Fun Squared

Cubis Gold 2 is everything puzzler fans dream about and then some. It takes everything that is great about matching games, including the beloved formula, spices it up, and updates the look and feel to better suit the new generation. Welcome, my friend, to the future of puzzle games.

Right off the bat, I was impressed by how much the game had to offer. The main menu greeted me with four different play modes, which is more than most games offer. I went to the options screen, as I always like to toy with my settings, and again I was blown away by the amount of things I could do. There's the standard volume sliders, but then there's over half a dozen mouse and visuals settings below those. On the left side of the options screen, there were options to change the appearance of the cubes and the theme that was displayed in the background.

Alright, now here's the kicker: they have a "color blind friendly" mode. There aren't enough games that do this. I myself am not color blind, but I have a few friends that are and I know how frustrated they get when they can't participate in things. Kudos to Fresh Games for catering to those with this handicap.

Slide Those Cubes

In Cubis, you're presented with a 7x7 grid with various cubes laid out upon it. You view this grid from an angle, giving the whole game a nice 3d effect. You're task is to remove the cubes by pairing like colors; three of the same will do the trick fine. You can shoot them from two sides of the board and they will slide firmly into place. If the piece that you launch hits a piece that is unobstructed on its other side, this will cause them to slide an extra square.

You'll get your hands on various types of cubes, such as small wedges that will actually slide in underneath whatever they hit. There are osmosis cubes that will absorb its color into the piece that it hits, as well as bomb cubes that will just blow everything up! There are many more pieces, but I'll let you discover those for yourself.

Four Game Modes

A lot of games offer multiple modes, but four of them is pretty generous. The modes break down as such:

• Arcade: Your standard arcade mode in which you have to remove a set number of cubes before the clock runs out.
• Puzzle: Like arcade mode, you must remove pieces before the timer counts down. However, only cubes with stars on them will count towards your end goal in this mode.
• Morph-Fun Arcade: Plays like arcade mode, except with the addition of ghost blocks. These blocks will constantly teleport around the screen, adding a level of unpredictability that is not often found in puzzle games.
• Morph-Fun Puzzle: Pretty self-explanatory, this mode is simply puzzle mode with the ghost blocks thrown in. Still, it does offer unique fun and adds to the overall replay value of the game.

One For the Books

Cubis Gold 2 is familiar enough to pick up and play but fresh and new enough to keep you playing for quite some time. Die hard puzzle fans will love it, and those new to the gaming world will be drawn in quickly by this little gem.