Monument Valley

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Monument Valley:

Apple Arcade adds 21 classic games and App Store greats

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Apple Arcade just added
The total number of games in Apple Arcade passed 180 on Friday.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s subscription gaming service grew significantly Friday. Apple Arcade added 30 titles and two new categories: Timeless Classics and App Store Greats. This adds favorites like Monument Valley and Fruit Ninja Classic. And there are now versions of Suduku, chess and other perennial favorites.

“Today we’re launching our biggest expansion since the service debuted, now offering more than 180 great games that include new Arcade Originals, Timeless Classics, and App Store Greats,” said Matt Fischer, Apple’s vice president of the App Store.

Monument Valley celebrates birthday with new update and videos

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Monument Valley
Monument Valley was a masterpiece of design.
Photo: ustwo/Cult of Mac

It’s one thing to be reminded that Apple turned 43 earlier this week. But it’s another when a major anniversary comes around for something which, seemingly, arrived just a couple of months back.

That’s how I feel about the fifth anniversary of ustwo’s Monument Valley. One of the most stunning iOS games yet created, the beautiful puzzle game landed in the App Store this month in 2014. To celebrate its birthday, its creators have given it a neat anniversary update. And thrown in a couple of videos for good measure.

9 classic iOS games to keep you entertained this weekend

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Games iOS
Gaming's good on iOS, but couldn't it be better?
Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor

app-factor-logo-thumbnailThere are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of games available in the App Store. I’ve played tons of them over the years. Some of those games eventually ended up getting deleted, or moved to the last few pages of my games folder, where they remain for long car or plane rides.

However, there are a few games that have remained on my iPhone or iPad’s Home screen for literally years now. Even long after their launch, I still launch these games regularly, play them, and thoroughly enjoy them.

4 iOS games with awesome soundtracks

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Just like music often makes movies, it can also make an already great game even better!
Just like music often makes movies, it can also make an already great game even better!
Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor

app-factor-logo-thumbnailYou can usually tell when a game has been well-crafted. A great game will include excellent graphic design, playability, a captivating story and, of course — the soundtrack. A soundtrack can turn a great game into an extraordinary game, captivating the player and immersing them into a world they’ve only dreamt about.

A compelling soundtrack will have amazing melodies, epic chord changes that make you feel something, and sounds that are perfectly tailored to the atmosphere of the game. Below, check out four great iOS games that have amazing soundtracks. I caught up with a few of the soundtrack creators who make these beautiful soundscapes, and their answers to my questions give a ton of insight into how special this music really is.

Awesome iOS game will make an even awesomer Lego set

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This superfan would like to see Monument Valley in the real world.
This superfan would like to see Monument Valley in the real world.
Photo: Isometry/Lego Ideas

A Monument Valley fan has taken to the Lego Ideas website with plans to create real-life Lego models out of the award winning iOS game.

Lego Ideas user Isometry has created a page that you can log in and vote for if you want to support the project; it costs nothing but your time to do so.

And why wouldn’t you? This is a fantastic way to bring one of the best iOS games into the real world.

PhotoPanda, Groove Planet and other awesome apps of the week

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If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
Photo: Cult of Mac

From a photography app with a difference to a math training app with human curation and a fantastic classic iOS puzzle game going free, we’ve sifted through this week’s most exciting apps to bring you the ones you absolutely need to download now.

Check out our picks below. Trust us, this is the way you want to spend Sunday!

Stunning iOS puzzler Monument Valley goes free for first time

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Monument Valley
Monument Valley is one of my favorite iOS games.
Photo: ustwo

Tremendous iOS puzzle game Monument Valley has just gone free on iOS for the first time in its history.

Inspired by the surrealistic designs of M.C. Escher, the title is a triumph of isometric design, in which the player guides a princess through a series of impossible structures in a game that Apple lyrically described as, “akin to a walk through a museum or listening to a music album.”

Seriously, download it now.

The makers of Monument Valley want to redesign your car dashboard

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Monument Valley
Who wouldn't want the team behind Monument Valley rethinking the way we drive. Photo: Ustwo

What do you do as a second act after creating one of the most beautiful iOS games in history? If you’re Ustwo, the devs behind the Cult of Mac favorite Monument Valley, the answer is simple: you redesign the car dashboard.

Yes, you read that correctly.

It might be a long way from the M.C. Escher-inspired iPad puzzle game, but Ustwo has teamed up with the company Car Design Research to create a prototype for a simplified in-car display that shows only the information you need at the time you need it. And, unsurprisingly, it looks spectacular.

Only 5% of Monument Valley installs on Android were paid for

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One of the biggest reasons why many app developers continue to snub Android is piracy. The platform’s “open” approach, which allows applications to be downloaded from third-party sources and installed manually, makes it incredibly easy for users to circumvent Google Play and obtain paid apps completely free.

Piracy on Android is so rampant right now that just 5 percent of installs of Monument Valley — one of the best mobile games of 2014, which is currently priced at $3.99 in the Play Store — have actually been paid for.

