Factsheet
Developer:
Thomas Van Bouwel
Based in Brussels, Belgium
Release date:
September 17th, 2020
Platforms:
Oculus Quest
Oculus Rift
SteamVR
Pico Neo 3
Website:
cubism-vr.com
Regular Price:
| USD | $9.99 |
| EUR | €9.99 |
| GBP | £7.99 |
VOLUME 2 UPDATE - Press Release 09/23/2021
HAND TRACKING UPDATE - Press Release 03/15/2021
Description
Challenge your mind in Cubism, a deceptively simple puzzle game where you assemble increasingly complex shapes out of colorfull blocks.
Immerse yourself in a zen environment as you reason your way through 60 puzzles which will put your spatial thinking skills to the test.
Design
Inspired by classic solid dissection puzzles like the
Soma cube or the Bedlam cube,
the gameplay perfectly fits the VR medium as tracked headsets and controllers provide the spatial insight and hand-dexterity to solve these complex spatial puzzles.
The game's aesthetic was also heavily inspired by minimal mobile games like Mini Metro, Monument Valley and Hitman Go, and aims to explore what a similar minimal design can look like in a VR game.
Cubism was designed to be as pick-up-and-play as possible. Within the first 10-30 seconds of launching the game, players learn the core mechanics and are solving their first puzzle,
making it a great game for newcomers to VR.
History
Cubism started as a weekend prototype in 2017 by VR developer Thomas Van Bouwel.
After a positive reception to the concept by early testers and the online VR community, Thomas started developing the game in his spare time.
A first trailer and demo was released on Steam and Itch.io in early 2018, and a short demo with experimental hand-tracking support was released on SideQuest in late 2019.
Feedback from these demo's, along with in-person testing during various events, helped refine the gameplay to ensure the game was fun and accessible regardless of a player's familiarity with VR.
The game released on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR on September 17th 2020, with cross-buy support for Quest and Rift. The game has since received a positive critical reception and
is currently one of the best rated apps on the Oculus Quest store.
Features
- 90 puzzles across two Volumes, with difficulties ranging form easy to expert
- Full Handtracking support on Oculus Quest
- Support for 120Hz refresh rate on Oculus Quest 2
- Passthrough mode support on Oculus Quest and Quest 2
- A zen, minimal design to immerse yourself in while puzzeling
- A light and dark color theme
- A versatile spectator camera (Rift and Steam only)
- Support for hand tracking (Quest only)
Videos
Cubism - Release Trailer YouTube
Cubism - Hand Tracking Update YouTube
Cubism - Volume 2 Update YouTube
Cubism - Mixed Reality Trailer YouTube
Adam Savage's favorite things of 2020 (mention at 1:30) YouTube
Images
Logo & Icon
Awards & Recognition
- "Excellence in User Interface" Road to VR's Game of the Year Awards, 2020
- "Best VR Game (Nominee)" Unity Awards, 2020
- "Best AR/VR/MR (Nominee)" Belgian Game Awards, 15 February, 2019
- "Best XR Game (Nominee)" BitAwards, 1 February, 2019
Selected Articles & Press
- "Cubism shows what the future of Augmented Reality holds like no other game"
- Tomislav Bezmalinovic, Mixed.de - "10 Best Puzzle VR Games For The Oculus Quest 2"
- Ashish Walia, Gamerant - "Cubism: How An Architectural Mindset Spawned An Intuitive VR Puzzle Game"
- Harry Baker, UploadVR - "Top 10 Best Oculus Quest Hand Tracking Games and Apps"
- Harry Baker, UploadVR - "New Cubism Update Is An Excellent Showcase For Hand Tracking On Quest"
- Harry Baker, UploadVR - "Cubism für Oculus Quest (2): Das bislang beste Handtracking [Cubism for Oculus Quest: the best handtracking so far]"
- Tomislav Bezmalinovic, Mixed.de - "VR Spatial Learning and Lateral Thinking with Cubism"
- Craig Frehlich, VR in Education Podcast - "Case Study: The Design Behind Cubism’s Hand-tracking"
- Thomas Van Bouwel, Road to VR - "How a Solo Indie Developer Built the Best Rated Game on Oculus Quest"
- Thomas Van Bouwel, Road to VR - "Cubism Review: A VR Puzzle Game With All The Right Pieces (4 stars)"
- Harry Baker, UploadVR - "从益智向《Cubism》聊聊VR游戏和艺术理念那些事儿 [From puzzle to "Cubism" - on VR games and artistic concepts]"
- VR陀螺 来福, Vrtuoluo.cn - "Cubism Review (8.5/10)"
- Omar Kamel, 6DOF Reviews - "Cubism Test: Zeitlos schöner 3D-Puzzler für Quest [Cubism Review: Timelessly beautiful 3D puzzler for Quest]"
- Tomislav Bezmalinovic, Mixed.de - "Best Oculus Quest 2 Games 2021"
- Nick Sutrich, AndroidCentral.com - "Casual 3D Puzzle Game ‘Cubism’ Set to Launch Next Week on Quest, Rift and Steam"
- Ben Lang, Road to VR - "Promising Puzzler Cubism Gets September Release Date For Quest And PC VR"
- Ian Hamilton, UploadVR - "Cubism aims to artfully tickle your brain"
- Scott Hayden, Road to VR - "It’s nice to see a game that beseeches you to slow down and have a Zen experience at your own pace."
- Stephanie Chan, VentureBeat
About Thomas Van Bouwel
Boilerplate
Thomas Van Bouwel is a Belgian/Brazilian VR developer based in Brussels. His work in VR spans from indie games to enterprise software for architects and engineers.
More information
More information on Thomas Van Bouwel, our logo & relevant media are available here.
Cubism Credits
Thomas Van Bouwel
Lead Developer
Sahlia Wong
Pianist
Contact
Inquiries
thomas@cubism-vr.com
Twitter (developer)
http://twitter.com/tovanbo
Twitter (game)
http://twitter.com/cubismvr
presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks