When it comes to either popular mobile games that have directly come over to the Switch, or titles that have quite a bit in common with them, there tends to be a pretty large divide. There are those that look good enough and play well enough to justify the move to a dedicated gaming platform, and those that don’t. Quite a number of years ago now I remember the first time I played Monument Valley, a puzzler with an isometric view of what were typically pretty intricate dioramas of sorts, with the goal of figuring out how to get your character from point A to point B by shifting blocks or other elements in a way that would let them proceed. This plays in a very similar manner, mostly justifying its presence in the eShop, but also isn’t quite as polished as the games that inspired it.

Pretty well all core elements of design here are a match. Whether it’s your isometric view, the ability to rotate the scene incrementally, or simply clicking on the spot you want your character to move to rather than directly controlling them. For the most part this all works out pretty well, with you typically just needing to shift things into place or move them somewhere else while your character is on them to proceed. One aspect I don’t remember being as aggravated by in the other series though, were times where your view of where paths go to or connect within the structures in the middle was so obstructed. While it didn’t happen often there were just some cases where there were enough paths and spots coming out of the structure close to each other that it got to be challenging to line up which one you were supposed to come out of. Perhaps it’s a minor complaint, but given the game’s overall simplicity it just feels like a somewhat sloppy area that could have worked out more effectively.

In the end, if you have fond memories of Monument Valley, or simply haven’t seen a puzzler specifically like this before, this may not be a bad modest investment. While I’d argue that the overall experience isn’t as refined and elegant in its simplicity as those titles, as a more bare bones implementation of the same concepts it works well enough. While it would have been perfectly at home on a mobile device, and the dedicated console controls don’t feel necessary for enjoyment, I’d also say it passes the “justify its presence on the eShop” test as well, though perhaps not by a large margin. If you’re looking for something contemplative with a distinctive aesthetic it isn’t a bad choice.