I’m a big fan of puzzle games on iOS, especially if they have 3D graphics, instead of your standard run of the mill 2D grid layout. It just adds another element to the presentation and of course, the graphics. Furthermore, it makes the gameplay a lot more challenging. One of the more popular versions of puzzles games is the match 3+ concept, where basically you have to match three or more of the same item. In this case they’re cubes. Monster Juice has developed one of the most recent addictive puzzle games to date. Monster Cube (Free, App Store Link) is a pretty simple, yet fun 3D puzzler with hours of gameplay.
Gameplay
Since Monster Cube is a 3D puzzle game, you control the cube on screen by rotating it around and matching the other cubes. There are three different cubes in each puzzle and seven cubes throughout the whole game. All the cubes tend do have their own personality, which doesn’t affect the gameplay in any way. It just adds to the presentation.
The more monster cubes you put together, the more points you’ll get, the more time you’ll have in the bonus round. Also, you can push the emergency button at any point in the game, which will ad 10 seconds to the total time. There are some really challenging missions in Monster Cube. If you’re not used to puzzle games, especially with a time limit, it can be hard to accomplish most of them. I had to play through the game for a good amount of time to accomplish the same missions that kept recurring throughout the puzzles.
Even though Monster Cube is free to download, it’s just a free version, which includes a time trial where you have to beat the puzzle before time runs out. The paid version is $0.99 through an in-app purchase. It has even more missions than the free version, more combos for higher scoring levels, and is also free of ads. I didn’t see any ads in the free version, so it’s pretty interesting that they would advertise the paid version as having no ads.
Graphics
The graphics in Monster Cube are good for a puzzle game. It’s nothing too over the top. Most puzzle games tend to have a lot less visually, because anything more would take attention away from the gameplay. A lot of puzzle games are casual and lean more towards the casual gamer, thus more basic graphics as in Monster Cube. The game does get the job done visually. All the puzzles are vibrant and having all the cubes in the puzzle gives the game as a whole, a lot of color. Even when rotating the cube in each puzzle, it’s very accurate when you choose a certain cube and decide where to place it, it just feels like the game knows where you want to place a cube within the puzzle.
Conclusion
Monster Juice has done a fine job developing Monster Cube. There are plenty of missions to hold anyone over, which result in hours of gameplay. Before I started playing Monster Cube, I didn’t think it was going to be too addicting of a game because I’ve played plenty of puzzles games on iOS that used the 3+ concept. Most of them were the same, more or less. Monster Cube, on the other hand, is a lot more fun just because when I was playing I didn’t feel like I was done until I completed the missions. The game really pushes the missions, since they’re a big part of Monster Cube, but the missions grow on you. Combined with the great gameplay, you won’t be able to put it down, once you start playing.
Price: Free, App Store Link
Rating: 4/5[rating:4]
Pros:
- Simple, yet addicting gameplay
- Tons of missions
- Interactive online leaderboards
Cons:
- Since the game identifies each monster cube by character, it would have been nice to see a short story for the monsters
- An iPad version or HD version would have been nice, especially on a retina display