The 10 greatest games we played in 2014

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Photo: Activision
2014 gave us the most fun Call of Duty in recent history. Photo: Activision

We’ve argued on many occasions before that 2014 was a superlative year for iOS games. But it was also a fantastic twelve months for video games in general, as the last generation’s consoles were pushed to their max, and the PS4 and Xbox 360 hit their stride.

So now that the dust has settled what are our picks for games of the year? Check out our choice of the ten titles you must play after the jump.

Monument Valley gets 8 more gorgeous levels next week

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Monument Valley
Photo: Ustwo

Monument Valley is my pick for iOS game of the year; a twisting, gorgeous, MC Escher-style puzzler that’s spellbinding from start to finish. And given that it has received upwards of 1 million downloads, I’m far from alone in thinking that way.

Which is why it’s great to hear that the game is set to receive its first expansion on November 13. Titled “Forgotten Shores,” the expansion will plunge players back into the world of Princess Ida, as she travels through eight entirely new levels, with a slew of fresh puzzles to solve on her journey.

Appy days: Monument Valley passes 1 million paid downloads

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In what has been a great year for iOS gaming, Monument Valley stands head and shoulders above most of its competition. Part M.C. Escher and part Fez, the game lets you journey through a surrealist world full of optical illusions and hidden paths — all the while avoiding and outsmarting the sinister Crow people.

It’s great, compelling fun — and apparently we’re far from the only people to think that, since developers Ustwo announced late last week that their game has now been downloaded in excess of 1 million times.

The trippy world of Monument Valley goes on sale for $1.99

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Games like Monument Valley have managed to be both popular hits and critical darlings.
Games like Monument Valley have managed to be both popular hits and critical darlings.

As you can see from the exclusive “making of” feature I wrote a few months back, I’m a massive fan of Monument Valley, the surrealistic M.C. Escher-inspired iOS puzzle game that rocked the App Store earlier this year.

A recent winner of Apple’s Design Awards at WWDC, Monument Valley is a triumph of isometric design, in which you guide a white-clad princess through a series of impossible structures in a game Apple describes as “akin to a walk through a museum or listening to a music album.”

While the game was already a bargain at $3.99, it’s just been the recipient of a slashed pricetag — meaning that you can now pick it up for the bargain price of $1.99.

Everyone’s a winner in golden age of iOS gaming

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Games like Leo's Fortune are putting a new face on iOS gaming. 

Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac.
Inventive titles like Leo's Fortune are putting a new face on iOS gaming.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A simple glance at the stunning games perched atop the App Store game lists reveals we are experiencing a golden age for mobile gaming.

From the surreal, mind-bending Monument Valley to the Pixar movie brought to life that is Leo’s Fortune, 2014 has seen some of the most startlingly original gaming experiences in years arrive on iOS.

“I do feel like we are in a boom period,” says John Comes, design director at Uber Entertainment, the company behind games like the newly released Toy Rush.

Although Apple has been a hub of gaming going back to the glory days of the Apple II, today’s crop of hot titles are reshaping the landscape like never before. The present explosion of innovative iOS games results from several fortuitous factors coming together. Here’s why there’s never been a better time to be a gamer.

Apple crowns the best-designed apps of 2014: Monument Valley, Day One and more

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(photo: @paulmayne)
(photo: @paulmayne)

Thousands upon thousands of apps get submitted to the App Store each year, but only a select few end up being honored with an Apple Design Award. The most beautiful, well-designed apps get crowned by Apple annually at WWDC.

“The developers of these exceptional apps combined design and technology in creative, compelling and powerful ways,” according to Apple. 2014’s winners include games we’ve featured on Cult of Mac like Leo’s Fortune and Monument Valley. If you’re looking to try some new apps, these 12 are the ones to get.

5 inventive iOS games that wowed Leo’s Fortune designer

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Bouncing, huffing and puffing through a beautifully-rendered cartoon world, avoiding jagged rolling wheels and collecting coins, Leo’s Fortune may just be the year’s most lovable iPhone game. But which games did its creators fall in love with?

Following our exclusive look inside behind the scenes of Apple’s iPhone “game of the month,” we asked Leo’s Fortune designer Anders Hejdenberg to name his current top five iOS games. He said he’s most impressed by titles that pair intriguing artwork with novel gameplay mechanics.

The highly imaginative Monument Valley, for instance, won him over quickly. “It didn’t take long to finish,” says Hejdenberg of his experience playing the game, “but during that time I experienced quite a few moments where I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this is really cool!’ That rarely happens when I play games, so it was definitely worth the price of admission.”

Here are the other iOS games currently taking his breath away. (You’ll find download links available below the gallery.)

Stop what you’re doing and play these iOS games now

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All the game and math nerds love Threes, and it's easy to see why. This sudoku-meets-sliding-puzzle game requires just the right combination of zenlike concentration and sharp addition skills to keep you playing long into the night.
All the game and math nerds love Threes, and it's easy to see why. This sudoku-meets-sliding-puzzle game requires just the right combination of zenlike concentration and sharp addition skills to keep you playing long into the night.

