I’m the kind of consumer who gets into the music of a particular band and that’s all I listen to, nonstop, for an extended period. Same with TV shows; there aren’t a lot that I truly love, but the ones that hook me for whatever reason, like HBO’s epic mafia drama Gomorrah, I watch over and over again. And the same is also true for video games — I’m not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but there have been a few here and there, like Ustwo Games’ Monument Valley franchise, that I’ve played so many times.
I can’t even pinpoint a single reason why I love the Monument Valley games so much. First and foremost, they’re visually stunning. The soundtrack is an ambient, sonic wonderland. There’s also a minimal yet captivating storyline, in which the protagonist Ida goes on a quest through ethereal landscapes to atone for having stolen the land’s “sacred geometry.” In Monument Valley 2, a different protagonist named Ro guides her young daughter through a similarly fantastical world — and soon, thanks to Netflix, fans like me are about to have an all new Monument Valley to dive into.
The long-awaited third game in the franchise will be available to play with a Netflix subscription, as part of its push into mobile gaming, starting on Dec. 10. And, judging from the first footage below, it looks like the developers have used the time since the last release to get even more creative with the gameplay — with characters, for example, now being able to sail in a boat to explore various cities and towns.
Of course, the familiar gameplay mechanic that Monument Valley fans know and love is still here. You’ll still have to line up staircases, turn platforms according to geometric patterns, and navigate incredible optical illusions. In fact, while the game was a revelation when it first debuted back in 2014 on iOS devices, it still looks (at least to me) as fresh and inventive as ever.
Often, as I’ve played the first two games, I’ve wanted to just stop and behold how beautiful everything is, appreciating it as simply a work of art, rather than burn through the games too quickly. And it definitely looks like I’ll be doing the same with Monument Valley 3, if Netflix’s early footage is anything to go by. There’s also more good news: The first two Monument Valley games are likewise coming to Netflix (on Sept. 19 and Oct. 29, respectively).
