By invoking modern twists on the puzzle genre involving cute, comedic stories while also falling back on the sensibilities of much older games, the whole package seems unapologetic in its anachronistic tendencies. It draws from so many different sources for its inspiration that it's surprising all of the disparate pieces fit so well together. This feeling is reinforced with jaunty 16-bit chiptunes that keep the tone lighthearted and friendly, though the threat of robotic death for Endroi looms constantly.Ĭubetractor is a strange, special game.
The game balances a child-friendly facade with colors that are dull, reflecting the limited color palette of the era inspiring it. Cubetractor's dedication to its aesthetic roots is clear. Music and visuals are often the most distinctive traits of games that seek to tap the well of nostalgia.
#Cubetractor architect of the cubes series
Even so, within that quick series of events, there's enough adrenaline and technical challenge that the familiarity never becomes boring or rote. Dodging missiles, moving back into position, and quickly pulling a block before getting out of the way again becomes a familiar but demanding procedure. Except for the pulling of cubes, Endroi has no offensive abilities, which frequently places you on the defensive. Still, the constant barrage of projectiles often makes the game feel like a bullet-hell shoot-'em-up, especially in the later levels. Progression is steady, and mistakes-namely, mistiming cube pulls or accidentally hitting yourself with a cube-are severely punished, but never so severely that you're discouraged from trying new tactics. In each area you're introduced to a new twist on the game's core mechanic, before being asked to use all the skills you've learned so far and complete complex multipart puzzles. Also, cubes typically regenerate after a few seconds, so if you mess up, you don't have to wait too long to try again.Ĭubetractor's design and pacing are textbook, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Cubes can, for example, be pulled from the other side of enemies but not walls. There are a few other rules that slightly modify the basic rule set, but they don't change much. This automatically draws the closest cube that is directly in front of you. To select the proper block, you have to rotate Endroi and then tap Z. The companion cube would never let you treat it this way.Ĭubes can be pulled only once and only in straight lines. Enemies range from relatively benign, brainless wanderers to stationary turrets that flood your screen with bullets and homing projectiles. Even without fusing, though, pulled cubes can block enemy attacks, eliminate obstacles, or destroy baddies. These blocks can also be combined to form things like barriers and offensive turrets.
From those two simple ideas come a mind-boggling number of complex scenarios.Įach cube has certain properties some are useful for offense, and others for defense. Your set of tools remains limited throughout your only methods of interacting with the world are movement and the ability to pull certain objects toward you. The first few missions consist of deceptively simple tutorials, but the timing, precision, and forethought necessary to be successful scales up exponentially. Unfortunately for you, Endroi's world is anything but friendly. Instead, Endroi's motivations amount to little more than the joy of exploration. He has been built with the ability to target and pull specific kinds of cubes, and his motivations aren't loaded down with the weight of excessive postmodernity or even the classic "rescue the princess" narrative. You play as Endroi, a robotic drone who seems to take strange delight in completing puzzles and frustrating the plans of his creators in a comically overblown fashion. Sometimes, you must destroy the things you love.Ĭubetractor's core is based on attracting cubes, and the subtleties and technical execution challenges that surround the strange premise are the meat of this adventure. Cubetractor fits nicely under the label of modern games designed with sentimentality in mind, but with that pining focus the game brings creative mechanics and difficult puzzles that are hidden behind a veneer of unassuming innocence. Super Meat Boy, Fez, and even Braid focus on the kinds of tropes and mechanics common in the days of Sonic and Mario. During the past few years, developers have twisted the conventions of classic games to make unique, exciting new games.
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