Wikipedia

Monument Valley (video game)

(Redirected from Monument Valley (game))

Monument Valley is a puzzle and indie game by Ustwo Games. The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display.

Monument Valley
A white figure with a white pointed hat standing on an orange square set against a blue landscape
App icon
Developer(s)Ustwo Games
Publisher(s)Ustwo Games
Director(s)Neil McFarland[1]
Producer(s)Dan Gray[1]
Designer(s)Ken Wong
Programmer(s)
  • Peter Pashley[1]
  • Manesh Mistry
  • Van Le
Artist(s)
  • Ken Wong
  • David Fernández Huerta
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • iOS
  • April 3, 2014
  • Android
  • May 14, 2014
  • Windows Phone
  • April 30, 2015
  • Microsoft Windows
  • July 12, 2022
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

After a closed beta test, Monument Valley was released for iOS on April 3, 2014, and was later ported to Android and Windows Phone. The game received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised its art and sound design, but noted its lack of difficulty and short length. It won a 2014 Apple Design Award, was named Apple's best iPad game of 2014, and sold over two million copies by January 2015; by May 2016, sales of the game exceeded 26 million.

Two expansions titled Forgotten Shores and Ida's RED Dream were released in 2014 and 2015. A sequel, Monument Valley 2, was released for both iOS and Android in 2017.[2] Monument Valley+, an Apple Arcade exclusive, was released April 2, 2021.[3] A PC version under the title Monument Valley: Panoramic Edition was released on Steam in July 2022. A third game is reportedly in development.[4]

Gameplay

edit
 
A screenshot of part of a level in Monument Valley

In Monument Valley, player character Princess[5] Ida journeys through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects,[6] which are referred to as "sacred geometry" in-game, as she journeys to be forgiven for something.[7] The game is presented in isometric view,[6] and the player interacts with the environment to find hidden passages as Ida progresses to the map's exit.[8] Each of the ten[9] levels has a different central mechanic.[8] Interactions include moving platforms and pillars and creating bridges.[10] The player is indirectly cued through the game by design elements like color, and directly cued by crow people, who block Ida's path. Critics compared the game's visual style to a vibrant M. C. Escher drawing[6] and Echochrome.[8] The game includes a camera mode where the player can roam the level to compose screenshots. It includes filters similar to those of Instagram.[1]

Development

edit

Monument Valley was developed by Ustwo, a digital design firm founded in 2004 that has produced iPhone apps since 2007. Their Whale Trail game received millions of downloads, and their other apps include design app Granimator and photo sharing app Rando.[5] Monument Valley was conceived as a touch game for tablets. Its development began in the beginning of 2013,[7] and lasted 10 months. It was developed under the working title, Tower of Illusion.[11] It began with a piece of concept art drawn in the style of M. C. Escher, and the final design did not deviate far from this original.[1] Ustwo management did not give the development team a timeline or budget, and instead told them to focus on "making a high-quality product". Games development is not a large portion of Ustwo's revenue, so the company focuses its games development on producing "great products" that reflect well on the company, rather than highly profitable apps.[12]

 
Ken Wong, the lead designer for Ustwo, at the 2015 Game Developers Conference

Of the art style, game designer and artist Ken Wong said he aspired to make each frame of the gameplay worthy of public display.[6] The project began as Wong's concept drawings before it became a game project.[8] The visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture,[5] and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.[7] Wong added that the gameplay was designed to let the player find the object of the game through exploration, without direct guidance. The game uses colors to signify where the player can interact, similar to Mirror's Edge.[6] Wong compared the gameplay experience to a cross between the wonder of a toy shop and the world of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,[5] and its story to a symbolic "song" rather than a narrative book.[10] The game was designed to be completed by most players, a style uncommon for games designed for popular audiences.[1] It was intended to be a "premium experience" rather than a difficult challenge.[12]

The game's soundtrack features music by Stafford Bawler, Obfusc, and Grigori. A limited edition vinyl two-volume recording was released by Ustwo and iam8bit in 2016, which includes the music from the main game and its two expansions.[13]

