ustwo: Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores places finger-prompted protagonist Ida in some wonderfully creative environments, still taking aesthetic cues from the work of artist MC Escher

MONUMENT VALLEY: FORGOTTEN SHORES ​ (Developed and published by ustwo)






An eight-level add-on—costing a little over $2 per month, much to the disgust of some mobile gamers expecting developers to give away their content after several months of hard work—to ustwo's beautiful original, Monument Valley's Forgotten Shores, places finger-prompted protagonist Ida in some wonderfully creative environments, still taking aesthetic cues from the work of artist MC Escher.
This time pathways can be twisted, so as to move from one surface to another, and there's a fiddly end stage, "Nocturne," where each of (Ida's companion) Totem's quarters comes into essential play. There's plenty of the wet stuff this time around, including a gorgeous level set against a mammoth waterfall, and a rather more compact one, "The Oubliette," which is comparable to the original's "The Box" puzzle.
You'll likely cruise through these challenges in under 40 minutes, but just being in these places is enough—the sound and visuals are completely otherworldly, and a great escape during any commute.
- Mike Diver