History VideoGame / MonumentValley

Ida the princess is on a quest for forgiveness. Despite the fragmented ruins of Monument Valley blocking her way, paths can be made, regardless of impossible geometries.

A sequel, ''[[VideoGame/MonumentValley2 Monument Valley 2]]'', was released on June 5, 2017.

!!This game provides examples of:

Compare: ''[[VideoGame/NayasQuest Naya's Quest]]'', ''VideoGame/{{echochrome}}'', ''[[VideoGame/TheBridge The Bridge]]'', ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{FEZ}}''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: Ida on her quest. Not pictured: [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs The dev team probably using drugs]].[==]]]

Compare: ''Naya's Quest'', ''echochrome'', ''[[VideoGame/TheBridge The Bridge]]'', ''{{VideoGame/Antichamber}}'', and ''{{VideoGame/FEZ}}''.

* BalefulPolymorph: The crows [[spoiler: and Ida as a result of stealing the Sacred Geometry.]]

A game for iOS and Android, ''Monument Valley'' is a isometric puzzle game by Creator/UstwoGames, where perspective is everything. A "Panoramic Edition" port to UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows was released via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in 2022.

* TheFaceless: Ida and the Storyteller are depicted with blank, featureless fronts of their heads, which may or may not be just because the art style is abstract and low on detail. [[spoiler:It's later justified with Ida; when she stole the Sacred Geometry, she lost her memories of being a bird princess, with her face becoming a blank slate to represent this. She later regains her identity and true face after she repents for her crimes. Also possibly justified with the spirits; as they are long dead, knowledge of who they were was lost over time.]]

** In the temple where Ida meets the Storyteller for the first time, some of the architecture resembles a grayscale version of the Totem who shows up later.

* WhamShot: In Level IX, Ida traverses a dark cavern located deep underground. [[spoiler:The ending reveals the cavern to be a massive mausoleum in which the people Ida stole the Sacred Geometry from are buried.]]

A game for iOS and Android, ''Monument Valley'' is a isometric puzzle game by ustwo games, where perspective is everything. A "Panoramic Edition" port to UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows was released via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in 2022.

A game for iOS and Android, ''Monument Valley'' is a isometric puzzle game where perspective is everything.

* TheFaceless: Ida and the spirits are depicted with blank, featureless fronts of their heads, which may or may not be just because the art style is abstract and low on detail. [[spoiler:It's later justified with Ida; when she stole the Sacred Geometry, she lost her memories of being a bird princess, with her face becoming a blank slate to represent this. She later regains her identity and true face after she repents for her crimes. Also possibly justified with the spirits; as they are long dead, knowledge of who they were was lost over time.]]

** In the temple where Ida meets the first spirit, some of the architecture resembles a grayscale version of the Totem who shows up later.
** The things the spirits say to Ida become relevant to the game's plot later on. [[spoiler:One spirit asks if she is like the crows who forgot who they were, and has forgotten her true self as well. Another spirit calls her "thieving princess".]]

* HauntedHouseHistorian: The spirits that Ida meets cryptically explain the nature of the valley.
* HeroicMime: Ida never speaks. She's even referred to as the "Silent Princess" by one of the spirits. A fairly understandable use of the trope, since there's not really anybody for her to talk to.

-->'''Spirit''': How many monuments have you restored? How many lie ahead? Forgetful princess confuses past, present, and future.

* TitleDrop: One of the spirits tells Ida, [[spoiler:"Sacred Geometry was our pride. Our downfall. But forever will our monuments stand in this valley."]]

* BeautifulVoid: The Valley is uninhabited apart from Ida, the crows, and an occasional ghost whose comments hint at what befell the people who built the Monuments.

* CreepyCrows: To some extent. While the crow people are fairly minor obstacles, they appear to be the only living beings in Monument Valley other than Ida [[spoiler:and Totem]], which is somewhat unnerving on its own.

** In the valley where the [[spoiler: original residents of the valley are buried]], there's a picture of a white crow wearing a crown who is carrying a Sacred Geometry. This is [[spoiler: Ida herself, where the picture is depicting her theft.]]
* {{Forgiveness}}: What Ida is seeking for, implied by the description of one of the beginning levels in the main storyline. [[spoiler:The kicker, as revealed in Level IX, is that no one from the civilization she stole from is left to forgive her for stealing the Sacred Geometry. The least she could do was [[DueToTheDead put a flower at their graves as a form of apology]].]]