The game was in beta as of December 2013,[5][10] where it had over 1,000 testers and the average finish time was 90 minutes.[1] It was planned as an iPad exclusive.[6] The game was initially released for iOS on April 3, 2014,[14] and the company recouped their cost of development within the first two weeks of release. An Android port went through two beta tests[15] and was later released on May 14, 2014.[16] More levels were in development, as of April 2014. Ustwo said they were adding the levels for "artistic reasons", such as ideas they wanted to try but could not fit into the original release.[17] Wong stated that, with consumer interest, the company would consider porting the game to other platforms.[10] The game's technical director said that the game was "not very difficult to port" since it was written in the Unity game engine.[1] But as the game was built with a portrait (vertical) screen orientation in mind, the developer had difficulty converting the game for devices with landscape-oriented (horizontal) screens, such as the YouTube trailer video format[1] and the PlayStation Vita.[17] Jennifer Estaris said in 2022 that they had figured out how to adapt the game for landscape orientation, with plans to release the title for personal computers later that year.[18] The two games (with their DLC) subtitled Panoramic Edition and The Panoramic Collection, containing both games and their DLC, was released on Windows on 12 July 2022.[19]

An add-on expansion, entitled Forgotten Shores, was released for iOS devices on November 12, 2014, on the App Store on November 20, 2014 and on Google Play Store on November 24, 2014. This adds eight additional levels to the ten in the original game.[20] An expansion pack titled Ida's (RED) Dream was available from June 25, 2015 for purchase for a limited time as part of Apple's Apps for (PRODUCT) RED initiative. This expansion pack could be played with or without the additional purchase of Forgotten Shores, featuring Ida in a red outfit and several new puzzles.[21] Both DLC are automatically included in the rereleases.

Reception

edit

The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic.[22] It immediately went to the top of the App Store paid apps chart, where it stayed for at least a month based on strong reviews and word of mouth. It was chosen as an App Store Editor's Choice[15] and later both received a 2014 Apple Design Award[27] and was named Apple's best iPad game of 2014.[28] Pocket Gamer gave the game their gold award, and their Harry Slater wrote that there was "nothing else like Monument Valley on the App Store".[25]

Multiple reviewers cited the art[23][24][25][26] and sound design as exceptional.[9][24][26] Edge added that the sound design's addition of "deep rumbles" and environmental "clicks" gave the game the feeling of Tomb Raider's moving "ancient mechanisms".[9] TouchArcade's Shaun Musgrave called the visuals "almost impossibly gorgeous",[26] and Wired wrote that the game "might be the most beautiful iPad game of 2014".[6] Creative Review called the game's puzzles "clever" and appreciated the developers' attention to detail.[5]

While Polygon's Danielle Riendeau praised the puzzle design,[24] other critics noted its lack of difficulty[9][23] and short length.[23][24][25][26] Riendeau wrote that the puzzles solutions always felt intuitive and never felt frustrating. She found "everything" about the game to be "soothing, almost hypnotic".[24] Edge thought that the game did not present a "genuine" challenge, and that the puzzles did not "find fresh ways to confound and delight" until the final levels.[9] The magazine compared the game to "assembling flat-pack furniture": straightforward in its process, but rewarding in its transformation.[9] Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer wrote that the game was "almost breathtakingly unique".[25] Riendeau said she finished the game in under three hours,[24] and TouchArcade's Shaun Musgrave, who could not "even begin to imagine anyone getting stuck on ... the puzzles", put the game's length at "an hour and change".[26] Jeff Marchiafava of Game Informer wanted more content. He was also unsatisfied with the game's narrative, which he found "obtuse" and "vague" to a fault.[23] Musgrave of TouchArcade thought that while games that focus on experiences can be shorter, Monument Valley did not last long enough "for the mechanics to reach their full potential", though the time was "just about right" for the story.[26]

Monument Valley sold 500,000 copies in a month, and one million copies in three months.[29] In November 2014, the game had sold 1.4 million copies[30] and by January 2015, the game had sold 2.4 million copies.[31] In January 2015, Ustwo noted that the game had seen a large amount of software piracy, with 95% of the installs on Android and 60% on iOS devices coming from unpaid copies; the company asserted some of these may include users installing on multiple devices but believe the majority was through users that had not purchased the title. While these numbers were discouraging, the company asserted it will continue to develop premium titles for mobile devices.[32][33] Despite the piracy, Ustwo stated they have exceeded $6 million in revenue from sales of the game as of mid-January 2015, exceeding the $1.4 million in development costs.[34] By January 2016, USTwo reported that more than 24 million users have downloaded the game, the ten-fold increase from 2015 partially due to legitimate giveaways of the game through Apple's App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Underground. Of about seven million of the free downloads through Apple, about 35% of them purchased the "Forgotten Shores" expansion.[35] Ustwo reported total sales over $14 million from 26 million copies by May 2016.[36]

