Cubot is a fun, minimalist puzzler
For fans of shape-based slide puzzles, such as the Rubick's Cube and Tetris will enjoy Cubot. This game, at it's core, is simply rolling cubes around on a grid of squares, to a square that corresponds with a cube's color (the basic cubes are blue). But the difficulty comes in as cubes are added. Different colored cubes move in different ways. Even trickier, you can't simply move one cube -- all the cubes move, every time, which demands strategy and and thinking ahead.
The game is broken up into 10 Episodes, each comprised of 10 puzzles. Many of the puzzles have interesting names, such as "Cube Orgy," "I love you," "Indiana Jones," and "Green Power Ranger," which I came to look forward to, as I made my way into upper levels. The increase in difficulty is gradual through the 5th episode, with the occasional introduction of new blocks that behave in different ways, and new apparatuses, such as elevators, split levels, and portals to other parts of the board. Difficulty takes a sharp turn upwards in the 7th episode.
The real success in this game is its minimalism. Boards are simply comprised of grids of squares, free floating in white space. You can adjust the view of the board with simple one- and two-finger controls, and the 3D rotation of the board is very clean and exciting. Along with the minimal looks of this game is a beautiful, minimal soundtrack of ambient piano, reminiscent of Brian Eno's "Music For Airports."
If there's a drawback with this game, it would be potential for repeat plays. While several of the later puzzles are challenging more than once, many of the puzzles are easily remembered. That said, the game does track your personal best, with the goal (like in traditional puzzles) being to solve in the fewest number of moves.
As a whole package, this beautiful, minimal game is a ton of fun, gorgeous, and worth every bit of the $US.99 you pay for it, especially for those trying to expand their mind with very few bells and whistles.
