To be honest, as a veteran player who has come back from the Symbian era, the mobile game market has experienced ups and downs over the years. There are not many works that I can really remember. But "Monument Valley" is definitely one of them. It's not a boast. It is one of the purest works that combines "game" and "art" that I have ever seen.
I still remember the first time I opened it in 2014. At that time, the smartphone screen was not as big as it is now, but as soon as I entered the game, the quiet and mysterious atmosphere immediately drew me in. Princess Ada wore a white dress and walked silently in those geometric mazes with distant background music. To be honest, it took me almost ten minutes to realize that I was solving a puzzle rather than watching a moving illustration collection.
In the mobile game market of that era, parkour, cards, and elimination were still popular, and everyone was competing to see who was more "lively" or who was more "kryptonian." Suddenly a "Monument Valley" appeared, just like a Michelin star among a bunch of fast food restaurants. It doesn't require you to top up money, nor does it force you to check in online every day. It just quietly immerses you in visual illusions and spatial transformations. Each level is like an Escher painting that you can touch with your hands, rotating, panning, and using perspective deception to build pathways. The design is really amazing.
Looking back now, what impresses me most is its "restraint". The game process is not long, and there is no redundant plot text, but the echo of Ada's every step on the mechanism, the click of the stone pillar rising, and the last scene of confession in the rain are all left in the memory like a brand. After I finished the game, I posted a long review on the forum, titled "It taught me what game aesthetics is in three hours." Looking back now, I feel that I was quite pretentious at that time, haha.
Later, the sequel "Monument Valley 2" came out, and I bought it as soon as possible, but to be honest, the sense of amazement when seeing it for the first time, just like first love, is difficult to replicate. However, the 2nd generation also handles the theme of family love very delicately. It can be felt that the development team takes this IP seriously, rather than purely consumer sentiment.
Nowadays, the mobile game industry is booming, with open worlds, high graphics, and paid unlockable plot chapters at every turn. However, there are fewer and fewer works like "Monument Valley" that slow down and make people think and make people quiet. Occasionally I see it in the store and it is still available for free (I remember it is included in the resource area of our forum). I will recommend it to new players who have just entered the game, especially those friends who complain that "current mobile games have no soul." You can really try this game from ten years ago to see what the real "ninth art" is.
Okay, I've rambled a lot, maybe it's like an old man reminiscing about his youth😄. In short, Monument Valley is an unavoidable milestone in my mobile gaming career. Today, I am using the newcomer registration post to give myself some nostalgia. I hope to encounter more such thoughtful works in the future, even if I have to pay, I am willing.
If you guys feel the same way, please feel free to chat downstairs about the most artistic mobile game you have ever played~