Ustwo Games Phenomenon Overview

There is an opinion that the bigger the budget, including for a movie or a video game, the better the product will be, but the studio Ustwo proves that this is not the case. Over the course of a decade, the company has regularly delighted players with its projects, in particular those designed for mobile platforms, which often have a unique concept. This also led to a recent statement by the CEO of Ustwo, Maria Sayans, that game budgets are growing, and retaining employees is becoming increasingly difficult.

Speaking of mobile games, whose focus in recent years has been on the free-to-play model and action as a genre, Ustwo creates games with minimalist design, where the emphasis is on solving puzzles, accompanied by pleasant background music. Below you will learn what makes Ustwo studio's games so high-quality and why they can confidently be called a phenomenon among mobile games.

All Games Developed By Ustwo

London-based studio released their first title in 2011 - Whale Trail. Launched on iOS and Android, Whale Trail is an endless runner game featuring Willow the Whale, who is flying through the sky and trying to escape from Baron von Barry, the game’s squid-like antagonist. You can check out the list of all games developed by Ustwo and platforms those games were released on below:

• 2011 - Whale Trail (Android, iOS)
• 2012 - Papa Quash (iOS)
• 2013 - Blip Blup (Android, iOS)
• 2014 - Monument Valley (Android, iOS, PC, Windows Phone)
• 2015 - Land’s End (Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR)
• 2017 - Monument Valley 2 (Android, iOS, PC)
• 2019 - Assemble with Care (iOS, PC)
• 2020 - Go Go Bots (browser), Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (iOS, macOS, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, tvOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
• 2022 - Desta: The Memories Between (Android, iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch)
• 2024 - Monument Valley 3 (Android, iOS, macOS, iPADOS, visionOS, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)

But the studio's main and most important game is unanimously recognized as Monument Valley. The plot of the game is built around the journey of Princess Ida, who navigates through a world of incredible architecture. During the game, she will have to solve various puzzles based on the principles of optical illusions. Monument Valley impresses with its visual design, minimalism, and stunning musical accompaniment, which responds to the player's actions. It received high ratings from critics, as well as winning the Best British Game and Mobile/Handheld Game 2015 awards at the BAFTA ceremony. The game's sales are also impressive: more than 26 million official downloads and almost 6 million dollars in revenue. As you can see above, three years after the game’s launch, a sequel, Monument Valley 2, was released, which is considered the most emotional game in the series and, according to many, the best in terms of quality. In 2024, players received the third installment, which, unfortunately, did not meet expectations, mostly regarding weak puzzles, which is what fans especially loved about the first two games.

What Makes Ustwo Games Great and Unique

Not only Monument Valley, but also other games developed by Ustwo can boast of their uniqueness. For instance, in Assemble with Care you literally engage in repairing things of a small town, playing as a restorer named Maria. At the same time, the game has a meditative feeling thanks to its consistent atmosphere, pleasant ambiance, and engaging puzzles. Moreover, the hidden meaning of the game is not in fixing objects, but in fixing people - their relationships and conflicts. Regarding Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, the game gives a nostalgic feeling of summer holidays, tranquility, and freedom, where you relax in nature, playing as a girl named Alba, who comes to an island to visit her grandparents.

The phenomenon of Ustwo is that they present their games as cozy adventures, in which there is no room for action or microtransactions, and in their place come pleasant puzzles, calm music, beautiful visual style, and the ability to complete the games in a few hours. The studio has proven that mobile games can be not just entertainment but also uniquely crafted stories with interesting mechanics and meaningful messages. If you like games from Ustwo, you will definitely enjoy Moomintroll Woke Up in Winter - developed by Hyper Games and released on April 27 for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2—or Beyond Worlds, the studio founded by Steve Ellis and David Doak, the designers of GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, and TimeSplitters.