Monument Valley: The Impossible Staircase That Made Phone Games Art
A silent princess, buildings borrowed from M.C. Escher and a cameo in House of Cards. How ustwo's 2014 puzzle became one of the most beautiful games ever made for a phone.
You rotate a crank, and a staircase that led nowhere now connects to a doorway on the other side of the tower. It shouldn't be possible. It looks like a drawing by M.C. Escher come to life, and a tiny figure in a white cone hat calmly walks across it, as if impossible architecture were the most natural thing in the world.
That is Monument Valley, released on iOS on 3 April 2014 by London studio ustwo games, and on Android on 14 May 2014. It won an Apple Design Award, two BAFTAs and a place in a Netflix drama, and by May 2016 it had earned more than $14 million. More than a decade later, its two sequels have taken the story further.
A digital agency makes a game
ustwo was best known as a digital design studio, making apps and interfaces for other companies. Its games team set out to make something that felt as considered as a piece of design. Artist and designer Ken Wong drew the first concept art in early 2013, and Neil McFarland directed. Development took about ten months.
The influences were clear and openly acknowledged: the impossible drawings of M.C. Escher, Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games such as Fez, Windosill and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.
Puzzles you solve by looking
In Monument Valley you guide Ida, a silent princess, through ten chapters of towers and temples. The trick is perspective. Turn a section of the building and two paths that were far apart line up; because they look connected, they become connected. Ida walks across.
There is almost no text and no fail state. The puzzles are gentle, the music is calm, and the game lasts about as long as a film. It was designed to be finished, savoured and remembered, a different goal from most mobile games of the time.
Awards, a TV cameo and a pricing row
The praise was immediate. Monument Valley won a 2014 Apple Design Award and was named Apple's best iPad game of the year. It won BAFTAs for British Game and Mobile/Handheld Game, and a D.I.C.E. Award for art direction.
Then came a moment of television fame. In season 3 of House of Cards, released in February 2015, the character Frank Underwood plays Monument Valley. ustwo said Netflix approached them and that they agreed without being paid. Sales jumped, and the game returned to the top of the charts.
The success was also a lesson in mobile piracy and pricing. ustwo reported that around 95% of Android installs and 60% of iOS installs were unpaid. And when the studio released a paid expansion, Forgotten Shores, in November 2014, some players objected to paying again for new levels, an early sign of how hard premium pricing had become on phones.
The sequels and beyond
Monument Valley 2 arrived in 2017, telling the quieter story of Ro, a mother, and her daughter. Monument Valley 3 followed in December 2024, launching through Netflix's games service. The first game reached PC as the Panoramic Edition in July 2022, and consoles in April 2025. A live-action and animated film was announced with Paramount Animation in 2018, though there has been little news since.
Why it matters
Monument Valley proved that a phone game could be considered art without apology. It showed that premium, carefully crafted games could find an audience on mobile, and its look, pastel geometry and soft light, has been copied ever since. It also helped Apple make the case that the iPhone and iPad were platforms for serious design.
Monument Valley, Monument Valley 2 and Monument Valley 3 are on iOS and Android. All are calm, offline-friendly and free of random draws; see our offline games guide and no-gacha guide for more like them.