Games like Monument Valley for Calm Gaming

Monument Valley has a very specific kind of magic. Calm music, gorgeous little worlds, and puzzles that feel like you’re gently folding reality until a path appears.

If you’re chasing that same feeling, you’re in the right place. This list of games like Monument Valley is all about pretty puzzle worlds, clever perspective tricks, and that relaxing “one more level” flow. Some games are close cousins with optical illusions. Others hit the same vibe through art, story, and satisfying slow-burn puzzles.

Quick List of Games Like Monument Valley

1. Evo Explores

Evo Explores is a chill, brain-bendy puzzle game where you guide a little explorer through “impossible” 3D structures. The trick is perspective. You rotate and adjust parts of the level so paths line up in ways that should not work, then walk Evo to the exit.

It also has a light story about a strange place called Byte planet, which gives the levels a bit more purpose than pure puzzles.

How Evo Explores is like Monument Valley

✅ Gorgeous “impossible architecture” puzzles that mess with your brain in a good way
✅ Simple controls, you spend more time thinking than fighting the camera
✅ Calm pacing and a relaxing vibe, perfect for headphones and a couch session
✅ Levels are built around those “ohhhh I see it now” moments

❌ The art style is its own thing, it feels more toy-like and blocky compared to Monument Valley’s super clean elegance
❌ The story is more direct, which you might like, but it can also pull focus from the pure puzzle mood
❌ Some puzzles feel a bit more “mechanical,” less like you are gliding through a dream

My Take: If Monument Valley is your comfort food, Evo Explores is like a solid homemade version that still tastes great. It scratches the same perspective-puzzle itch, and the levels have that satisfying click when they finally make sense.

2. Mekorama

Mekorama is a cute, calm 3D puzzle game where you guide a tiny robot across bite-sized “diorama” levels. You tap where you want the robot to walk, then rotate the little structure to spot hidden paths, ladders, switches, and moving parts.

The coolest extra is the community stuff. It has a level editor, plus shareable level cards people pass around online, so you can play way more than the built-in set if you get hooked.

How Mekorama is like Monument Valley

✅ Cozy impossible little world vibe that feels great to solve at your own pace
✅ Simple controls that stay out of your way, so your brain does the heavy lifting
✅ Lots of satisfaction from rotating the scene and having the solution suddenly click
✅ Clean, toy-like diorama levels that look great on a phone screen

❌ Less optical-illusion magic than Monument Valley, more about finding routes and interacting with mechanisms
❌ The camera rotation can sometimes be the puzzle, which is fun until it mildly annoys you
❌ It’s lighter on story mood, so it feels more like a puzzle toybox than a dreamy journey

My Take: If Monument Valley is your “pretty puzzle” comfort game, Mekorama is the scrappy little cousin with endless community levels. It’s charming, clever, and dangerously easy to lose an hour to.

3. Monument Valley 3

Monument Valley 3 is the newest entry in the series, and it keeps that same chill impossible architecture puzzle vibe. You guide a new hero, Noor, through optical illusion levels by rotating and shifting the world to reveal paths that were hiding in plain sight.

The big new twist is sailing.

You can travel by boat from Noor’s home village to new places, which makes the journey feel a bit more like an adventure across a wider world, not just a list of levels.

How Monument Valley 3 is like Monument Valley

✅ Same mind-bending perspective puzzles where you rotate and manipulate structures to make paths appear
✅ Minimalist art style inspired by real architecture and clean geometric shapes
✅ Calm, meditative pacing with a soft story in the background
✅ Easy to pick up, but still full of those “oh wow” reveal moments

❌ New main character (Noor) instead of Ida, with a story hook about the world’s fading light
❌ Sailing and travel between areas adds a new layer that the original game did not have
❌ Access has shifted over time, with its mobile launch tied to Netflix Games rather than the classic paid mobile release style

My Take: If Monument Valley was your rainy day comfort game, MV3 feels like the same comfort, just bigger and fresher. The boat travel is a smart add, and it makes the whole thing feel more like a journey instead of a puzzle playlist.

