Monument Valley is a visually stunning, single-player puzzle game created by Ustwo Games. It is available on iOS, Android, and Steam, and most recently, V3 was released on Netflix Games. I downloaded the app and signed in using my Netflix account to play for free! The game is recommended for anyone ages 4+. The game itself requires some clever problem solving skills, so the game is probably best played by players aged 12+.
I played Monument Valley for about 40 minutes, which took me through to the 5th chapter. I must have accidentally skipped a step that got me to the final door without completing all the intended challenges, so Ida disappeared but I was stuck in the world. When I reloaded the app later it moved me to the next part of the puzzle, but if I hadn’t gotten stuck at this glitch I probably would’ve played for longer. Nevertheless, the experience gave me a solid grasp of the gameplay and design.
The mechanics of the game were integral for helping to onboard the game, understand the puzzle’s intentions, and motivate me to keep playing. The unique mechanics were also what made this game so different from many other digital puzzle games. In particular, the music, visual design, narrative design, and optical illusions all worked together to make the game more intuitive and more addictive. It forces players to itch a part of their brain they don’t always expect to use in a puzzle game.
The audio-visual design of the game helped to push the game forward, and guided me towards puzzle solutions. The music corresponds to different movements. For example, when sliding pieces across or rotating pieces around, there was this piano music that sounded like a discovery being made. This broke the flow of the background music to remind me that something has changed, and I should take a closer look. There was also an extremely aggravating sound coming from the “crow people” (who are supposed to be avoided). Because the sound was so annoying to me, it motivated me to avoid the crows more intently, which helped me drive forward in the game.
The visual design on the blocks also provided some context for solving the puzzle. For example, below, the round notches on the block mean that it can/should be moved. There were other instances where there is a pattern drawn on several separate blocks, and I needed to align up the patterns in order to see the optical illusion. These visual mechanics were extremely effective in helping me understand new puzzles, and helped me to catch on to general patterns in the game.
The game also relied heavily on narrative building, describing each chapter like a level with a goal for Ida. I think using this narrative approach is a mechanic that helped to ease me into gameplay and at times drove me to really think hard about the puzzle. At first, I didn’t understand why there needed to be chapters with different backstories. Some of the titles were like “Ida embarks on journey for forgiveness” or “Ida has an unexpected meeting”, which was random and useless to gameplay. However, as I progressed into later chapters, the chapter titles were a peek into what I could expect in the round, and sometimes even hinted at what I needed to do. For example, the chapter title prepped me to know that Ida has found a new way of walking, or that Ida needs to avoid the “bothersome crow people”. I think including those details in the narrative building is a nice way to justify these random obstacles getting thrown in, but also make each puzzle feel like it’s working towards some big puzzle. I can imagine that as the game goes on, all the narrative mechanics will also draw the story to some conclusion for Ida!
Within the chapter, there were also inter-chapter goals, denoted by little colorful buttons. I quickly found out that when you tap one of those squares, something will move or some path will be created so that you can move forward in the puzzle. Instead of just going straight to the top goal, these inter-chapter goals were really helpful in making the game intuitive and simple to play.
The mechanic that I feel really differentiates this game from other puzzle games is how much the puzzles rely on optical illusions. You really have outside of the box, there’s not always literal answers. For example, here, the paths look impossible to connect, but when you rotate the block, somehow it fits. This is a visual illusion that tricks us into thinking it wont work, but if you try, it does!
Another example is how this path looks disconnected. I was stuck on this puzzle for a bit, only to realize that if I rotate the world slightly, those two paths will “look” connected, and so I can cross. This is another tricky illusion that doesn’t seem like it should work, but for the sake of the game it does.
One mechanic that I think drew away from the experience of the game is that there was no option for a hint. I’m not sure if this is unique to the version I played, or if I just didn’t look in the right spot, but I was stumped for quite a bit on some puzzles. The worst part is that I clicked to the nav bar for some help, and all I saw was image sharing functionality–so that users can screenshot their worlds. I thought this really drew away from the authenticity of the game, and made my experience less enjoyable. All I wanted was a hint!
Overall, in the context of an MDA framework, I find that all of these mechanics I’ve listed create a dynamic that promotes trial/error and exploration. The mechanics motivate players to look around, think outside the box, and don’t punish players for making mistakes. This creates a Discovery aesthetic, but with Sensation (because of the minimalist but beautiful design/music) and a bit of Narrative and Fantasy. And these aesthetics are what keep people playing the game. The narrative architecture in Monument Valley is less prominent. I would say there is a limited embedded narrative, but like I explained above, I think the narrative integration as a mechanic is successful in making the game more playable and more enjoyable.
While the optical illusions are part of what make this game unique, forcing the player to find illusions can make the game very difficult for people with certain visual or cognitive impairments. The game literally relies on visual trickery, and those who struggle with spatial awareness can be excluded from playing the game entirely. Beyond that, there’s an assumption that since Monument Valley is based on basic visual literacy, rather than any specific cultural or educational knowledge, it should be pretty universal. However, it assumes that players know how modern touchscreen devices work and standard mobile gestures, which might not necessarily be the case in different cultures, especially in places where touch screens are less common.