Mobile gaming is an ephemeral thing.

The unending stream of iOS games runs too fast and too fat for any individual to figure out which ones are worthy of your time and/or money. Freemium games? Check. Casual games? Sure. Hardcore games ported to your iOS device of choice? Plenty.

But which ones should you sit down and play right now? Our crack team of reviewers took a moment to call up the games they return to, day after day, when they feel like experiencing the finest the mobile gaming world has to offer. Above are the eight best iOS games you should download at this very moment.

New Monument Valley Levels Are In The Works

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Monument Valley
Who wouldn't want the team behind Monument Valley rethinking the way we drive. Photo: Ustwo

If there are two things you’re likely to hear from Monument Valley players it’s this: “Wow, what an incredibly original game” and “That didn’t take long to complete.”

Both statements are totally factual. Ustwo’s puzzle game masterpiece is one of the most original games of the year, but also an experience that flies by all too quickly.

With that in mind, the developers have confirmed that they are, in fact, working on extra levels to bolster the game.

But they’re not just doing this for the sake of doing it. According to Neil McFarland, ustwo’s director of games:

Monument Valley’s Creator Picks His Top iOS Games [Exclusive]

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Monument Valley
Who wouldn't want the team behind Monument Valley rethinking the way we drive. Photo: Ustwo

Have you played Monument Valley yet? Our previous choice for ‘Game of the Week,’ this surreal, M.C. Escher-inspired puzzle game has proved an absolute phenomenon since its launch in the App Store.

But what if you’ve already finished ustwo’s masterpiece, and are now on the lookout for more of the same?

Never fear, gentle reader — we can help. Although there are precious few games which be described as similar to Monument Valley (some people aren’t even convinced it’s a game to begin with), Cult of Mac spoke with lead designer Ken Wong for his picks of the top games currently available on iOS.

Here’s what he came up with:

Inside Monument Valley: How ‘Impossible’ Sketches Became An Amazing Game

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Monument Valley
Designer Ken Wong's sketchbooks show how Monument Valley evolved into the finished product.
Photo: ustwo/Cult of Mac

Monument Valley is one of the most original iOS games ever. A triumph of isometric design, it’s a trippy puzzle game in which you guide a white-clad princess through a series of twisting, turning structures, inspired by the mind-bending art of M.C. Escher.

Creating a world of this complexity might sound like a nightmare project, but for the UK-based game developers at ustwo, coming up with such an audacious creation was something of a dream.

“One of the first things we did when designing Monument Valley were to try and come up with images that seemed impossible,” says lead designer Ken Wong.

Still reeling from the success of the game — priced at $3.99, it was the top paid iPad app in its first week of release — Wong cracked open his sketchbooks to give Cult of Mac readers a glimpse at how Monument Valley‘s breathtaking designs came to be.

Here’s what we found.

Monument Valley Is Our iOS Game Of The Week [Editor’s Pick]

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monument valley
Relax into this stunningly beautiful game.

Princess Ida needs to find herself, and she’s doing so with a quest across an unpredictable and shifting landscape that takes inspiration from perspective-bending Escher art and hit indie game Fez.

You’ll need to tap on the screen to get Ida moving to her end goal, swiping and rotating dozens of different mechanical gadgets to make sure she can continue on her way. The puzzles aren’t super difficult, but they do require a bit of thought, and plenty of them are downright ingenious. You’ll feel pretty darn intelligent when you finally get that “aha!” moment.

Check out our play-through video below to get a sense of how lush and calming Monument Valley really is.

Monument Valley‘s Charm Makes Up For Its Lack Of Challenge [Review]

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Monument Valley
Who wouldn't want the team behind Monument Valley rethinking the way we drive. Photo: Ustwo

Monument Valley is what would happen if Fez and The Room (the game, not the movie) took place inside of M.C. Escher’s sketchbook.

Monument Valley by ustwo
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: $3.99

It has a vibrant, interesting world full of impossible geometry, mysterious accusers, and bothersome crows. It’s a puzzle game and a jumpless platformer, and it’s endlessly amazing and mind-boggling to behold.

It is also one of the easiest games I’ve ever played, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t check it out.

Is Monument Valley The Most Visually Stunning iOS Game Of The Year?

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The year might only be three months old but there’s already a contender for ‘most visually striking iOS game of 2014.’

Launched today, Monument Valley looks to combine the gameplay of hit indie game Fez with the brain-twisting art of M.C. Escher.

As can be seen from the above trailer it looks stunningly beautiful, and with developers Ustwo (the team responsible for Whale Trail and Blip Blup) behind it, hopefully the gameplay will be every bit as great. The trailer depicts Princess Ida climbing through landscapes of shifting geometric shapes, optical illusions, and hidden paths — all the while avoiding and outsmarting the enigmatic Crow People.