Rubik’s World Review

A collection of eight different puzzle games, Rubik’s World for Nintendo Wii plunges players into the world of the Cubie’s, the blocks used to build the iconic Rubik’s Cube. Rubik’s World eight very different are mostly puzzle-types, but there are a few which are a bit more relaxed and allow you to express your creativity through simple tunes or drawings composed using the Wii remote.

You control the action using only the Wii remote, using the pointer to select the pieces for the different puzzles, though you can use the nunchuck to look around in some of the puzzles. You never really use the motion control capabilities of the Wii, which is fine since not every game has to feature that control method. The game’s puzzles are all rendered in 3D, thematically consisting of cube variations. At first, most of the game is just plain white, but as you progress and “free” more and more Cubies, the game eventually becomes much more vibrant. Still, the visuals are pretty sparse and simplistic, even for a Wii game. The audio consists of a few catchy tunes, remixed to various forms, but you can create your own basic tunes in the game’s music editor.

So let’s take a look at some of the game modes included in Rubik’s World:

Classic Rubik’s Cube: You would think that, this being the game that inspired Rubik’s World, solving the Rubik’s Cube would be one of the better parts of this title. Yet Rubik’s Cube is awful. You can’t ever seem to get the right camera angle, turning the cube around to look at different parts is a pain with the Wii remote, and the simple act of moving pieces around is imprecise and frustrating. There is also a built-in tutorial that’s supposed to teach you how to solve the Rubik’s Cube in seven steps, but it’s terrible and I never got past step one.

Fit: In this game, you fit a group of Cubies through a series of walls. The walls are shown in the upper screen and your goal is to recreate their shape in the bottom screen before time runs out.

Switch: This game has you switching different color Cubies to create lines of 5 or more that allow you to clear the board. Switch is very simple in concept, and is easy to pick up and play.

Guide: Move your Cubie towards the exit, one direction at a time while avoiding obstacles around a labyrinth-like board. This is yet another puzzle that challenges your spatial and logical reasoning abilities.

Compose: Handicapped by a lack of direction or a decent tutorial, this tool can nonetheless be entertaining. You can start with a preset tune, then add in your own sounds by tapping Cubies to create a remix. You can’t do anything too fancy or lengthy, but it’s cool to hear your tunes as the background to the game.

Create: Another free-form game type, create has you using different color Cubies to recreate real world objects. While the game does ask you to draw a specific object, you are free to really create it in any way you see fit. Your creations are eventually used throughout the backgrounds, which is a very nice bonus.

Deconstruct: You use the Wii remote to point at different parts of a structure and shoot white Cubies at the different pieces to peel them off the structure.

View: There are shapes at the top of the screen and you have to create those shapes (from a different angle) by using as few Cubies as possible. This puzzle challenges your ability to manipulate angles and visualize structures before you build them.

For the most part, these puzzles are all pretty straightforward, but if you are confused by any of them, the game’s instructions aren’t very clear and do a poor job of demonstrating what you are supposed to do or what the rules of each minigame are. Still, Rubik’s World has enough puzzles and requires enough creativity that both casual and more serious puzzle fans should find something to like.

Editor’s Note: Non-format specific portions of the Nintendo DS Rubik’s World review were used in this article.