The game was named as a finalist for Innovation Award, Best Visual Art, and Best Handhold/Mobile Game for the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards, and was an honorable mention for Best Design.[37] During the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Monument Valley with Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, as well as nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Mobile Game of the Year, and the D.I.C.E. Sprite Award.[38] It won the 2015 International Mobile Gaming Awards' Grand Prix.[39] The title won the BAFTA Video Game Awards for best "British Game" and "Mobile/Handheld Game", while nominated for "Best Game", "Artistic Achievement", and "Original Property" awards.[40] At the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards Monument Valley won the category Game, Special Class and was nominated for Game Design, New IP and Art Direction, Fantasy.[41] Time magazine placed the game on their best of list[42] while being Game Informer's "Editor's Choice" for "Best Mobile Exclusive".[43]

Legacy

edit

The game was a "minor plot point" in the third season of House of Cards, in which Frank Underwood plays the game; he is inspired by video gamer reviewer Thomas Yates's elegant description of Monument Valley to bring the reviewer on as his biographer.[44][45] According to the studio Ustwo, they were approached by Netflix about including the game in the story, and the studio readily agreed without any financial compensation. They made a specialized version of the game for the show to aid in filming and to meet a description of the game provided within the script for the first episode in which it appeared.[46] Ustwo saw the opportunity to introduce the title to a different audience set, and saw an increase in sales as a result of this appearance.[47] The game re-entered the top of the most download app charts on the major app stores a few days after the February 2015 release of the season on Netflix.[48]

Monument Valley characters were added to the cast of Crossy Road in late 2015.[49] Jaz Rignall (USgamer) noted that the 2015 Lara Croft Go appeared to have been influenced by Monument Valley.[50] Ken Wong left Ustwo Games soon after completing Monument Valley to create his own studio, Mountains, which created Florence.[51]

Monument Valley was reported to have a significant influence on China's indie game development community, as its ability to tell an emotional story through a video game medium influenced numerous developers to build out their own games with similar narratives.[52]

The music video for Ariana Grande's 2018 song "No Tears Left to Cry" was partly inspired by Monument Valley.[53][54]