4. Gorogoa

Gorogoa is a hand drawn puzzle story where your screen is split into a 2×2 grid of picture panels. You solve puzzles by dragging panels around, stacking them, zooming in, and lining up visual details so one scene “connects” into another. It feels like you’re rearranging pages of a living picture book until the world clicks into place.

It’s also a premium mobile game (paid up front), and it’s great on a phone but extra nice on a bigger screen since you’re constantly inspecting tiny details in the art.

How Gorogoa is like Monument Valley

✅ Calm, beautiful puzzle vibes that feel more like a relaxing art walk than a “hardcore brain test”
✅ Puzzles are based on perspective and visual trickery, so you get a lot of “wait, what if I move THIS?” moments
✅ Light storytelling that mostly happens through visuals, not a ton of text
✅ Short-session friendly, you can clear a few puzzles and bounce

❌ No rotating 3D buildings or impossible staircases, it’s more about panel logic and hidden connections
❌ Less “walking a character through a space,” more “manipulating images until the path exists”
❌ The vibe can feel more mysterious and abstract than Monument Valley’s clean, soothing clarity

My Take: If Monument Valley is a zen museum, Gorogoa is a magic picture book you can physically rearrange. It’s one of those games where you feel smart without feeling stressed, and the art does a lot of the heavy lifting in the best way.

5. Shadowmatic

Shadowmatic is a chill puzzle game where you rotate weird floating objects under a spotlight until their shadow turns into something recognizable, like an animal, a tool, or some other “oh wow, I see it” silhouette. It’s super relaxing, looks gorgeous, and it even won an Apple Design Award back in the day.

How Shadowmatic is like Monument Valley

✅ Calm, cozy puzzle mood that feels great to play in short sessions
✅ Clean “aha” moments where one small change makes everything click
✅ Strong visual style that makes you want to screenshot stuff
✅ Very low stress, you can take your time and just think

❌ You are not guiding a character through impossible buildings, you are rotating a single object to match a shadow
❌ More photoreal lighting and materials, less minimalist geometry and color blocks
❌ Less “pathfinding through space,” more “shape rotation until it matches”

My Take: Shadowmatic is perfect when you want Monument Valley vibes without the walking. It’s pure satisfying brain candy, and the lighting makes it feel weirdly fancy for such a simple idea.

6. Prune

Prune is a calm, artsy puzzle game where you grow a tree with your finger, then swipe to cut branches so it can reach sunlight. Each level adds little hazards and constraints, so it turns into this satisfying loop of “grow, snip, adjust, breathe, win.”

How Prune is like Monument Valley

✅ Beautiful minimalist vibe that feels great to play with headphones
✅ Puzzles are more about observation and small adjustments than fast reflexes
✅ Super chill pacing, built around those quiet “ohhh, that worked” moments
✅ Light storytelling that stays in the background

❌ No impossible buildings or rotating staircases, your whole focus is shaping a living tree
❌ Less about moving through 3D space, more about guiding growth and trimming smart
❌ The challenge can feel more precise and “fiddly,” especially when you are chasing the perfect angle

My Take: If Monument Valley is your zen architecture trip, Prune is your zen gardening session, and it rules for the same reason. It’s simple, classy, and weirdly emotional for a game about trimming branches.

7. Kenshō

Kenshō is a chill puzzle adventure where you slide and match colored blocks to clear paths, grab keys, and push through a sequence of surreal nature themed scenes. It layers in obstacles like immovable tiles and special blocks, so it starts simple, then gets satisfyingly tricky as you go.

How Kenshō is like Monument Valley

✅ Calm, pretty vibes that make you want to play with headphones on
✅ Puzzle first gameplay with that steady “one more level” rhythm
✅ A light story told through mood and visuals more than big dialogue dumps
✅ Strong soundtrack energy that does a lot of the emotional work

❌ Not an impossible architecture walker. This is a tile sliding, block matching puzzle at its core
❌ Less about exploring spaces, more about solving self contained puzzle boards
❌ Can feel more “logic and rules” than Monument Valley’s dreamy optical illusion flow

My Take: If you want Monument Valley’s calm mood but you are down for a more traditional puzzle core, Kenshō is a great change of pace. It’s the kind of game that starts cozy, then quietly starts cooking your brain.

