Monument Valley for Android

Unravel the mysteries of the beautiful geometric structures and uncover the secrets of the silent princess in the haunting puzzle game Monument Valley for Android.

Pros

Searching for clues: You work your way through maps by dragging, pushing, tapping, and rotating structures to uncover pathways. Your route is not always obvious, but as you change your view angle and perspective, objects line up to reveal possible routes, Escher-like.

A delight to solve: Each chapter is full of visual tricks and optical illusions that are pleasingly challenging to solve as you work to discover why the thieving princess has returned. Puzzles range from manipulating objects to timing your movements to avoid the quarrelsome crow people.

Extend the game: For $3.99, you get 10 levels, or chapters, to complete. To continue on, unlock the Forgotten Shores expansion pack for $1.99 and eight more puzzling levels, and then the free Ida's Dream. Pick up the storyline in Monument Valley 2, in which the princess unites with her mother to solve more visual puzzles for $4.99.

Cons

Game ends too soon: You can make your way through the game's 10 levels in a few hours, which for $3.99, feels a bit short. The game is beautiful and thoughtful, and the puzzles are varied and challenging, but it is over too fast.

Bottom Line

Monument Valley for Android is a gem of a game -- a concentrated mix of visual puzzles and interesting storyline -- that is pleasantly challenging to solve.