The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Monument Valley
This might be the shortest Game of the Week post ever, as I don’t think it will take much explaining as to why Ustwo’s Monument Valley [appprice url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC1jHHF_Wjo"] is this week’s pick. The game has a major feature spot in the App Store, it’s currently the #1 paid app (even at four whole dollars), and we loved every ounce of the experience in our 5 star review from earlier this week. Monument Valley has been universally praised by practically everyone, with its only real negative being that it’s a pretty short experience. I can think of worse problems to have than gamers wanting more of your game because they enjoy it so much.
If you somehow don’t know what Monument Valley is all about, it’s an Escher-esque puzzle game with a stylish aesthetic and mind-twisting puzzles. Developer Ustwo has commented that they aimed to create all of Monument Valley so that at any point in the game, at any given time, you could snap a picture of the screen and it would be cool enough to hang on your wall. They totally nailed that aspect–Monument Valley is beautiful. Check the trailer.
So while everyone pretty much agrees that Monument Valley is the cat’s pajamas, all those same people also agree they want much more of it. Well, in regards to the game’s length, we learned a little something during our developer Twitch stream earlier today, as Ustwo’s Ken Wong was hanging out in the chat. When asked if Ustwo will be adding to Monument Valley with updates, Ken stated “Looks like we will. People seem to want more levels." That sounds like a pretty strong maybe to me! That’s not all the fun factoids from chat, as Ken divulged that while making his previous game Hackycat (Free) he studied Punch Quest (Free) from developers Rocketcat and Madgarden (who just so happened to be the hosts of today’s stream). I had no idea the guy that made Hackycat made Monument Valley! How cool is that? You can definitely see the high level of visual style and attention to detail in both games, so it make perfect sense.
Anyway, fun factoids aside, Monument Valley is a game you need to play. It’s every bit an experience as it is a game, and although it won’t last you more than an hour or two, it’ll be some of the most rewarding time you spend with a video game this year.
