MTN Review

MTN is not a game. It is not highly interactive app. What it is, is a serene part of your day that will bring you a few minutes of amusement.

The MTN app, by David O'Reilly, opens by asking you to draw things based on 1-word prompts. According to David O'Reilly, "The drawings influence things like the shape of the mountain, the type of vegetation, the amount of vegetation, the length of your summers, the amount of snow you’re going to get, all sorts of different things." After the prompts are answered the app generates a small, free-floating mountain in the middle of space.

As time passes the mountain changes. Trees and flowers grow, fireflies appear, and the seasons pass by at a relaxing pace. Every once in a while a piece of space debris will come hurtling out of the atmosphere to impact on your mountain's surface. These falling things are as varied as they are strange: giant pieces of cake, anvils, crates, etc.

O'Reilly, who was an animation director on the feature film “Her” (and wrote, directed, produced, and animated the Adventure Time episode "A Glitch is a Glitch"), shows off his animation background with the gorgeous graphics. Since the only interaction you can have with MTN is to rotate, zoom in/out on your mountain, and play music for it with the small invisible keyboard provided at the bottom of the screen, I can't really consider the app a game. It is better described as a distraction from your day.

I found setting up my iPad with MTN running while I worked gave me a little friendly reminder to relax and not to get stressed out by the little things. The MTN would say things like, "I've had dreams about this rainy afternoon." There is something so sweet, and silly about it all that it trivialized whatever bad thing was going on at the time.

If you're the kind of person who needs action and adventure then this might not be your cup of tea, but if you can find some enjoyment out of the simple life of a mountain then MTN will make a great addition to your collection.