COP3 Game Research: Monument Valley

Context of Practice 3 Game Research: Monument Valley

The next game that I wanted to look at is one that I was very excited about playing as it was only about £2 for the Andriod and it is well worth the money. Monument is pretty much everything that I wanted to review in one game. It is a game that uses an isometric fixed view on an utterly gorgeous environment and you have to get the princess from one side of the level to another. As the game is fixed on this isometric view it can be different to work out the path, but by rotating sections of the path you can align certain walkways, even when you didn’t think they could originally line up to begin with. 

It’s a very neat little game and looks very clean and polished, although there are only 10 levels and you can get through it within an hour if you go quick, it does feel like there is a lot of content to play with. The levels are only short but because they do take some working out, you find you can be on them for a while. But you don’t find them too challenging that you feel the need to give up after you’ve been looking at it for 20 minutes from every single angle you possibly can, it’s challenging enough that you can relax and enjoy yourself without it enraging you, and this is certainly something that I would like to think about creating.

The levels all look beautiful and although there is little story, there is a little something underneath it all and it can be followed, but is just as enjoyable if you skip over this and not worry about it. The level design is gorgeous as I’ve already said and the screen shots I’ve picked out do not do it justice. When playing game, especially on a large device like an iPad or Android Tablet, instead of a mobile phone, you can really appreciate the effort that went into creating this masterpiece. For one thing the lighting is lovely and it really picks up on a nice relaxing atmosphere of the world when playing as combined with the soothing music, you are really transported into the game world. This then mixed with the colours chosen makes the game seem even more special as the natural and pastel tones that are picked out really compliment the atmosphere and help transport you into this different world.

The overall game is definitely worth picking up as it is so unique and different to anything that I’ve played due to how relaxing and calm it makes you feel but it also brings in that puzzle element of a different perspective that allows you to think about the level at the same time. The design is beautiful and this is definitely a game that I would consider as my inspiration as I am leaning more to this isometric look instead of having a free camera or a first person view to game, and it’s something different to try, especially combined with interesting colour and lighting.