Film adaptation

edit

In August 2018, Paramount Animation and Weed Road, in partnership with Ustwo, announced plans to develop a live action/CGI hybrid film based on Monument Valley, with Patrick Osborne slated to direct. It was anticipated that the film would feature live actors exploring the computer generated settings based on the game. Osborne stated "I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything".[55]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kollar, Philip (March 18, 2014). "Monument Valley: the quest for a game everyone can finish". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  2. ^ Sulleyman, Aatif (June 5, 2017). "Monument Valley 2 has just been revealed". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  3. ^ "Monument Valley+ at the Internet Game Database (IGDB". Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Pocket-lint (April 1, 2022). "Monument Valley 3 and another game in development at Ustwo". www.pocket-lint.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Steven, Rachael (December 11, 2013). "Monument Valley: a beautiful new app from ustwo". Creative Review. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Stinson, Liz (December 13, 2013). "This Might Be the Most Beautiful iPad Game of 2014". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c W., Tim (December 10, 2013). "Trailer: ustwo's Monument Valley". IndieGames.com. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d Long, Neil (July 25, 2013). "Whale Trail studio Ustwo's next game revealed: Monument Valley". Edge. Future. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Edge Staff (April 3, 2014). "Monument Valley review". Edge. Future. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d Farokhmanesh, Megan (January 1, 2014). "Monument Valley and the art of visual trickery". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  11. ^ "Monument Valley was Almost Called "The Garden of Geometric Delights"". Grab It Magazine. June 15, 2017. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Sheffield, Brandon (October 19, 2014). "When quality comes before making money: Developing Monument Valley". Gamasutra. UBM. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  13. ^ Crecente, Brian (January 26, 2016). "Monument Valley Music Gets a Surprise Vinyl, Pre-orders Open Tomorrow". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  14. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (April 2, 2014). "Monument Valley hits iOS devices tomorrow". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Diver, Mike (May 13, 2014). "Monument Valley creator Ustwo on App Store success and what comes next". Edge. Future. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  16. ^ Webster, Andrew (May 14, 2014). "The beautiful 'Monument Valley' is now on Android". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Campbell, Colin (April 21, 2014). "Monument Valley: new levels on the way". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  18. ^ Young, Neil (March 15, 2022). "New Monument Valley game goes green with director Jennifer Estaris". MobileGamer.biz. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  19. ^ "Monument Valley series is coming to PC in July". Eurogamer.net. May 31, 2022. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  20. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (November 12, 2014). "Monument Valley is nearly twice as large with a new expansion available now". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  21. ^ Dotson, Carter (November 24, 2014). "'Monument Valley' Gets Additional Chapter for Charity with". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  22. ^ a b "Monument Valley Critic Reviews for iPhone/iPad". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  23. ^ a b c d e Marchiafava, Jeff (April 7, 2014). "Savoring Every Moment - Monument Valley". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g Riendeau, Danielle (April 3, 2014). "Monument Valley review: moonrise kingdom". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  25. ^ a b c d e Slater, Harry (April 3, 2014). "Monument Valley review". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g Musgrave, Shaun (April 3, 2014). "'Monument Valley' Review – In Which An Uncanny Valley Is Reviewed". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  27. ^ Tach, Dave (June 3, 2014). "Threes!, Monument Valley and more games win Apple Design Awards". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  28. ^ Dredge, Stuart (December 8, 2014). "Apple's best apps of 2014: Replay, Pixelmator, Threes! and Monument Valley". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  29. ^ Lomas, Natasha (July 18, 2014). "Premium Not Freemium: iPad Game Monument Valley Passes 1M Downloads". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  30. ^ Wawro, Alex (November 7, 2014). "Monument Valley surpasses 1.4M sold as devs sort out DLC plans". Gamasutra. UBM. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  31. ^ Gray, Dan (January 15, 2015). "Monument Valley in Numbers". Squarespace. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  32. ^ Nutt, Christian (January 6, 2015). "Monument Valley Android piracy dust-up: Ustwo sticks to its guns". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  33. ^ Johnson, Eric (January 6, 2015). "Mobile Game Piracy Isn't All Bad, Says Monument Valley Producer (Q&A)". Re/code. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  34. ^ Wawro, Alex (January 15, 2015). "Ustwo reaps nearly $6M in Monument Valley revenue to date". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  35. ^ Jarvis, Matthew (January 6, 2016). "Monument Valley racks up over 21m downloads in 2015". Develop. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  36. ^ Kerr, Chris (May 20, 2016). "Monument Valley revenues top $14 million two years after launch". Gamasutra. UBM. Archived from the original on May 21, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  37. ^ "Shadow of Mordor, Hearthstone, Bayonetta 2 grab Choice Awards nominations". Gamasutra. January 12, 2015. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  38. ^ "18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. January 14, 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  39. ^ Priestman, Chris (March 5, 2015). "Monument Valley wins big at both the IMGAs and the GDC Awards". pocketgamer.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  40. ^ Karmari, Luke (March 12, 2015). "BAFTA Games Awards 2015 Winners Revealed". IGN. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  41. ^ "NAVGTR Awards (2014)". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  42. ^ Peckham, Matt (December 2, 2014). "Top 10 Video Games". Time. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  43. ^ "Top 50 Games 2014". Game Informer. No. 262. GameStop. January 2015. p. 75.
  44. ^ Vella, Matt (February 28, 2015). "This Is the Incredible Game President Underwood Is Obsessed With in House of Cards Season 3". Time. Time Inc. Archived from the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  45. ^ Rivera, Joshua (March 4, 2015). "How House of Cards broke new ground for video games in pop culture". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  46. ^ Tech, Dave (March 13, 2015). "The surprisingly simple story of Monument Valley, House of Cards and skyrocketing sales". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  47. ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 5, 2015). "How Indie Game Monument Valley Got on House of Cards Season 3". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  48. ^ Martin, Michael (March 7, 2015). "Monument Valley App Store Success Continues Following House of Cards Appearance". IGN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  49. ^ Doston, Carter (October 5, 2015). "'Crossy Road' Adds 'Monument Valley', 'Shooty Skies', and 'Land Sliders' Characters in Latest Update". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  50. ^ Rignall, Jaz (August 27, 2015). "Lara Croft GO iOS Review: Pretty, Brilliant Puzzling". USgamer. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  51. ^ Conditt, Jessica (February 14, 2018). "'Florence' turns falling in love into a video game". Engadget. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  52. ^ Chan, Khee Hoon (January 17, 2020). "The Closing Walls Around China's Independent Game Developers". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  53. ^ "Ariana Grande's 'No Tears Left to Cry' Concept Came From a Video Game". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. October 1, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  54. ^ Lozovschi, Alexandra (December 2, 2021). "Ariana Grande Breaks Down Her Most 'Iconic' Music Videos". Inquisitr. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022. I pitched David this idea of sort of multiple fields of gravity because of a game I was playing at the time called 'Monument Valley' on my phone.
  55. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 22, 2018). "Paramount, Weed Road Tap Patrick Osborne For 'Monument Valley' Mobile Game Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Monument_Valley_(video_game)&oldid=1257785909"