Want to Play 3-D Match-3? Check Out Cube Orbit for iOS
Since the phenomenal rise of Candy Crush Saga, match-three puzzle games have continued to crop up on the App Store. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of these are nothing more than clones of King’s hit game, with the common conceit of matching colorful objects on a flat board. A new game called Cube Orbit dares to be different, as it offers match-three puzzle gaming not in the two dimensions that players are used to, but in the more challenging realm of three dimensions.
Think of Cube Orbit as a clever cross between match-three and Tetrisphere. In the game, you have to assign colors to adjacent cubes in a three-dimensional structure in order to match and destroy them. Each level has you frantically creating matches to reach the specified goal before your time runs out.
In every level of Cube Orbit, the cube structure slowly rotates of its own accord, and you have to make your moves preferably before the cubes you want to match fade out of view. As with most match-three games, the matching is made by color, and in Cube Orbit, you match cubes by replacing their original gray with the another color. Just tap a cube to assign to it the current color, which is cleverly indicated by the color of the nebulous glow behind the cube structure.
To discourage cheating by mindlessly tapping cubes and randomly making matches, Cube Orbit incorporates coloring cooldown, whereby a color cubed may not be tapped to change its color unless its color has cooled down from being pixelated to solid.
Flex your spatial reasoning and put your quick reflexes to action. Go into orbit with cubical aesthetics full of color, effects, and a fitting 8-bit sound design.
- Markus Scheidgen, developer of Cube OrbitEach level of Cube Orbit runs for about a minute. Within that time, you must complete the level goal to win the level with as many as three stars, depending on your performance. There are several alternating goal types, including destroying a certain number of cubes, exposing white cubes at the center of the structure, and more.
To help you reach the goal, you can make matches that use cubes with an hourglass symbol to gain more time or activate the power-ups that you’ve earned, including structure rotation and coloring cooldown speed-up. You can also unlock limited-time passive upgrades with the energy points you collect as you play, such as bonus start time and extra cubes.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, Cube Orbit is available now on the App Store as a free-to-play game supported by reward ads.
Download Cube Orbit
Cube Orbit adds more than just depth to the tried and tested (some might say tired and tested) graphics and gameplay of the match-three puzzle genre. There’s the challenge of making matches on a structure that’s constantly rotating. There’s the challenge of completing the level goal before the time runs out. And because each of its levels is playable in just about a minute, Cube Orbit is an ideal game to pick up whenever you want something to distract you in short bursts. And since it has hundreds of levels with increasingly complex cube configurations, it also makes for a great game to play for hours on end.