Notes from #WebSummit: Monument Valley 2: Conveying the beauty of parenthood
Ustwo sheds light on how they approached creating a sequel to their runaway success by focusing on the beauty of relationships.
Details
Date: November 8, 2017
Time: 15:35
Conference stream: PlayerOne
Speaker
Dan Gray, Head of Studio, ustwo games
Web Summit Summary
Beauty and design have always been at the heart of this team’s games and with Monument Valley 2 they set themselves a new challenge: conveying the growing relationship between a mother and child in an easily accessible and engaging way for mobile players. Dan will discuss how this relationship manifests itself in game mechanics, visual design and even his own teams working practices.
Main Theme
Ustwo prides itself on Monument Valley being a game not born out of a gaming studio. When they embarked on creating a sequel, they wanted to push the limits on how to make people feel something with as little as possible. Dan Grey, Head of Studio for ustwo games explained the principles that went into making this unique experience.
The Key Quote
“If you believe in something, make it present in everything you do.”
- Dan Gray
Key Points
A focus on motherhood. The ustwo team’s desire is to always tell stories that are personal to them. They were roughly in their mid 20s when the first Monument Valley was released and as many of them were now progressing into a new stage of life by starting families, they wanted the next game to reflect that. They noticed how in many video games there aren’t a lot of mothers present and felt that the mother/child relationship was gravely underrepresented and was an opportunity to explore.
Visual storytelling. UsTwo’s goal for the game was to make something so beautiful you could take a screenshot of any screen and hang it up as a piece of art. They focused on the details of every element being bespoke and tried to reuse very little. To create a look unique from the typical video game, they looked to inspiration outside of the field by creating boards for each level with images from varying sources from drag queens to candy bars. A key aspect of their process was to have all team members feel emotionally engaged by allowing everyone access to make suggestions about the artistic feel of the game.
Mechanics and music. Similar to how every visual element was designed to convey an emotion, every action the user takes in the game was meant to make them feel something. The stages of adulthood were represented in the game and every element and interaction reflects the emotions one feels at that stage. Take the Orchard level for example. The atmosphere elicits a feeling of growth and interacting with the growing trees and other elements represents how the child is learning to spread their wings. Not surprising, ustwo also focused on the music being harmonious with these micro interactions.
Working practices. The team puts a lot of effort into how they work together and treat each other to get the best work out of each other. They gave a glimpse into the culture that was able to bring this unique game into the world. For example, since the entire concept of the game was on family relationships, they flew out everybody’s parents to come visit so every team member could understand a bit more about why their colleagues are how they are.
Reflections
Getting a glimpse into ustwo’s process gave me a clear indication of their studio’s values and how they meticulously weave these into every aspect of their product. I hope to one day achieve that and have as much passion for what I build as their team does.
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