GamesRelay

Name: Cuboid

Cuboid is one of those games that comes along every now and again and you wonder what it's all about or who thought up the concept in the first place. I'm sure there have been other games like this at some point in history, but, not since Kula World on the original Playstation have I seen the likes of this…

It's a puzzle game in its very purest form, you control a block, a cuboid, 2 x 1 across and you have to get it from A to B.

Except, it's not that simple, and let's face it, it wouldn't be much of a puzzle game if it was.

You control your cuboid by heaving one end over the other. Think about it as having a pen on your desk and only being able to move it when you tipped it over on it's end points and or rolled it over; you start from position A and have to end up in position B which is a hole in the ground. The ultimate aim is to have your cuboid in a position where you can drop it neatly through a hole length ways, which translates into 1 of your 2 x 1 dimensions.

To make thing's that little bit more interesting you're on a floating platform which means that if your cuboid won't fit neatly into the floating map then it's going to go over the edge and fall to its death. Later in the game you'll come across all manner of different booby traps to work your way past, from switches that either require you to stand upright on or to merely give it a tap with one end or the other as your passing. The switches either disable or enable other parts of the map so you can get your cuboid safely across allowing it to fit into situations it previously couldn't.

The game construct itself is clever, from starting the game you get the basic tutorial, and then several puzzles to emphasise what you just learnt, you then get a few tricky situations where you put what you've learnt into practice. The tutorials teach you about the aforementioned switches or about certain parts of the platform that won't support the full weight of the cuboid so you have to lie it down across two of those brick types. After you've gone through a couple of tutorial levels you'll eventually meet a challenge level which will demand you complete the map in a set amount of moves. The moves can be augmented by special pickups which add to the amount of moves you can make.

It's not a very "exciting" game, more one to make you think in the same way a good crossword puzzle does and you can almost guarantee you'll keep coming back to it with fresh ideas once you've got yourself stuck on a level, you'll find yourself thinking about different ways to get your cuboid to where it needs to be and if you're not careful you will end up trying the same thing again and again until you realise it's just not going to work. A bit of rethinking and you're back on track and onto the next puzzle.

As it's a PSN game and the download is relatively small, the graphics are good enough and serve there purpose, it's not going to blow you away but you're not going to complain either. You can't really ask any more from a game like this. The music is the same, it's not irritating and you barely notice it as you play the game, and, again, the same can be said about the sound FX, you know they are there but they fit naturally with what is happening on screen.

You could say this more of a chill out game, it's certainly the way that I see it, it's wrong to say you can relax with this game as it poses several mental challenges, but if you're sick of blowing things up to high hell or sick of throwing a car round a corner at 100mph then it can prove a welcome distraction.

There's more maps to download via the PlayStation Network Store should you finish the original challenges without to much bother, these are a bit more challenging to the grey matter and pretty reasonably priced. There's also a level editor available for you to download so you can create your own fiendish puzzles to challenge other people and obviously you can download other people's maps to amuse yourself with so in theory the game is never going to end with a never ending supply of user based content. The two packs can be bought on their own or as a bundle.

All in all Cuboid is a good game if you're a fan of puzzle games, there's a trailer for the game on the PlayStation Network Store – It sold me on the game when I watched it and if you're a fan of the genre then I highly suggest you watch it. It's not a game without its flaws, but, one worth getting all the same.