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http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/01/07/cuboid-coming-exclusively-to-psn-on-thursday/
Cuboid is a stunning 3D puzzle game (available soon for $9.99) in which players navigate ancient ruins and lush environments, maneuvering a rectangular block through mystical exits. Cuboid will bend your mind with its addictive puzzles and engage the senses with amazing graphics and soothing music, immersing you in a surrealistic puzzle world. We at Creat Studios and TikGames are pleased to offer players 66 twisted levels with premium packs coming soon that will include additional levels and a custom level creator.
Cuboid is set in three major mystical places, beginning on the roof of an ancient temple, transporting the player to the inside of a magnificent church and ending up in a mysterious chamber. Within each area are 22 distinct levels, increasing in difficulty and complexity, adding new gameplay mechanics like triggers and special tile types the deeper and deeper you go.
So, if you haven’t guessed by now, Cuboid is more than just rolling a block from one end of the screen to another.It requires careful thought and planning to effectively use the environment tools at your disposal. I wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about them and the thought we put into design. To start off, here’s a short list of some of the tools you’ll find throughout the game:
Switches
When the Cuboid either lies or stands on this kind of tile it triggers some action, like adding or removing tiles somewhere else on the level. Some changes are permanent, but some can be returned to the initial state by hitting the same switch again. How to tell what impact the switch will have? Hint: look for tiles of different materials or colors than the ones around them.
Vertical Switches
These tiles work almost the same as the ordinary switches, except that the Cuboid must stand on such a switch vertically to activate it. You’ll have to plan your approach carefully to activate these on your first try!
Weak Tiles
Think of them like thin ice – spread your weight around or you’ll break through. The Cuboid can only lay horizontally on two of such tiles; any attempts to stand the Cuboid vertically on one of these will drop you right back at the beginning. Oh, and the weak tiles will also reappear upon restart to challenge you again.
Splitter Teleports
After standing on a splitter-teleport tile, the Cuboid is split into two cubes. Both cubes are automatically moved to predefined tiles for each game level. Now they can be moved independently and you can select either of them at any time to activate other triggers or navigate obstacles throughout the level. Never fear, you’ll see your Cuboid again! If moved onto adjacent tiles, they automatically join together again to re-form the Cuboid.
All of these tools and the level designs themselves combine to form the world of Cuboid for you to enjoy. But, I must say, an exceptional level is hard to make with just tools alone; it requires a vision. Mike Kharlamov (Creat designer) was that vision for us. In fact, Mike also came up with the majority of the levels and designed the Level Editor that we plan to release in the coming months, allowing players to try their hands at designing the perfect Cuboid challenge themselves.
Just so you know, there isn’t one single solution for the levels we’ve designed; you’re free to explore and be as creative as you like. However, there is a master solution that we use to set the initial leaderboard high watermark, and you can always check out the online scoreboard to compare your time and number of moves taken with other players’ scores.
In a completely non-biased way, I think the game is very fun.I can only play the Beginner levels, but the programmers love the Expert levels. My favorites have to be “Climacis” and “Muscipulae” – they appear early on in the game, but they have a neat, hidden catch to them. The bonus levels are pretty interesting as well, but I won’t spoil the surprise for you.
I’ll leave you with a piece of advice for playing Cuboid: Remember, there is a solution to every level, so take a moment to plan out your approach. If you ever get stuck, go back to the beginning and try other variations. Sometimes walking away from the game for a bit and giving your mind a rest is just what the doctor ordered!
