Cube Preview

We flip through space with D3's new puzzler.

Easy to learn, but hard to master. That one saying applies to a large number of brain teasing games and puzzles that have challenged players over the years. Chess is built on this concept, with numerous strategies and moves that players use and exploit to win matches. The recent popularity of Sudoku shows how math and deduction skills can be applied to solve tricky puzzles. Now, D3 and Metia Interactive are taking the "easy to learn, but hard to master" adage in a new direction, posing new problems to puzzle fans with their upcoming title, Cube.

The concept behind Cube is extremely simple to understand -- players have to take a cube from its starting point on a level suspended in mid-air to the goal in the shortest amount of time possible. Along the way, you'll need to collect keys that are scattered around each level. However, things are a bit more complicated than simply trying to roll your block from point A to point B. For one thing, there's a large number of hazards scattered around every single level, ranging from static and moving bombs to fired bullets and disintegrating floors. More than 13 different obstacles can be found within the game, and running into any one of these hazards can immediately destroy your block, forcing you to restart the level. For another thing, there are a number of gaps that will crop up between your cube and the goal, requiring you to find substitute squares to fill in the missing level pieces or triggers to rebuild lost areas.

Fired bombs are just one of your problems in Cube.

Fortunately, your cube has a couple of tricks to navigate around the hazardous stages. For one thing, your cube can literally fasten itself to any surface of a level, allowing it to move along the undersides or tops of stages with ease. Thinking in this three dimensional manner is sometimes the only way that you can adequately reach keys, avoid hazards or get to your goal. Since your cube is a simple block without any offensive or defensive abilities, you'll also need to utilize other items in each stage, such as switches that can turn off traps or directional blocks that might propel your cube into various threats. This might seem somewhat disorienting, but luckily players can manipulate the camera around to give you a better perspective on what could literally be around the next corner. This is especially useful on some of the more complex three dimensional stages where bombs move along specific paths, popping in and out of holes that you aren't able to see at times until it's too late.

Quickly flying through each stage will give you Gold, Silver or Bronze ratings, which can help unlock additional features such as bonus levels, music and new challenges to go through. With nine total zones, each with their own different themes and hazards, and 135 different levels to explore, players will have a massive amount of replay value as they attempt to better their times at the various puzzles. Multiplayer hasn't been left out either, as you'll be able to play either battle or cooperatively with friends in more than 35 levels. Even better, once you've exhausted every stage within the game, players will be able to build new stages to explore thanks to the large level editor, which will also allow you to share your created levels with friends.

No, it's not Qbert, it's a colorful Cube level.

We'll have more on Cube soon, but for now, check out these new screens and movies of the spatially complex puzzles in action.