Monument Valley 3: a proper review of the amazing mobile game

Hello, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 64, your guide to the best and The Verge-things that exist in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, get ready for some weird documentaries, and you can read all the old versions Installer homepage.)

This week, I have been reading about raw milk again $HAWK again WhatsAppto watch The Man Inside and new Ken Burns da Vinci docand ended up stuck The Great British Bake Off (which I have A LOT OF FEELINGS about), I keep all my Airbnb loyalty numbers and codes Cheatsheetand making a really annoying amount of pizza stones.

And I’ve got an exciting new mobile game, an E Ink tablet to watch, a great new to-do app, and more. A weird Netflix-centric, weird week in the middle of December? But it is. Let’s dive in.

(As always, the best part of the Installer your ideas and tips. What are you watching / reading / playing / baking / listening to / putting together this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who would enjoy it Installerforward it to them and tell them to sign up here.)

• Monument Valley 3. I’ve thought about it, too Monument Valley My favorite mobile game series of all time. It’s beautiful, quiet without being ponderous, and infinitely replayable. Even the song is one of my all time favorites! It’s weird that “you have to have a Netflix subscription to play this game on your phone,” but you do. And once you have it, it’s a big win.
• Mozi. Ev Williams built Twitter, Medium, and now this – an app for making plans with your real friends, and connecting with people in town. You strike me as… niche? But you are smart. And since Facebook stopped being relevant, there is nothing else like it.
• iOS 18.2. I’m putting this one up mainly as a PSA to iPhone owners: all the Apple Intelligence stuff is whatever, but the fact that you can change it goes to Settings > Apps > Default apps and change what you use for keyboards, calls, email, and more, rules completely. Go and make it work the way you want.
• Supernote A5 X2 Manta. Dumb name, the new E Ink tablet that looks really cool. $459 is a lot for a device like this, but I dig the Supernote’s emphasis on making it configurable and upgradable. I love that these digital notebooks keep getting better.
• Join the Editor. You probably already know this about me, but I’m a fan of a good app. And this, a combo calendar / tasks / habit tracker for iPhones, is one of the best looking “day at a glance” designs I’ve ever seen. The app is, and feels, like it’s missing some features, but I’m getting it.
• The Nickel Boys. Based on evil, cruel a novel of the same name, the film is shot almost entirely in first-person perspective. And it seems to work. Many people think this will win many awards – don’t miss it.
• “Behind the scenes calling the Simpsons Monday Night Football Game.” I never quite got the appeal of these animated side streams, but the technical story of how they work is pretty cool. Pair that this new video about how football is shot on TV, and it’s like a production master class at the same time.
• Go ahead. I don’t know if it’s just my algorithm or what, but this Netflix movie was there all over in my feed for the past few weeks. It may also be a new record holder for offering everything in a trailer. But I’m still going to watch it this weekend – here’s hoping it’s cute, and Christmas-y, and I can get in Die Hard Holiday canon.

Do you too subscribe to The Verge but? You don’t need to find out Installerbut it should be! I’m not even remotely biased, and I think it’s a great website. And we have big plans.

Esther Cohen he is the person who makes all those plans, and makes them come true. He’s been working like crazy for the past few months as our subscription manager, so I figured it would be a great time to ask him to do some extra work and share his home screen with us. How many subscriptions does the subscription manager have, do you know? Inquiring minds want to know.

Here’s Esther’s home screen, along with some information about the apps she uses and why:

Background image: A photo of my kids (the oldest) and me from my birthday this year. (Also my lock screen, where I can see their faces.) Obviously, I’m an eye checker and every time I see that my 11 year old son is my height it makes me want to cry.

Applications: Weather, Settings, Apple Maps, Safari, Slack, The Verge, Apple Notes, Spotify, Phone, Mail, Messages, WhatsApp.

Another way to summarize my applications is this which is basic. In the top right, I keep all my useful things: the things I use as I go about my day. (Many times I look up places in NYC and figure out how to get there — don’t get me wrong, I prefer Apple Maps!)

The bottom left corner is where I spend most of my time, especially in work-related apps like Slack, the The Verge home page, and Apple Notes. It’s not ideal to disconnect and I feel the need to stay up to date with work at all times, so having a calendar widget front and center is a lifesaver. I tend to lose track of time when I’m deep into a project, so seeing my upcoming meetings quickly helps a lot.

