Game Details
- Publisher: NicoplvGames
- Developer: NicoplvGames
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Puzzle
- Pros: Looks great; simple concept, but very tricky; price
- Cons: Gets very difficult; little replay value
- MSRP: $2
As I mentioned above, Cubot is a deceptively simple 3D
puzzle game. The idea is that you move
colored blocks around on a grid so they wind up on their same colored “home”
block by the end. You start off with
blue blocks that only move one space, then red blocks that move two spaces are
added, then yellow blocks that move one space in the opposite direction you
move the other blocks, and more.
Buttons you have to hold down with a certain color block to activate
platforms are also introduced, which makes things even more complicated.
The tricky part is that all of the blocks all move at the
same time so you have to really think about every move ahead of time and
consider where everything is going to end up.
There are 10 chapters with 8 levels each, and each chapter adds some new
block type or mechanic for you to deal with.
Just to give you an idea of the difficulty curve, I started having
trouble by chapter 4 and it only gets more crazy difficult from there on. The game does throw you a bone here and
there by allowing you to skip one level for every 8 you finish and also letting
you instantly take back moves with the “A” button, but it is still very, very
hard.
The truth about Cubot is that most people aren’t going to be
able to finish it. Heck, most people
won’t even see half of the game before it gets too hard. Each puzzle only has one solution and,
particularly when you have multiple block types all moving around at once, one
incorrect move early on can render the puzzle impossible to solve. This brutal difficulty does reward you with
a nice feeling of satisfaction when you figure stuff out, but also lots and
lots of frustration in between, too.
The fact that each puzzle only has one solution also means the replay
value is fairly low, since once you know how it works you just repeat the steps
to do it again.
Normally, such brutal difficulty and lack of replay value
would be deal breakers, but when a game is only $2 it is easy enough to just
shrug things like that off. Even if you
only see 1/3rd of the game, you’re still easily getting your $2’s
worth, so it is hard to complain too much.
Presentation wise, Cubot doesn’t do much to hide its mobile
game roots. The menus were clearly
designed for touch devices and it can actually be sort of difficult to select
what you want because there is no cursor or anything, just the button you’re
currently on looks slightly (barely) different than before. The gameplay, at least, does look pretty
good. The game is very simple with just
a white background, the grid you play on, and the colored blocks, but it looks
nice.
All in all, Cubot - The Complexity of Simplicity is a
terrifically challenging 3D puzzle game that will really put your mind to the
test. It is very, very difficult, but
at just $2 you definitely get your money’s worth even if you do get stuck early
on. And if you can finish it, and earn
all 1000 gamerscore along the way, you’ll have some serious bragging
rights. Cubot is pretty cool and
definitely worth a try.
