If you’re a fan of optical illusions, you will definitely be a fan of our app of the week – Monument Valley on iOS, a world where optical illusions are real. Available for iOS devices, and best played on the iPad for obvious reasons, Monument Valley could very well be the most beautiful mobile game to date, featuring stunning 3D architecture that can be twisted and turned in ways you never imagined.
Intrigued? Hit the break to enter the world where the impossible happens.
What is Monument Valley?
Monument Valley is a 3D puzzle game involving architecture that makes use of optical illusions and turning them into a reality. You know, things like this:
They are actually real…in the game at least
But Monument Valley is not just a game, with its beautiful graphics (play it on the iPad Mini with Retina Display to appreciate it even more), Monument Valley is also a great piece of art. The aim of the game is to guide the main character, the silent Princess Ida, through mysterious monuments, and uncover hidden paths by taking advantage of optical illusions. But be careful of the Crow People, these annoying little birds will get in your path so you’ll need to outsmart them to get past.
Playing Monument Valley
How does Princess Ida get up? Simple, just turn the crank and voila! It’s like magic
Playing Monument Valley can get pretty confusing. You will need to twist and turn the buildings around to discover new paths for Princess Ida to walk on. Guide her through a world that could possibly drive engineers mad as you reshape the world to help Ida explore. To make the game even more fun, Monument Valley also comes with accompanying sound effects that reacts as you move the buildings, providing an atmospheric and beautiful soundscape.
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When you first play Monument valley, it can be pretty simple and straightforward but don’t underestimate the game. As you progres, it gets harder and more complicated, and there are a lot more than what meets the eye. Here’s a tip, don’t be distracted when playing Monument Valley because once you lose track of where’re you’re supposed to go, you’ll get lost.
Unfortunately, Monument Valley only features 10 levels and I don’t consider level 1, a simple guideline, as a level itself. The fun only starts at about level 3 to 4, where things starts to get more complicated and will even mess with your mind.
When Ida discovers new ways to walk, and ends up in a place where the waterfall would be impossible in reality
According to the developers, every frame of Monument Valley has been carefully considered as graphic design, so that each one could be printed and framed. If you find the graphics intriguing, you can even enter the “Camera Mode” and zoom in to capture your favorite scene.
Monument Valley Camera Mode
Price
Monument Valley costs USD$3.99 and is currently only available for iOS devices but according to the official blog, the Android version will be coming “later this month”.
USD$3.99 is indeed an expensive price to pay for a game, especially when it only has 10 levels at the moment, but fortunately, according to the developers of the game, they will be making more levels but didn’t mention any timeframe.
Download Monument Valley on your iOS device now via the App Store and let us know what you think about the game.
