The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms.

Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong.

Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome.

After a closed beta test, Monument Valley was released for iOS on April 3, 2014, and was later ported to Android and Windows Phone.

[6] The game is presented in isometric view,[5] and the player interacts with the environment to find hidden passages as Ida progresses to the map's exit.

[1] Ustwo management did not give the development team a timeline or budget, and instead told them to focus on "making a high-quality product".

[11] Of the art style, game designer and artist Ken Wong said he aspired to make each frame of the gameplay worthy of public display.

[7] The visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture,[4] and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.

[5] Wong compared the gameplay experience to a cross between the wonder of a toy shop and the world of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,[4] and its story to a symbolic "song" rather than a narrative book.

A limited edition vinyl two-volume recording was released by Ustwo and iam8bit in 2016, which includes the music from the main game and its two expansions.

[16] Jennifer Estaris said in 2022 that they had figured out how to adapt the game for landscape orientation, with plans to release the title for personal computers later that year.

This expansion pack could be played with or without the additional purchase of Forgotten Shores, featuring Ida in a red outfit and several new puzzles.

[27] Pocket Gamer gave the game their gold award, and their Harry Slater wrote that there was "nothing else like Monument Valley on the App Store".

[8][23][25] Edge added that the sound design's addition of "deep rumbles" and environmental "clicks" gave the game the feeling of Tomb Raider's moving "ancient mechanisms".

[4] While Polygon's Danielle Riendeau praised the puzzle design,[23] other critics noted its lack of difficulty[8][22] and short length.

[23] Edge thought that the game did not present a "genuine" challenge, and that the puzzles did not "find fresh ways to confound and delight" until the final levels.

[22] Musgrave of TouchArcade thought that while games that focus on experiences can be shorter, Monument Valley did not last long enough "for the mechanics to reach their full potential", though the time was "just about right" for the story.

[51] The music video for Ariana Grande's 2018 song "No Tears Left to Cry" was partly inspired by Monument Valley.

[52][53] In August 2018, Paramount Animation and Weed Road, in partnership with Ustwo, announced plans to develop a live action/CGI hybrid film based on Monument Valley, with Patrick Osborne slated to direct.

Osborne stated "I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything".