreal exploration through fantastical architecture and impossible geometry. The player guides the silent princess Ida through mysterious monuments, to uncover hidden paths, unfold optical illusions and outsmart the enigmatic Crow People.

The Aesthetics

Before going into how the mechanics of the game influence the experience, I have the speak on the amazing artwork of the game. The very first thing I noticed when playing Monument Valley was the incredible visuals and presentation of the levels. I was presented with beautiful architectural structures that immediately captured my attention and my curiosity. I think that the aesthetics of the game remove distractions and help the player focus on the incredible puzzle and story.

The Mechanics

The story is about a misplaced princess that the player must guide through the architectural monuments in order to collect various objects. To do so, the player can rearrange pieces, twist levers and rotate buildings to make the architecture transform and reveal new paths. The mechanics have a huge influence on the experience of the game since the player gets to witness amazing architectural changes and the creation of new paths. The aesthetics and mechanics also created a perfect balance in difficulty by making the levels appear impossible at first glance but then by having the player explore, the levels become more clear and solvable.

Final Thoughts

It was such a bummer that Monument Valley had only 10 levels! I really enjoyed my time playing overall. I would have loved to see a bit more difficulty to the levels (but still have them as enjoyable). Since there are endless way of arranging the architectural, it would have been nice to see some more advanced ways of arrangement. Besides this, I thought the architectural monuments were so beautiful and it was a delight getting to unravel and explore them.