Some people like to curl up with a good book to relax, I like to curl up with a challenging game. While that sounds like the opposite of therapy for a lot of people, I enjoy the notion of testing my brain, especially with a casual setting like a mobile device where I can pick it up and play anytime. Cube Koala (Free) pretty much encapsulates that ideology.
Set to the tune of a bizarre and simplistic setup, Koala stars the titular hero who is stuck in a deadly tesseract contraption by way of Sharksuit — a creepy antagonist who simply hates koalas. It’s your job to tilt the cube in either direction with large on-screen buttons on either side and send him to the door to safety. At first things start out easy enough with no traps and no real way to perish, but soon enough disintegrating blocks, spikes, and other hazards rear their ugly heads.
The obvious parallel for Koala is Super Meat Boy, with the frantic nature of one-life runs and the stark challenge involved. The influences go even further with a set of “dark worlds," tougher levels designed to test your mettle even further than the core game. While it may wear said influences on its sleeve, Koala is definitely its own beast, complete with its own set of trials and tribulations. One unique element is the zoom function, which allows you to see the action from a birds-eye view. The catch is that you can’t actually play zoomed out, which forces you to memorize locations of traps.
Your primary goal is going to be getting a three-star rating on each course, which is much harder than it sounds. Thankfully there’s a lot more there than meets the eye when it comes to strategic gameplay, as you can quickly turn the cube to fly around in the air and fling yourself to safe zones. It’s not simply a matter of slowly turning the cube to plunk into different walls — you can really manipulate gravity quite a bit, and everything is really smooth.
One of the best parts is the fact that Cube Koala is free, and the only IAP is a scant ad-removal purchase for $0.99. Even better still is the fact that I never really saw any ads during my playtime anyway. If you want to skip ahead to a new set of levels there’s the option to pay $0.99 for the privilege, or just earn your keep by grabbing a reasonable amount of stars. They don’t just give new sets away though, as you’ll have to work for it.
Even if you aren’t the type of gamer that enjoys taxing experiences, Cube Koala is so well designed that you can pick it up and play it with ease, learning its intricacies as you go along. Before you know it you’ll start to pick up a few new tricks here and there as you slowly make your way through all 75 stages.
