So what now . . . ?

I was looking through Apps on my iPad thinking I needed to get rid of some I don’t use and I found ‘Monument Valley’, a video game I had forgotten all about.

Years ago now I used to like video games, probably when I got an iPad and didn’t need to be at a computer to play. I am not talking here about video games as they are known now, which all seem to be about attacking and killing others and are like films. No! No! I’m referring to much quieter adventure based games where one travels a graphic world looking for clues, solving puzzles.

And then there was ‘Monument Valley’, totally different from anything else. It appeared for the Apple iPad in 2014 and won many awards for the brilliant design. As a player you guide Princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions, very Escher-like. The graphics are beautiful, just watching things happen is quite breathtaking, even now. It has a calm, almost zen-like, atmosphere, even the soundtrack has a magic of its own. It is not difficult, it just requires some logical thinking and working things out. I remember doing some it with one of the grandchildren - we were both entranced by it. Of course I had to have a go now and really enjoyed reliving it.

I was reading about how it was created - it took a huge amount of time, imagination and expertise. It is a work of art.

A few add-ons appeared and in 2017 ‘Monument Valley 2’ came out. A third game is said to be in development, but I am not sure this will happen. I’m not even sure that the original is still available.