Monument Valley - An MC Escher twist on puzzle games

@stuhecdamir It's something we wanted to do as early as possible, but also if one of the main selling points of this game is it's premium feel and polished visuals. then we were only prepared to show it when it was ready. This is the first article we went public with after five months in development: http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/12... (Look at that branding! I'm glad we changed it) Keeping a constant stream of communication with the tech and design press was essential for us getting the word out without a marketing budget and we owe a lot to both Techcrunch and Wired for helping us out along the way. Partway through we also managed to gain the attention of the gaming press and convince them to stand up and pay attention, we can make something of immense visual beauty for mobile devices, just play.

@dan_gray @stuhecdamir Thanks for your answer!

@stuhecdamir I believe a focus on user testing is the greatest thing we took from the wider ustwo studio and the design industry in general. We tested every chapter constantly with average non gamers to make sure everything was accessible. Entire levels were thrown away if they weren't working and it enabled us to iterate quickly on our work. Our games team was only eight people and having another ninety non gamers on hand to test with was exceptional value. When it came to external testing we began that around two months before release, and that initial version was a massive departure from what we actually ended up with. A few hundred external people played through a version in which the ending involved Ida climbing on a huge yellow thunder eagle type thing and flying away. I'm still surprised that footage hasn't surfaced anywhere.

@dan_gray @stuhecdamir Thanks. Great insights!

@jeffumbro Hey Jeff, We actually receive the reverse of that criticism from most players. It was always our aim to provide an extremely polished and steady difficulty curve to the experience and the hundreds of people we user tested helped us to get to that point. Right now MV sits at around a 52% total completion rate, which is something we're immensely proud of and is great for any kind of game. Where did you get hung up out of curiosity?

@dan_gray I don't have the exact level on hand unfortunately, but I remember a castle with levers

@dan_gray @jeffumbro I couldn't put MV down until I completed it. It was ridiculously addictive and beautiful at the same time.