Critical Play: Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a game of optical illusions where the player must manipulate the world around Ida, the main character, to navigate her to special platforms. Each level of the game feels like an M.C. Escher work brought to life. The player must forget about the constraints of the real world in order to solve the spatial puzzles. Rotate gravity. Change the camera perspective. Walk through portals. Navigate with perfect timing. Create bridges. Recognize patterns to determine which items you might be able to affect.
Puzzles are not a component of this game; the whole game is a puzzle. Sure, the pacing, storyline, color palette, visual design, background music, and sound effects highly contribute to the experience. Yes, they help make each level cohesive and flow into the next. But each level is entirely focused on navigating Ida to her destination, a journey always grander than the last that requires the player to further develop an acquired skill. Since one cannot save their place in the middle of a level, the player is completely immersed in each puzzle and solving it from start to finish.
The puzzles really make you stop and think, but they aren’t so difficult that you want to give up. Rather, you sit there, twisting your brain to contort the world into a version that can get Ida where she needs to go.
Want to see more? Check out the trailer here:
