Cuboingo
Have you ever been in one of those moments where you felt it hard to express what it is about something that has just completely enthralled your entire existence? Well that's what I kind of feel like now as I sit here and write this. Before I continue into that, first things first. Cuboingo is a new puzzle game developed for the PC, by Sentient (a new independent game company) founder Christian G. Senn. As any puzzle fan knows, the key to a truly great and memorable puzzle game is all about taking the simplest concept possible, then developing an easy form of its execution, while maintaining a highly involved level of either; thought, hand-eye coordination, or a little bit of both.
The magic of Cuboingo is just that. There are a few simple reasons why Tetris is one of the most well known, fun, involving and greatest games ever made, and Cuboingo has them all. Now I know what you're thinking, comparing a "NEW?!" game to a video game classic such as Tetris, "you've got to be joking," but hear me out. Tetris, in all its glory, is simply one of the most addictive games ever, why? So simple anyone can play it (all ages - not matter who or where), unlimited gameplay, unlimited replay-ability and a difficultly level that can advance from easy to impossible in a short amount of time. If a company developed all of those aspects well -- especially if it's a puzzle game -- players would end up playing their games forevermore.
And just as Tetris has done, Mr. Senn and his development group have created a game that I, as well as just about any other puzzle fan, could play into eternity. Cuboingo basically gives you a three dimensional cube (of which you can see 3 sides at any one time) -- each side is dissected by different patterns of individual colored squares. You can rotate, flip, and turn this cube any which way you need, with the quickness, using your keyboards numeric pad. The keypad gives you 8 different ways to flip this block as quickly as possible. The player also uses shift to speed the block up toward the target (like the down arrow in Tetris). On each side of the block, there are light-sourced indicators that tell you what color, the design and how many squares are coming at your block at any one time. The player must use their own dexterity to flip different sides of their block to the corresponding indicators that show up on the screen until each color square and pattern is eliminated around the cube's 6 sides: If a player fails to do so in the time limit chosen they loose. If a player lets a wrong color hit a wrong color, they get a mark on the mistake meter; if they get three of those marks, they loose.
So yes, the concept is simple, but the design allows for multiple difficulty variables, all of which can easily make your job harder. Different color designs can be on the sides (ie: red, blue, and green blocks on once side), blocks can come in complex patterns ( there can range anywhere from 1, 4 or 9 squares on any one side), the speed of the blocks can and will progress (ie: Tetris-influenced speed rate), or all of those can happen at the same time, you can see where the hard-part comes in. Thankfully Sentient has made the learning curve pretty good, but it still gets hard on the other game scripts.
As soon as you start up the game, and get past the initial menu screen, you are asked to select to play different modes or themes of play (scripts). [This is also where it allows for player interaction, because those with a good enough knowledge can make their own.] These scripts basically give you different levels of play, different kinds a patterns, and CERTAINLY, different levels of difficulty.
The difficulty level of the game lies in your hand dexterity, hand eye coordination, and you're ability to keep and access a mental picture of what patterns each side of your block has, which squares are filled and which ones aren't, and with what color. The experience is truly hard to describe; as you continue you through the levels and repeatedly loose game after game because you meant to hit a different button then the one you did. Like any good time/speed based puzzle game, you'll be pounding your keyboard after loosing round-after-round. Oh how frustratingly brilliant the experience is. Cuboingo will make you feel like a mentally retarded cerebral palsy patient (no offense to actual suffers) on more than 100 occasions.
Truth be told, the game is addicting as playing Tetris on crack. The pleasure of actually finishing a few levels on the hardest difficulty settings is nothing but gaming bliss at its best. (Did I mention the number of levels are just about infinite for any one script?) Watching your block rotate with ease while stream after stream of squares are eliminated with the quickness, only of course, due to your magnificent gaming and hand/eye skills on the keyboard... ahhh what gaming bliss. Think that was a dorky thing to say? Heh, wait until you get a hold of this game. Once you see the upper level madness you'll have you're work cut out for you. Multiple squares of each color on each side, coming from all three sides at the same time; but of course, you can handle it right?
I have to give Mr. Senn and his team over at sentient credit, they've created something that is sure to be and independent hit, as long as it's promoted correctly. To tell the truth, I can't wait to play this game on my Game Boy Advance. It seems the perfect title to tote around all day and enjoy in-between classes. The console versions might be a little more stagnant, mostly because this is your basic puzzle game, so the allure of the title might not yield a 50 dollar price tag (as it stands now anyway). But as it stands now, the $30 it costs for this game, is well worth the infinite amount of gameplay you get out of the title
The graphics in Cuboingo are just about what you'd expect from a puzzle game of this sort, nothing spectacular and grandiose as say Doom III or some other fps, but for most intended purposes the graphics work. This game can play on just about any computer system, which I think is factor that furthers its fan base. The most advanced graphical feature is the game is the indicator "beam-like" light sourcing showing you what color and pattern is coming up. The sound is well, again, what you'd expect from a game of this sort, cheesy. Very, very cheesy. It ranges from you're typical midi compositions to instrumental versions of elevator music. This problem is most easily solved by throwing a playlist in your Winamp and turning off the music in the game while keeping the sound effects on (hip hop works surprisingly well with it). The sound effects are also cheesy, but more helpful, there is a sound effect for when you apply the wrong/right square to the wrong/right color, or to the wrong/right pattern on the block, they also occur when you complete a whole side of the block, when you've finished a level, and when you loose.
All in all, Cuboingo is puzzle game that's fun to play and will get the best of you, time-and-time-again, experienced or not. Puzzle games are all about the simplicity vs. complication, simple ideas progress into a complex execution. I have to applaud Sentient's efforts, for what they've created is fantastic. I can't wait to see what's ahead for the company, we'll all have to wait on that I guess, but until then, download this demo (though is worth the automatic buy), and try it out. But beware, its addicting. don't say I didn't warn you! 'Til next.. ;)~