Critical Play: Monument Valley

On puzzles.

The game I decided to play was Monument Valley, a mobile puzzle game. Monument Valley first struck me as different from other puzzle games I’m familiar with. Monument Valley started off with a strong narrative element, and it also put you right into the game. However, I didn’t feel like a fish out of water — the first game interaction felt like a small tutorial, letting players figure out how to operate within the game space. The opening scene gave just enough context as to what the point of the game is, and what the other levels might look like. Unlike other puzzle games I’ve played, I feel like there’s little to no challenge in this game. I found the experience to be relaxing rather than stressful or difficult. I wish there were a bit more challenge in the game, seeing as the different levels seemed to fly by. Something that I noticed was that this puzzle game was really just focused on the puzzle and environment. There’s no timer or any external resources or mechanisms. It felt like I could explore the space, but obviously, since it’s a puzzle game, there were constraints in place. The graphics and the smoothness of the animations are what make up for the lack of challenge, for me at least. While I appreciated the beauty of the game and the story it had, I was still left feeling like there should’ve been more going on.