It’s been a few weeks since the demo for Cubic came out. Most of us at the D1P have played through it once or twice, and we’ve all come to the same conclusion: Cubic is going to be special.
Cubic is a minimalist puzzle game with exploration at its core. What really struck me and the others about the game, is how often new mechanics are introduced, and how effectively the player is taught how they work. The demo is about 30 – 60 minutes long, but in that time, more unique mechanics were introduced than I can count on one hand.
Most of the time, you’ll only be utilizing a single mechanic per puzzle. By constantly switching and introducing new mechanics over time, you’re always forced to learn something new, and so the gameplay never gets dry.
While there isn’t much exploration to do in the demo – which makes sense as it’s the tutorial area – the developers promise that the full game will have an open world with lots to uncover. The developers describe it best in a recent devlog:
[…] At its core, from a developers perspective, Cubic is a game about exploring – exploring a world and exploring a ruleset. We recommend you go into it blind, so I won’t be going into too much detail in these devlogs, but there is much to uncover.
Speaking of the developers; Cubic is being developed by Twin Turtle Games, which is a small team of 3. Its their first commercial game, and they’ve spent a long time on it at this point. I’ve had the chance to talk to the developers, and it’s clear to me that they’re passionate about the game, and that passion can be felt when playing.
It’s rare for puzzle games to hook me like this, especially these days, as I honestly feel the genre has become a little stale. If you haven’t already though, go check out the demo for Cubic. It doesn’t take long to complete, and I’m almost certain you’ll understand my hype.