Spotify is my most used “fun” app; it’s what I use for podcasts and music while I work, exercise, cook, etc. Oh, and I recently removed social media apps from my home screen — it’s been a game changer for my stress and focus.

I also asked Esther to share a few things she currently has. Here’s what he sent back:

• Viewing: It is decreasing. I’ve always really enjoyed this game – it’s one of the most disappointing things in entertainment right now. It’s wrong Scrubs level (highly recommend a rewatch!), but heartfelt, funny, well written and shot, and never saccharine.
• Playing: Mahjong! The kids and I play a few times a week during dinner, and it’s relaxing. Even I have it Real Mah Jongg app on my phone. Could it be the only app I’m paying for?
• Listening: Molière: The Musical Spectacle. Hear me: last year, TikTok kept giving me clips of this French music like urban pop. Hamilton about the life of Molière. I just found out song on Spotifyand it has been on repeat in our house. I don’t understand a word, but the songs are perfect.
• Reading: The Atlantic. This may reinforce my basic girl status, but I just signed up The Atlantic and – honestly? – all stories are very good. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a publication paid, and I love that I want to read almost everything on their homepage and social feed.

Here’s the thing Installer the community entered this week. I want to know where you are now too! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 ​​— with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For the best recommendations, check out the answers to them this post is on Threads again This post is on Bluesky.

“I’m trying to learn 3D modeling because I just got a Bamboo A1.“ — Erwin

“My favorite website for music to work is this one My voice. I really like ‘Medieval Library’ and ‘Medieval Village’ (which has a blacksmith’s sound lowered). It’s free to use, but if you throw the amazing French sound engineer Stephane a few bucks you get lifetime access to tons of sounds and other great tools.” — Molly

“Caves of Qud it’s professional gameplay, I’m on my tenth character, I’ve never seen half of the world, but I’m hooked.” — Jack

“I have finished studying Deep Work by Cal Newport. It provides useful insights on how to carve out time from your busy schedule to focus on deep work. It also provided a way to reduce distractions and reduce shallow work.” -Ankur

“I was very impressed by the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I do not know why. It’s thick, it just sits next to the 15 Pro Max and you turn it on that screen inside… — Abha

“It’s a game Mouthwash it’s getting a lot of attention right now, but I’m okay with it Indiana Jones and the Great Circle wash over me. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good thing with this franchise, but this game seems to reinforce the vibe. ” — Mike

“Gargantuan reading Spirit and Truth from Brandon Sanderson! It was a sad book.” – Jitao

“I needed some cheap earbuds while I was waiting for the AirPods Pro 3. I bought the Baseus Bowie MA10 and they work better than I could ask for. They do exactly what I need them to do: play my music and podcasts.” — Alex

“I just bought a ROG Ally X and I’m excited to start it twice with it Know them turning it into half Steam Deck/part Windows portable gaming, so I get the best of both worlds. — Benny

“I just finished the best Stories Are Weapons by Annalee Newitz, about the power of storytelling and world-building in propaganda and psyops. It’s fascinating, insightful, often funny and sad by turns. A great read that helps me process our increasingly divided world.” — Why

So I’m completely new to graphic novels. Head over to Reddit to see the top recommendations. He came to the other side Miles Davis and the Search for Sound. What an amazing introduction to this app! Highly recommended for fans of Miles Davis and jazz.” — Mike

Last week The VergecastI mentioned that I always have trouble finding inexpensive, universally available gifts to buy for co-workers, Secret Santa exchanges, and that sort of thing. A bunch of people responded with great ideas, so I thought I’d share some:

• Power banks. Give the gift of battery power.
• Scratchers. Everyone loves a fun lottery ticket!
• Local gift cards. A lot of people say I shouldn’t make Starbucks for everyone, but I should help people discover and try new local places. I love this idea.
• Coffee. Forget gift cards, just buy them a pound of good coffee.
• Candles. Is the candle also close to someone you know? I don’t know! Probably not! But I love a good candle.

These ideas have already made my holiday shopping a breeze – let’s just say a lot of people in my life are getting scratched this year. I hope this helps you too. And if you have other ideas, keep them coming. I need all the gift help I can get.