You, Me, and the Cubes is a puzzler that almost doesn't feel like WiiWare. Something about it, maybe it’s the relaxing vibe, maybe it’s the soothing music, feels almost like the type of game I would find on PSN. Think along the lines of Pixeljunk Eden or Echochrome (Hit the link for a review of that game, which Terry did waaaay back in the day. Cause, you know, he's ancient and all.) in atmosphere.
The game presents you with a cube floating in a black empty space. You must place little human-like creatures, called Fallos, on the cube in pairs while maintaining even weight distribution throughout. The game will tell you how many Fallows you have to place and give you some sort of criteria (i.e. Six Fallows with at least one Fallow per cube). It's quite easy at first, but each level becomes progressively harder as a cube is added to the structure. By the end of the level, you have a cluster of up to six cubes and anywhere upwards of 20 Fallows.
Choosing where to put a Fallow requires some careful thought, because misplacing one usually results in the cubes going off axis and several of the poor creatures falling into the black nothingness that lies below. For each fallow you lose, you are penalized five seconds—Oh yeah, there's a timer, so don't take too much time strategically placing the little guys.
If you complete the level, the fallows turn into doves and fly away as they are counted. You are scored based on how many remain on the giant mass of cubes. To break it down there are six “worlds” each with six levels, and each level contains six cubes. Which plays on the whole cube theme, (six sides and six cubed) so that makes for about 216 puzzles in the game. All are very short, but it gets insane near the end. In fact, if you are a true glutton for punishment you can try stage six level six, which gives you about eight seconds to place your Fallows...yeah, I didn't beat it.
As difficult as it all sounds, You, Me, and the Cubes is actually one of the few games I can play that actually relaxes me. Despite watching the cubes tilt in every which way but where you would like it to, the game never gets stressful. I just sat back, played and enjoyed the progression. 1000 Wii points is a tad more than some gamers would like to pay for most WiiWare, but if you like unique puzzlers in the tradition of Echochrome and have an extra 10 bucks, go for it.
GamePro Score: 4.0
Pros: Relaxing, easy to grasp, yet difficult to master, feels fresh
Cons: $10 may turn some customers off.
The Info – Platform: WiiWare, Publisher: Nintendo Developer: FYTO (From Yellow to Orange), Players: 1-2 ESRB: E, Price: 1000 Wii Points ($10)
Related Links: Sean's XBLA Indie Game of the Month. GPA Giveaway: Trials HD.
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Screens from CNET/Gamespot
