Monument Valley
Year: 2014
Rating: E
Time Played: 144 minutes / 2.40 hours
There’s something about the simple calming aesthetic of Monument Valley that made me want to binge the game in a single night. It has that visual feel of Journey or Alto’s Adventure but with the three-dimensional puzzle elements of Fez. And while it’s not particularly difficult, Monument Valley was this Zen experience that I have to recommend. After all, I like to de-stress with video games and experiences like this one are definitely built to reduce stress with every element of its being.
If you can imagine M. C. Escher designing a video game, Monument Valley would be it. These impossible shapes are fun to traverse but require a bit of thought to get the character from point A to point B. The fixed camera angle helps simplify things while also emphasizing the beauty of each level. The game introduces new mechanics and builds upon them organically and in a way that shouldn’t stump the player. Even the achievements are simple enough that I could 100% the game with little effort past playing through the entire thing.
While I have faulted games like this for being too short, I felt this was the right length. Too many puzzle games just have endless amounts of levels that do nothing different or just continue iterating on the new mechanic for that world too long until it becomes annoying. That I could beat this entire game in a single sitting wasn’t a bad thing. I could even see myself playing it again at some point if I manage to forget most of the puzzle solutions. Despite playing the “Panoramic Edition” on my PC—which made controlling the character occasionally difficult—I still think this is a game to be experienced any way you can.
A calm puzzle game with gorgeous, impossible visuals, I give Monument Valley 4.0 stars out of 5.
