Monument Valley

Every now and again something happens in a game that makes you go "Oh, wow! That's cool!" but seldom does a game happen that made entirely out of "Oh, wow! That's cool!" The question you have to ask yourself is whether the 100% "Oh, wow! That's cool!" factor justifies the short length of the game and at least this one forewarns you about only having ten chapters instead of ending abruptly like the Banner Saga.

As a puzzle game, Monument Valley's original ten levels are far too easy but make up for it with their creative designs. The entire thing is built around the Escherian stairwell idea complete with adjustable parts. Much like that one bit in one of the God of War games but much more "Oh, wow! That's cool!" and substantial. The controls are straight forward but my tiny phone proved to be a nuisance with my huge fingers and I would struggle to spin a lever how I wanted or slide a platform the right amount. The controls come down to just that: tap to go, hold and spin or slide to move the environment about and as simple as it all is, even replaying the levels for the third time I'm amazed by the beautiful complexities in each level. Each of the puzzles lasted me a mean average of about seven minutes and a mode of about five. The one I found the hardest turned out to be my favourite: the box. Part of the puzzle here was finding where the princess actually was before moving on. I'm not sure whether this level was supposed to create separation between character and player or symbolise just how lost the princess is in this valley but it definitely did the latter for me. Not being able to find the shining conehead, I felt lost myself  and reopening the box for a third or fourth time only to find one of the "annoying crow people" made me scoff in that way you would at a cat or a dog that just laid on its back grinning, asking for tummy rubs. One thing I have to strongly commend this game for is making the objective clear. Despite its many winding pathways and movable objects, I was never for a second in doubt what bit of the level I was required to get to, only slightly confused as to how. I wish life could be more like Monument Valley in that sense, I guess.

The game has a plot, I think. It's something about geometry and theft and annoying crow people and really cool stairwells. I don't wanna spoil anything because there is a nice little twist along the way and the story is hugely speculative so I might write about at some point later in a separate piece. I will say though, it has some interesting parallels to Journey and even in some very Escherian stairwell (get it? they're like roundabouts, it's a roundabout pun) ways to Undertale. But in short, buy it. And if you don't wanna buy it, download Amazon Underground and get it for free. And then buy it. It's an awesome little title with lots of heart and bravery that'll cost you less than a takeaway (in London) and last you about as long but you'll be able to show it to your friends and they'll go "Oh, wow! That's cool!"

Monument Valley is: getting home drunk/10