This article was first published in the November 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Matt Miller, co-founder of London-based design studio ustwo, fired off an email to the team working on iOS and Android game Monument Valley back in 2013. It included objectives both concrete (iPad game of the year "at the very least"; minimum 200,000 sales) and abstract: it should "make you cry" and "be the type of art you need to put on your wall".
His demands paid off: Monument Valley has racked up four million downloads since its release in April 2014 (and yes, it did win Apple's Game of the Year). The puzzler, which challenges players to help Princess Ida navigate tricky mazes, was beta-tested by non-gamers at ustwo, who made suggestions, such as making the game shorter.
"We wanted it to be like an album," says Miller. "Who gets to finish things? Nobody finishes Candy Crush."
With 250 staff across four offices, Miller and co-founder John Sinclair divide their focus between risk-taking projects such as Monument Valley and commissions for the likes of Sony and Tesco.
The follow-up to Monument Valley, Land's End, is being developed for Samsung's Gear VR. Meanwhile, Miller and Sinclair are overseeing Wayfindr, an audio-driven app to help blind people navigate the London Underground, and DICE, a ticket-selling venture part-funded by the founders of Google's AI startup DeepMind (WIRED 07.15). "We're not trying to do the same thing over and over again," says Miller. "When you give very talented people the space and the freedom to do something, they will do it."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
