Monument Valley 2 is a short, artistic puzzle game that allows you to navigate a beautiful, impossible world. Guide Ro and her child through Escher-esque architecture and experience a moving story in this brief, picturesque game.

What is Monument Valley 2 About?

Monument Valley 2 is the 2017 sequel to Ustwo Games’ award-winning 2014 mobile game Monument Valley. The game is best described as a very unique isometric puzzle game. Over a series of brief levels, the game tells the story of Ro and her child.

Even a relatively empty level is striking and evocative

An Artistic Game

In each puzzle, your goal is to guide Ro and her child through a striking, impossible landscape. Each level feels like something out of an MC Escher painting stylized in the simplified color palette and cel shading of an indie game from the 2010s. The game’s sound, music, and menus contribute to an incredibly artistic feel. Not only is every frame of gameplay worthy of a screenshot, but the overall experience is incredibly atmospheric and immersive.

An impossible red sandstone wall

Impossible Made Possible

The levels in Monument Valley 2 involve two types of interactions. You can either direct Ro or her child to move, or you can manipulate the level in one of several ways. You might rotate the camera around a series of floating pathways in three dimensions so that Ro can walk across bridges that now “touch” through the magic of perspective, move blocks up and down so that you can connect different bits of architecture, or rotate pathways to fundamentally change how the level flows. In keeping with the Escherian theme, perspective is a tool that you use to create impossible opportunities for navigation, guiding Ro up walls, on ceilings, and through curves that defy the laws of physics.

The simple level from earlier, now with perspective tricks

The puzzles in Monument Valley 2 are not difficult. Instead, they’re just long enough to get you to fully appreciate the art and atmosphere behind each level. It’s very rare to get stuck in the game, as there are a very small number of moving parts for each puzzle. Simply tapping around wildly will quickly expose all of the elements you can manipulate, and with a small number of states for each object you’ll quickly figure out how to make progress. 

Without a lot of paths or levers it’s tough to get stuck

For most people, this isn’t a bad thing. The focus in Monument Valley 2 is very much the art, atmosphere, and story. The puzzles are simply a vehicle to gradually deliver these things over time. If you’re looking for a game that really stretches your brain, however, this game might not be the app you’re looking for.

The game is more about the relationship between a mother and her daughter than it is about puzzles

Short.

Monument Valley 2 is a paid purchase, with no ads or microtransactions. This is a good thing, as these elements would ruin the carefully crafted world that the developers of Monument Valley 2 have created within their game. The game is quite short, however. Typical players will encounter everything the game has to offer in two hours or less. Monument Valley 2 is probably cheaper than a movie ticket and is a wonderful experience, but it’s not going to be a game that you spend dozens of hours on.

Most of the game’s stages have multiple sub-stages, like this one

How To Beat Monument Valley 2

Monument Valley 2’s focus on art, storytelling, and atmosphere means that the puzzles are rarely difficult. If you’re stuck, you’re probably missing something. Look around for other parts of the level you can interact with, challenge your assumptions about what terrain you can walk on, and make sure you’ve actually exhausted all of the possibilities that you’ve ruled out in your mind. In most cases, you’ll find out that you forgot to check something or that you can just walk somewhere that you thought was blocked off.

If you’d like to progress through the game faster, here are a few tips. First, there’s almost no backtracking in Monument Valley 2. Doors will become blocked by wood when you go through them. This isn’t so that you unlock them later. Instead, it’s because the game wants you to keep going forward. Don’t look back.

Second, remember that you can rotate your device. Monument Valley 2 has lots of puzzles where your character is facing an odd direction. If it helps you keep track of things in your head, feel free to spin your phone or tablet to whatever orientation helps you figure things out.

Finally, don’t forget to play with sound on. Not only will the sound of the game contribute to the game’s incredible atmosphere, but it’ll also give you tangible hints about the puzzles you’re solving. If the music starts feeling climactic, you probably did the right thing. 

Are you a Monument Valley 2 fan? Which levels were your favorite? Did you get stuck? Do you have any tips or tricks to share? Let us know in the comments below!