Welcome to my review for CubiKolor
Developer: Fractal Box
Publisher: Moving Player
Release Date: May 20th 2016
Price: £6.31
Cubikolor is a puzzle game. No shiny bells, or trinkets attached. Just simple levels to start you off with, and a learning curve that seems to be just right.
From the word go, you are greeted by an even bigger black and white cube, that informs you that you are to take part in some peograms to determine what you are. Essentially this means you are a guinea pig. The aforementioned big cube, resembles the companion cube from the Portal series. Although with less malevolance. For now it seems.
Levels are a series of blocks for you to traverse, from your white block which is your start point. To the black block which is your end of level. It has a keyhole on it too. Some levels will feature multiple lcoks that you must visit before the levl is over.
All that sounds simple doesn't it? Well, it gets a bit more interesting as you progress through the game. You soon find coloured blocks, and you will notice that your cube faces are all of a different colour. Now for the fun part. You can either match the colour block to the correct face colour to make the block lift up, or you don't which will cause the block to lower. Once you really start to make some progress, there will be multiple coloured blocks within the level, and you really will have to start using your brain to work out the correct route through the level. Some are fiendishly tricky at first, but you will soon learn how to navigate your way through the game.
I found the best way to solve the levels was to work backwards in my head as best I could. Sometimes the solution presents itself better that way. Sometimes trial and error is easier.
There are 150 levels to play through, so value for money right there. There is also a hardcore mode. But as yet, I have not managed to unlock this mode.
Graphics:
Nothing out of this world as far as a puzzle game goes. But it doesn't need to be. The visuals are smooth looking, and there are some pretty colours to look at. Simple as expected from an Indie game.
Music/FX:
Again, nothing groundbreaking in this area. The music is ambient, and relaxing which can help when you're feeling frustrated after attempting a level for the umpteenth time.
Playability:
Easy to pick up and play. Controls are easy. Left stick moves your cube, and right stick turns the camera. The triggers wi zoom in/out to allow you to see the level how you want. The learning curve is just right, allowing to to progress the first few sets of levels and feel like you're actually progressing.
Achievements:
These achievements will take some time to get. It's by no means an easy 1000g up for grabs. The very first achievement that you can unlock is Hacker from the main menu for finding all the cube moves. I have written a guide for this already. After that, it mostly getting gold medals,white medals, red medals and some timed runs to do. There is one for rolling your cube over 50,000 times. Best wait to get that one done by just playing the game.
Overall:
I like CubiKolor, it's a simple yet fun idea for a puzzle game. Nothing OTT fancy, it just does the job it's supposed to do. Tax that Grey matter inside your head. And at the price it's up for, I would recommend a purchase should you be of the persuasion of puzzlers.
For a video review, click here
This Beaver gives CubiKolor 7.5/10
4.0