Thinking Cubically
Cuboid takes a simple concept and stretches it into an insanely addictive little puzzler.
Published: February 4, 2009
Puzzle games are meant to be simple. The whole idea is that the concept is easy to grasp, but actually wrapping your head around the rules and using them to reach the end goal is the tough part. Cuboid embodies these ideals perfectly, asking only that you understand a few basic concepts and the proceeds to bend your grey matter into one of those cool little Mobius Strips until you're left an incoherently babbling shell of a man trying to write a review about the game.
What concepts, you may ask as if I can actually hear you? (I can, don't worry.) The rules are simple: using the d-pad, you can flip a rectangular block (the titular cuboid) onto any of its six sides, provided said flipping doesn't send you flying off the edge of a pre-determined layout of squares floating high above a cathedral you're apparently trying to restore. All you must do is get from the starting point to a glowing end square and plop your cuboid into it by flipping up onto its end piece.
To complicate things a little, a few hazards and extra bits of challenge are slowly introduced over the course of the game's 60 or so levels: rickety wooden squares can only support the weight of the cuboid if it's laying flat (read: not up on end on a single square); switches, in either normal or double-weight (meaning you have to pop up on end to trigger it as it takes the full weight of the cuboid), extend or retract bridges and teleporters that split your cuboid into two cube halves -- sometimes at different ends of the level... and that's it.
Seriously, that's it. Just overcome these little extra obstacles and get from the start to the end. The challenge, of course, comes in just trying to navigate through the fixed widths and lengths of the levels themselves without falling off the edge. Even just one square off and you won't be able to tip on end to slide into the exit, and the process of re-aligning the cuboid so that every flip will eventually get it to the end point perfectly can be an absolutely mind-boggling experience. There's no shortage of backtracking and round-about movements needed to properly align things (this includes everything from hitting a switch properly to crossing the bridge it just revealed), but that's part of the game's head-scratching charm.
It forces one to think spatially, such that after a while, you just sort of "get" what movements are needed to fit into tight spaces. There's still plenty of trial and error, of course, but that's half the appeal, really. The game only gets better when you have multiple people looking at the problem, since some will think of the cuboid in terms of it flipping end on end, and others how it rolls when laid flat. Communication when you have two or more people ("no, wait, go left, no, I mean up, no, the other left!) can be... interesting, but either a solo or cooperative experience, the game really is quite amazing.
It's not amazing looking, though. Oh, it's pretty enough, but like the audio, which is really nothing more than an ambient choral loop and the soft rocky thud-thud-thud-clang of the cuboid flipping or hitting a switch, the graphics are there merely to present the puzzles in a way that doesn't get in the way. I'm certainly not saying the visuals are bad, mind, but they aren't going to win any awards.
What will (hopefully) garner a few more accolades than my own, though, is the puzzles in the game. They're diabolical, will have you wringing your hands in frustration up until everything clicks and you'll slap your forehead, finish things and move on. For just $10, Cuboid is a fantastic purchase, and one that I whole-heartedly recommend to each and every person who owns a PS3. It's that good, and you should get it. Now.
What concepts, you may ask as if I can actually hear you? (I can, don't worry.) The rules are simple: using the d-pad, you can flip a rectangular block (the titular cuboid) onto any of its six sides, provided said flipping doesn't send you flying off the edge of a pre-determined layout of squares floating high above a cathedral you're apparently trying to restore. All you must do is get from the starting point to a glowing end square and plop your cuboid into it by flipping up onto its end piece.
To complicate things a little, a few hazards and extra bits of challenge are slowly introduced over the course of the game's 60 or so levels: rickety wooden squares can only support the weight of the cuboid if it's laying flat (read: not up on end on a single square); switches, in either normal or double-weight (meaning you have to pop up on end to trigger it as it takes the full weight of the cuboid), extend or retract bridges and teleporters that split your cuboid into two cube halves -- sometimes at different ends of the level... and that's it.
Seriously, that's it. Just overcome these little extra obstacles and get from the start to the end. The challenge, of course, comes in just trying to navigate through the fixed widths and lengths of the levels themselves without falling off the edge. Even just one square off and you won't be able to tip on end to slide into the exit, and the process of re-aligning the cuboid so that every flip will eventually get it to the end point perfectly can be an absolutely mind-boggling experience. There's no shortage of backtracking and round-about movements needed to properly align things (this includes everything from hitting a switch properly to crossing the bridge it just revealed), but that's part of the game's head-scratching charm.
It forces one to think spatially, such that after a while, you just sort of "get" what movements are needed to fit into tight spaces. There's still plenty of trial and error, of course, but that's half the appeal, really. The game only gets better when you have multiple people looking at the problem, since some will think of the cuboid in terms of it flipping end on end, and others how it rolls when laid flat. Communication when you have two or more people ("no, wait, go left, no, I mean up, no, the other left!) can be... interesting, but either a solo or cooperative experience, the game really is quite amazing.
It's not amazing looking, though. Oh, it's pretty enough, but like the audio, which is really nothing more than an ambient choral loop and the soft rocky thud-thud-thud-clang of the cuboid flipping or hitting a switch, the graphics are there merely to present the puzzles in a way that doesn't get in the way. I'm certainly not saying the visuals are bad, mind, but they aren't going to win any awards.
What will (hopefully) garner a few more accolades than my own, though, is the puzzles in the game. They're diabolical, will have you wringing your hands in frustration up until everything clicks and you'll slap your forehead, finish things and move on. For just $10, Cuboid is a fantastic purchase, and one that I whole-heartedly recommend to each and every person who owns a PS3. It's that good, and you should get it. Now.
