Written: 2026 April 5
Rating: 5/5
I recently reached the "first ending" of Magicube, achieved by solving 40 puzzles. My god, what an amazing puzzle game this is. The level design in this game rivals that of Snakebird and Stephen's Sausage Roll, both certified puzzling classics.
My favorite levels so far are those with the smallest ones. They seem so utterly simple yet their solutions are so well hidden that it astonishes me. Level 14 is a standout example. My least favorite are those that involve a lot of "experimenting" or "guessing and checking" with multiple arrangements of cubes, gravity, buttons, and/or lasers, etc. Each additional cube the game gives you seems to exponentially increase the possibility space of the level, and so levels with many cubes appear intimidating.
So far almost every single level has stumped me for a significant amount of time. Even then, great puzzle games like Magicube can often be worked on in the background. I've solved a couple levels while in bed falling asleep, which is a sign of great level design imo.
Very often I'm baffled by how there could possibly be a solution to the level I'm staring at. I'm forced to 1) figure out what moves I'm able to make from the start, 2) figure out likely end-state positions that I'd like to reach in order to beat the level, and then 3) figure out a way to merge steps 1 and 2 in the middle. The difficulty comes from often missing something in steps 1 or 2, and step 3 is therefore impossible without going back. It is extremely difficult as a player to conclude step 3 is impossible, re-adjust assumptions about what my actual capabilities are, and what the actual end-state should be.
Magicube takes up virtually no storage space, and runs on literal potatoes. You get all of this for 3 USD. The value proposition is through the roof, and so this game is a no brainer recommend for pure puzzle fans.
I will continue to work on the final few levels and will update my review if any opinions change.
EDIT - I finished all 50 levels. In the last ten levels or so I encountered 2 bugs: 1 undo bug that deletes the yellow cube from existence. And 1 simultaneous "pushing while falling" bug that deletes a solid block from the game, even post-reset. These bugs are rather easy to come across if you are simply experimenting with levels. I used the undo bug to cheese a level, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just find the intended solution.