Cube World is anaction role-playing game developed and published by Picroma forMicrosoft Windows. Wolfram von Funck, the game's designer, began developing the game in June 2011, and was later joined by his wife, Sarah. Analpha version of the game was released on July 2, 2013, but saw sparse updates and communication from von Funck, with many considering the game to bevaporware until he officially released it on September 30, 2019.
InCube World, the player explores a largevoxel-based world.[1][2] It containsdungeons, including caverns and overworld castles, as well asbiomes including grasslands, snowlands, deserts, and oceans.[3] Players can use items such ashang gliders andboats to traverse the world more quickly.[4][5]
The game featurescharacter creation, which involves the player first choosing a race and sex, then customising the look of the character.[3][6] The player then chooses one of four classes: warrior, rogue, ranger, or mage, each of which have access to unique armour, weapons, and abilities.[7] The world is populated with monsters and creatures that can be killed for better armor and weapons, which results in stronger stats and abilities and allows players to choose specializations which best suit their playstyle, such as warriors being able to choose between focusing on damage or defensive abilities, or mages focusing on damage or healing abilities.[8] Players can also tame animals, such as sheep or turtles, which fight alongside them, or, in some cases, can be ridden to traverse the world more quickly.[3][6]Crafting is also a part of the game; it allows players to create food,potions, weapons, and armor, as well as cosmetics.[6][9]
Cube World began development in June 2011, with designer Wolfram von Funck describing it as a 3Dvoxel-based game with a focus on exploration and role-playing game elements,[10] citing games such asThe Legend of Zelda,Secret of Mana, andWorld of Warcraft as inspiration.[11] He was later joined by his wife, Sarah von Funck, who contributed the game'ssprites and assisted in implementing new content.[1][11] In January 2012, it was erroneously reported thatMinecraft's developerMojang had hired von Funck to help support him in developingCube World.[12][13][14]
Analpha version ofCube World was first released on Picroma's website on July 2, 2013, but was eventually made unable to be repurchased.[15][16] At the time, the game's download server suffered aDDoS attack, an unexpected event which von Funck later described as traumatizing.[17][18][19] During its alpha release, many players were concerned about further development of the game due to the general lack of updates from von Funck, with many considering the game to bevaporware, despite him stating several times during development that the game was still being worked on.[20][21][22] In September 2019, von Funck announced that the game would be officially released viaSteam on September 30, and that purchasers of the alpha release would receive a Steamkey for free.[23][24][25]
The full release of the game has been criticized for its region-based progression system and balancing issues.[26][27] James Davenport ofPC Gamer criticized the repetitiveness of the game, calling it "shallow" and "boring".[28] Luke Plunkett ofKotaku wrote that although the world was "very pretty", it is "badly in need of a tutorial" and "somehow worse than its alpha".[29] Some reviewers commented that the game could not live up to fans' expectations after an extended wait.[26][29] However, the alpha version was praised byRock Paper Shotgun for itscompulsion loop and visuals.[30][3][1]
^Rossignol, Jim (June 14, 2011)."Cube World Looks Chunky".Rock, Paper, Shotgun.Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. RetrievedJuly 19, 2013.
^Smith, Adam (January 23, 2012)."It's Hip To Be Cube World".Rock, Paper, Shotgun.Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. RetrievedJuly 19, 2013.
