His appearance can become quite unpackable, but I would lie if he said that The Last Cube has not surprised me very positively. It is a game of puzzles, first check; It is designed on a grid (second check), but it has an intelligent rotation (third check) that makes your proposal remarkable: you control a cube that moves over its six faces, and you have to reach the goal of each level. It sounds easier than it is actually, of course.

The hook is in the skills that your cube can get stepping on certain boxes, which at a time are the keys that allow you to activate the mechanisms (doors, bridges, platforms) essential to be able to move forward. Each of these powers has a color and allows to use a different skill; The only condition for using it is that the face in which the brand is placed above is placed. Blue, for example, allows you to rotate the cube; The yellow gives you an dash that makes you move forward, and without rotating, several boxes; The red allows you to move towards emptiness, creating stairs with a limited steps that can be used to reach seemingly impossible places. Each symbol that you can “paste” to your cube adds a mechanics, which are presented little by little and that also little by little, without hurry but without pause, they are combined in progressively more difficult puzzles, for their complexity or for demanding uses Very specific skills in very small spaces.

It is a proposal that could be deployed in such an abstract universe as necessary, linking the levels or sticking them one another with little more than a menu (simple and plain or as glorified as desired; the puzzle games are one of those who most and Better have explored the idea of the world-menu in recent years), but The Last Cube proposes a structure closest to, put, a platform game, with “thematic” levels and combining a series of main puzzles with collectables They do at the same time for extra challenges and opportunities to expand the lore.

About the first, the puzzles, the truth is that it is a form of organization that works pretty well; Although in a less organic way, it is actually very similar to how the new Patrick’s Parabox is organized, with levels designed to be played in sequence, and that explore the same idea little by little, adding new ingredients to the mixture so that they are Easier to digest. Although the way they are linked here _ seems less artificial, at the time of truth the trick with which the puzzles are joined separates them well: there is a type of box that erases all the marks you have, basically resetting your cube and leaving it Clean for the next area. The collectibles, on the other hand, explore different ways to move around the world, sometimes even tening the limits of what seems possible in such a grid game; Sometimes you have to have a good eye and look for secret areas, and others must be apparent to overcome obstacles that may seem impossible at first sight, expressing maximum the possibilities of each skill. There are also additional challenges that encourage you to play with self-imposed limitations: do not bring more than two brands at a time, for example, or end up at a given time. They are the most optional part of the game, but also demonstrate the attention with which your world has been designed.

The second, the lore, links with this idea of attentive design. You are supposed to be the last of the cubes that exists in the world; Throughout the game you cross areas that seek to generate the feeling that you are exploring places with a past, perhaps the ruins of a civilization that no longer exists, and you see lava and flowers and water, and factories in which “are born” Cubes The pieces of lore you find have a difficult tone to interpret, sometimes seriously and sometimes almost parodier, but in general they know how to contribute a touch of additional interest and scan the progress in a way that can remembrate the human artifacts of A Monster’s Expedition, although he does not come to have the cohesion or the sense of humor of him. I imagine it is the least; In the end, without being the most solid or memorable puzzle game with which I have crossed in recent months it has ended up being a small surprise, with a few very intelligent puzzles and some mechanics that knows how to combine the two-dimensional grid with very interesting scarce with the third dimension. Surely it is not one of those who create new faithful for puzzle religion, but as a preaching for converts it is highly recommended.

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