* KleptomaniacHero: Deconstructed. [[spoiler:Ida's theft of the Sacred Geometry cursed her people to live as crows and killed off an entire civilization. The entire game has her returning all of the Sacred Geometry she stole. The spirits even call her "Thieving Princess"]]. Ida spends the entire game putting things ''back''.
* LivingStatue: [[spoiler:The Totem]]. The only difference is that it's colored bright yellow and blue compared to the lifeless gray statues.

* RidingIntoTheSunset: [[spoiler: At the end as Ida and the Crows are transformed back into Birds.]]

* WhamShot: In Level IX, Ida traverses a dark cavern located deep underground. [[spoiler:The ending reveals the cavern to be a massive mausoleum in which the people Ida stole the Sacred Geometry from are buried.]]
* WomanInWhite: Ida in the main game and "Forgotten Shores" DLC. She wore red in the "Ida's (RED) Dream" DLC, when it was released to promote [=AIDS=] awareness.

* IdentityAmnesia: [[spoiler:Stealing the Sacred Geometry turns one into an entirely different person, causing them to forget who they originally were.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Ida, who is the main protagonist of the game. [[spoiler:She's later revealed to be a subversion as more of the story is revealed - namely, ''she's'' the reason why the events of the game happened at all.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: Ida on her quest. Not pictured: [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs The game developers probably using drugs]][==]]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: Ida on her quest. Not pictured: [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs The game developers probably using drugs]].

[[quoteright:325:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monumentvalleyl2_9957.png]]
[[caption-width-right:325:Ida on her quest]]

A sequel, ''Monument Valley 2'', was released on June 5, 2017.

Due to the short nature of the story, there may be spoilers below for both games.

* WomanInWhite: Ida in the main game and "Forgotten Shores" DLC. She wore red in the "Ida's (RED) Dream" DLC, when it was released to promote [=AIDS=] awareness.

----

!!Monument Valley 2 provides examples of:
* AlienGeometries: It's set in the same place as the original game.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The main characters of this one are a woman named Ro and her daughter.
* TheFaceless: Ro and her daughter, just like Ida from the first game.
* GravityScrew: Same as before. Monument Valley has weird gravity.
* GreyRainofDepression: No actual rain is involved, but the monotone gray of the opening of level 7 has a similar effect.
* LivingStatue: A new Totem shows up - this one is blue and pink, where Ida's Totem was yellow and blue.
* PerspectiveMagic: Same as in the original.
* RecursiveReality: Level 9. We see several segments before gameplay starts, and progress consists of getting farther in.

* TheAtoner: The game begins with a level "In Which Ida Embarks on a Quest for Forgiveness". What she's trying to atone for is gradually revealed as the game progresses. [[spoiler:Ida was once the ruler of a tribe of birds, who stole the Sacred Geometry for herself. Not only did Ida doom an entire civilization, she also cursed her own people to wander through the aforementioned "Monument Valley" for eternity until she repented.]]

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Need to go up? Go sideways.
* CreepyCrows: To some extent. While the crow people are fairly minor obstacles, they appear to be the only living beings in Monument Valley other than Ida and [[spoiler: Totem]], which is somewhat unnerving on its own.
* {{Determinator}}: Ida's friend, the Totem. [[spoiler: Not even an ocean can deter it from aiding her on her quest.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Ida, who is the main protagonist of the game.

** [[spoiler:If you look at Ida from behind, she looks like a white version of the crows, giving an earlier hint of what her true form might be.]]
** Ida spends the entire game putting things back in each level. [[spoiler:In the past, she stole the Sacred Geometry, killing off an entire civilization and cursing her and her people with IdentityAmnesia, forever wandering the Monument Valley until Ida repented for her crimes and gave back the Sacred Geometry.]]

A sequel, ''Monument Valley 2'', was released on June 5, 2017.

Due to the short nature of the story, there may be spoilers below.

* WomanInWhite: Ida in the main game and "Forgotten Shores" DLC. She wore red in the "Ida's (RED) Dream" DLC, when it was released to promote [=AIDS=] awareness.

* HeroicSacrifice: The Totem in ''Forgotten Shores''. In one of the last levels of the expansion, Ida encounters [[spoiler:a crushing rock trap blocking the path. The Totem intercepts it and endures repeated slamming and crushing for long enough to allow Ida to cross, at the cost of being smashed apart and falling into the depths of the chasm.]]