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Before the review gets underway let it be said: Jack’s Bouncy Qubes is the cutest game that you’ll ever play this year. You can quote us on that but quite frankly we don’t give a hoot. In Jack’s Bouncy Qubes you control Jack, a small blob with a face which can only be compared to one of the ghosts out of Pacman. You move your cheerful little purple blob of goo around a platform with the aim of clearing as many coloured blocks as possible. You achieve that aim by jumping on the Qubes until they change colour (the order being orange to yellow to green to pink to blue to red). With this in mind, the game’s aim is pretty simple; hop about the levels changing the Qubes’ colours until you’ve got 4 or more linked in a shape. When that occurs, it’ll flash for around five seconds and then finally explode. Once you’ve learned the colour order, you’ll find it an extremely easy and addictive concept. Any difficult in understanding the game’s mechanic is diminished with an easy to understand instruction screen.

With the basic concept in mind, what else do you get to justify the price tag of twenty dollars? There are four game modes, with 50 colourful levels, 2 difficulty settings and 3D graphics up to a resolution of 1024x768. There’s plenty of bang for your buck but is it any good? First, (and quite surprisingly) each of the game modes plays genuinely differently.  The arcade mode is where you’ll spend more of the time, pitting your puzzle solving wits against the clock while you try to clear a set number of Qube combos. If you’re in the mood for more relaxed action there’s the free-play mode that is basically there to practice and enjoy the game on. There’s survival, (the name speaks for itself) and finally puzzle which has you making specific shapes. Puzzle is the most difficult of the four, as you’ll have to plan where you move and think about what colours are coming up next. As you play the game; jewels, coins, sapphires and emeralds will appear granting you extra point bonuses.

The early levels are easy to complete due to the generous time limit and low ‘combo-total’ needed. It’s easy to rush through them, but nowhere near a chore. It’s a very addictive game, right from the beginning, and its charm will rub off, urging you on to play just one more level. Its cutesy graphics with chirpy soundtrack has you bopping along to the beat. It’s never annoying and is as family friendly as games come. The sound effects are crisp and very satisfying, adding to the quirky personality of the game.

There are high score tables, which means that you’ll always have an aim (even if you’ve completed the 50 levels) and the ability to save your progress midlevel really does promote the causal demography behind the game. It’s the first game from Iik Games, an independent Mexican studio and it’s a fantastic first showing. It ticks all the boxes and provides a sustained amusement factor. It has real flair and appeal and full kudos should be sent to the developers. If you’re looking for a game to entertain for five minutes or for five hours then make sure you bounce along to visit Jack, you won’t regret it.

Head over to http://www.iikgames.com/ for an hour’s trial download, or to purchase the game for $19.99.

Score: 8/10.

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