Monument Valley releases final ever level and goes (RED)

In April this year UsTwo ruined a gig I was at by letting me trial a new game due to be released the following week. I was supposed to be seeing one of my favourite bands but instead spent two hours tapping away trying to navigate a little princess through a geometrically impossible world. A couple of weeks later everyone was obsessing over that same princess.

Monument Valley has been one of the great App Store success stories of 2014, generating over £1.2 million in revenue in its first month – even before it became available on Android. There was a little bit of backlash when they released new levels that had to be paid for, but aside from that minor blip it seems fair to say it’s a game that’s universally loved. Even I have to confess to adoring the thing unreservedly.

So you, me and everyone else should be excited that the guys at UsTwo have released a final, one-off level in Ida’s story that’ll be the last they ever make for the game. Not only does it provide an extraordinary finale to a game that’s captured our imaginations this year but it’s also for a good cause; released as part of the (RED) initiative ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day. Obviously it features the same breathtaking graphics, the same infuriatingly addictive gameplay and continues the same ambiguous storyline, but every edition dowloaded donates a fee to charity – which can only be a good thing.

Now, if I can just get past these pesky crows…