Cube Escape: Paradox is an escape the room that follows the rules of the genre to a T.
In a long-running series by Rusty Lake, the Cube Escape series puts you in a room with limited options and a defined, if pretty confusing, path to escape.
You need to solve puzzles, understand clues and click in just the right way to escape the room and progress, hopefully solving the mystery.
The problem is that that description could have applied to literally every single escape the room ever made.[sc name=”quote” text=”The problem is that that description could have applied to literally every single escape the room ever made.”]
Cube Escape: Paradox is in no way a trendsetter or endeavoring to change the world; it sticks to the genre conventions, almost to the point of repetition.
This is actually a serious drawback to the genre, and indeed to Cube Escape: Paradox itself.
Every single puzzle game of this type needs to be creepy, it needs to be confusing and it needs to make you feel uncomfortable to be along in your room at night.
Cube Escape: Paradox accomplishes this wonderfully but it doesn’t do anything besides conform to the standard genre.
To make matters worse, the puzzles get arbitrarily more difficult, progressing from logically consistent and understandable, all the way to sheer confusion and perplexity.
While you do start solving puzzles in a linear fashion with clear direction, the puzzles swiftly devolve into random confusion. Symbols solving a locked chest, but the lock can be opened three times with different orders of symbols.
Sounds easy, but the clues don’t explain what needs to be done backwards to actually unlock the chest.
At one point, you solve a long-running puzzle and a bunch of weird… black spots appear. You need to put them on the object in the room that best matches its shape continuously until it progresses the puzzle.
Why? What on earth was the point of that? It’s not a puzzle; it’s just a time wasting exercise.[sc name=”quote” text=”Why? What on earth was the point of that? It’s not a puzzle; it’s just a time wasting exercise.”]
The plot of Cube Escape: Paradox is pretty confusing, though that is rather the point. You’re a detective trying to solve a murder case, yet you seem to be related to them, as well as nothing actually being real?
It’s all a bit silly.
Something very interesting about Cube Escape: Paradox is the fact that the game actually ties in with a short film, wherein a different iteration of the same room puzzle plays out, giving you some small clues as to how to solve the puzzle.
Additionally, some of the clues lead to secret achievements to get you additional endings, hopefully breaking the eternal cycle of confusion and paranoia within the game.
Cube Escape: Paradox is an escape the room pretty similar to all the others available. This doesn’t make it a bad game, just a game without anything particularly interesting going for it.
If you like being uncomfortable around mirrors and a lot of jump scares – all while slapping your screen randomly, hoping to unlock the puzzle – then Cube Escape: Paradox could be worth a try.
After all, who doesn’t like scary mysteries?
[review pros=”Typical puzzles in a well-practised genre.” cons=”The puzzles within the game are the same old puzzles used again and again.
The game seems to be unnecessarily creepy, the point of being gratuitous.” score=7]
[appbox appstore id1372021096]
[appbox googleplay air.com.RustyLake.CubeEscapeParadox]
