GRIS and Monument Valley: Two modern classics for gamers and non-gamers alike

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Cuevas and Mendoza would quit their jobs at Ubisoft and Roset would put his other projects on hold and, over a period of two years, 2016 to 2018, the three would establish Nomada Studios and develop the studio’s first game, GRIS.

Its name is both the name of its protagonist and the word for the colour grey in Spanish. It is a breathtakingly beautiful game. From the intro scene, each frame is a graceful illustration worthy of a frame and a wall. The two-and-a-half-minute opening sequence kicks off with our protagonist, painted soft pastel reds and blues, lying on the palm of a giant crumbling statue, before falling down onto what looks like a black and white desert.

It is a 2D platformer adventure game, meaning the player can only move right and left or up and down. With no explanation at the beginning, you start moving forward and the game’s mechanism reveals itself as you wander through ruins and serene landscapes, solving puzzles, collecting light fragments and revealing more of the game’s colours and universe. Although some of its puzzles might be a tad challenging, once you figure out how to use your character’s abilities as they are revealed within the different environments, it becomes much less challenging than typical puzzle games.

For example, at the beginning, one might miss the stairs that, at first glance, seems as though they’re in the background, causing the player to move back forth with seemingly no way out. But even with these minor teasers and puzzles along the way, the beauty and serenity of the game remains an amazing escape, as the narrative and ever-more beautiful locations reveal themselves.

GRIS is available in Apple App store and Google’s Play store for $4.99 (R76.00).

Monument Valley 

In Monument Valley you play as Princess Ida, navigating exquisitely designed levels of optical illusion and puzzles. The game was designed back in 2013 and released in 2014.

“Early on in the project someone said it would be great if every frame of the game was so beautiful you’d want to hang it on your wall as a piece of art… That became our ambitious goal,” said artist and game designer Ken Wong in an interview with Wired back in 2013. Indeed, years later, Monument Valley remains one of the most beautiful mobile games, arguably even more beautiful now with improved smartphone displays.