8. The Gardens Between

The Gardens Between is a chill puzzle adventure about two best friends, Arina and Frendt, drifting through dreamy “memory islands” packed with everyday objects. The big hook is time control. You push time forward to let them walk, then rewind to undo mistakes, reposition objects, and set up the right chain of events to reach the goal.

Instead of stressing about fast inputs, you are basically directing a little time puzzle movie. It’s all about noticing what changed when you rewound, then using that knowledge to solve the next lock in the level.

How The Gardens Between is like Monument Valley

✅ Calm, beautiful puzzles that feel like a relaxing brain massage
✅ Strong “aha” moments, where the solution suddenly clicks
✅ Story is mostly visual and mood-driven, not dialogue heavy
✅ Bite-sized levels that are great for quick sessions

❌ The core gimmick is time rewind and fast forward, not rotating impossible buildings
❌ You do not directly steer the characters around freely, you steer time instead
❌ It feels more like a gentle puzzle narrative than a pure optical illusion showcase

My Take: If Monument Valley is your cozy “impossible architecture” pick, The Gardens Between is your cozy “time wizard” pick. It’s smart without being mean, and the vibes are immaculate.

9. Old Man’s Journey

Old Man’s Journey is a calm puzzle adventure about an elderly man who sets off after receiving a letter. You guide him by tapping where to walk, then reshaping the hills and paths so he can move forward, even when the route looks impossible at first. The story comes through quiet, wordless flashbacks, so it hits more in the feelings than in dialogue.

How Old Man’s Journey is like Monument Valley

✅ Relaxing, low-stress puzzles that feel great in short sessions
✅ Gorgeous art that makes you want to stop and stare
✅ Minimal storytelling that’s mostly visual and mood-driven
✅ Lots of “ohhh, I get it” moments where the world suddenly makes sense

❌ Less about rotating impossible buildings, more about pulling and bending the terrain into a walkable path
❌ It’s more emotional and reflective than Monument Valley’s airy, puzzle-first vibe
❌ The pace is slower and more story-led, so it feels like a short interactive tale

My Take: This one is perfect when you want Monument Valley calm, but with a softer, more human story. It’s short, sweet, and weirdly memorable.

10. The Almost Gone

The Almost Gone is a narrative puzzle game built around tiny isometric dioramas. You swipe and rotate these little rooms to spot clues, collect items, unlock mechanisms, and slowly piece together what happened. The tone is way darker and more emotional than it looks at first glance.

How The Almost Gone is like Monument Valley

✅ Stylish, minimalist visuals with that “pretty little world” feeling
✅ Calm, touch-friendly puzzles that reward careful observation
✅ Short scene-by-scene structure that works great on mobile
✅ Story mostly told through mood and visuals more than walls of text

❌ More point-and-click logic and item clue hunting, less “impossible architecture” path puzzles
❌ The vibe is heavier and more unsettling, not as cozy and dreamy
❌ You are rotating dioramas to inspect them, not rotating buildings to create new walkways

My Take: If you want Monument Valley-style visuals but you are in the mood for a mystery that bites a little harder, this is a strong pick. It’s the kind of game where you keep leaning closer to your screen like, “wait… what is that detail?”

Final Thoughts

The best thing about games like Monument Valley is they are easy to enjoy even when you are tired. You can play for five minutes, get a small win, and leave feeling calmer than when you started.

If you want the closest match, go for the games built around perspective and impossible spaces. If you want the same cozy mood in a different form, try the story-driven and diorama-style picks. Either way, you’ll get that same little moment where your brain clicks and you smile.

Explore More Games

• Top 30 Cozy Games Like Stardew Valley
• 25 Games Like Royal Match
• 20 Games Like Candy Crush but Better