Features:  

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The Cubes app provides limitless options as each puzzle presented confronts you with multiple choices for creating moves that affect the cube in three dimensions. Fortunately, there’s no time limit so you can take some time to strategize your next move. If you really get going and the points are beginning to stack up, you can save the game to finish later if, for instance, you receive a phone call you must take. An audio mute button has also been added to the main game page that you can use to skip the sound effects at the beginning of a game as they do get to be a little tiresome after a while.

Tracking high scores allows you to compare your best efforts with other Cube gamers locally and around the world. The app tracks daily, weekly and all-time high scores. The game comes preloaded with high scores in all categories, but a reset option to clear those out would be a good addition.

Interface:  

Manta Research’s developers incorporated the touchscreen interface and accelerometer capabilities in a truly compelling app. The user can control the game’s “gravity” by tilting the iPhone or iPod Touch. An onscreen arrow shows which way the blocks will fall. Moving the blocks to form chains is accomplished by tapping. A single tap shows whether a block is part of a chain or not and a double-tap will remove a chain. Tapping the drop button forces highlighted selections to fall, which is very helpful in tight spots. Swiping the screen with a finger will rotate the cube to show different sides.

The game’s screen sensitivity is extremely high and if you’re not careful, you will accidentally remove a chain instead of rotating the cube or vice versa.

Graphics:  

The graphics used in Cubes are pretty simplistic. The color scheme is a brightly colored one and very cheerful. This version includes the ability to change the background color as well as the intensity of the cubes’ colors. Included in this version is a color scheme that is easier to distinguish for those who are color-blind. However, in the higher, more challenging levels, there are more colors used that are harder to differentiate. Increasing the contrast between the colors would solve that problem.

Stability:  

Cubes is a stable app. It did crash once, shortly after it was downloaded, but powering the iPhone down and restarting it fixed the problem. Once that had been completed, the app ran reliably well.

Support:  

Contact with the developers is accomplished through email only. Their website is a single static page with no FAQs, just a synopsis of the game, how it’s played, and their technical support email address. They responded fairly quickly to emails—within six hours—and addressed thoroughly the questions we asked.

Value:  

At $2.99, the entertainment value of Cubes is a bargain. Conquering each of the stages is possible, but because there are unlimited levels of difficulty, the game offers plenty of enjoyment. This is one of the best puzzle games on Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Cubes for the iPhone and iPod touch seems to be a simple game at first glance, but once you get the hang of the strategy involved, it will entertain you for hours on end. Like any compelling habit, it draws you in with an easy level or two but as it progresses to more complex puzzles and higher point targets, you realize just how deeply the game has sunk its hooks into you.

Check out our iPhone 3G review, music and movie download reviews as well as our other App reviews to help you get the most out of your iPhone.