On their mobile Netflix exclusivity: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/monument-valley-3-is-heading-to-netflix-games-to-avoid-app-store-compromise-

Speaking to Game Developer about Ustwo’s decision to renew its partnership with Netflix on Monument Valley 3, lead producer John Lau says the current incarnation of the App Store is a very different beast to the one that connected the studio with new audiences all those years ago.

He feels the App Store is currently more focused on surfacing free-to-play projects and titles that prioritize “high user-acquisition” above all else. As a result, he says it now makes a lot more sense for a morsel like Monument Valley 3 to venture onto mobile by way of a subscription service like Netflix Games, which he says will actually “allow people to see it.”

“The thing about that is, it also allows it to stay Monument Valley rather than change its mechanics or do whatever else you need to do to survive in a different [ecosystem],” Lau continues. “[The Netflix Games deal is about] trying to make the kind of game we wanted to make, without having to compromise in order for it to survive in the kind of App Store that exists in the modern day.”

Hence, I think the same logic applies to the Steam release.

I fondly remember Monument Valley: it should be a mobile staple. But it’s just not compatible with the app stores anymore.

That speaks volumes about how much the stores have deteriorated. If Monument Valley can’t make it, what hope does any other game have, unless it’s a predatory attention-hacking rat race?

I played the first two when I got them on a stream sale a while ago, and while I enjoyed them, I found them both a bit short and didn’t really explore the puzzle mechanics far enough for my liking. Is the third one a bit more fully formed?