Cubes Memory review

When I was a kid, I used to love playing matching games, and I’ve always prided myself on having a good memory, but Edwin van der Bogert’s Cubes Memory makes my brain ache. This is not the memory game I grew up with, and whoever inflicts this on their child is cruel. A 3-D matching game that tests your ability to remember color, shape, and position, Cubes Memory will teach you to grimace at the very thought of matching wooden blocks.

Once you’ve chosen your difficulty level, from Easy to Extreme, you’ll see a 3 x 4 grid of blank blocks. Tapping a side causes the block to rotate to display the symbol painted on that face. The symbols are a generic combination of red, blue, and white circles or squares, so it’s very easy to get them confused. Naturally, you’re out to make matches, but trying to keep everything straight once you get going is very tough.

The game itself is very simple, so it’s fitting that the interface should be equally spare and clean, but I had some trouble with the touch controls. They were finicky and had a tendency to rotate blocks in random directions, which added to the confusion.

If you really want to give yourself a challenge, then you can turn on the “Cube Shuffle” mode, which will mix up the remaining cubes after every match you make. Cube Shuffle was on by default when I first played, and I didn’t realize you could turn it off, which made the game super intimidating at first. Personally, I found the game plenty difficult without any additional distractions, but your mileage may vary.

Even with its 3-D twist, Blocks Memory is about as basic as you can get, so you can’t go in expecting too much. It doesn’t look great or handle particularly well, and while it’s definitely a challenge, it never feels particularly fun or satisfying. But if you’re sick of matching kittens or flowers in kids games and are looking for a serious, challenging, no-nonsense concentration or memory game geared towards adults, Cubes Memory is here for you.

Here is a video demo of the Cubes Memory app on the iPhone

AppSafari Rating: 2/5

AppSafari review of Cubes Memory was written by Tracy Yonemoto on May 26th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Games, Puzzler. Page viewed 5087 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.