Hasta La Ideas

There can’t be a more perfect setting for a mystical, digital playland than M.C. Escher’s dizzying artwork. Monument Valley an iPad app by ustwo has the player interacting with surreal architecture and solving sculptural puzzles in an attempt to help a damsel in distress—Princess Ida, in this case. (Because what game would be complete without a princess in need?)

While most of our other time-consuming guilty pleasure apps focus more on timed completions than pretty scenery (I’m looking at you, Bejeweled/Fruit Ninja), the scenes found in Monument Valley encourage a bit of dilly-dallying. As one of the designers rightly puts it: “Every screenshot can be printed and hung on a wall.” Check out a behind-the-scenes walk-through with the game’s designers:

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