Cube Universe Demo

The promise of great graphics and smooth gameplay mechanics is not enough in today’s video game industry, mainly because people already expect this from developers. Single-player games can’t even get away with a simple storyline anymore, because everyone expects an open world and the possibility to affect the course of the story along the way, especially when it comes to RPGs. In fact, procedurally-generated worlds are highly desirable, since they provide gamers with great replay value and the incentive to explore.

Cube Universe is not your average sandbox game, mainly because it allows players the liberty to take off from one planet and go to another if they are not happy with the layout. Not only that, but every planet and moon you come across is procedurally-generated, so you are never going to see the same thing twice. On top of all this, the quests on said planets are randomly created as well, which should technically allow you to keep playing forever.

You start on board of your spaceship, hovering above a nondescript planet. By using the teleportation feature, you can beam out anywhere on the planet, and you can also do that at any point while you are on the ground, making exploration a lot easier. The spaceship itself is customizable and drivable, although at this point you can only use the autopilot to travel between solar systems.

The gameplay itself is quite similar to what you may be used to from classics like Minecraft, which means that you walk around collecting various types of blocks by destroying the environment. You can use the blocks to build structures, as well as craft items. As mentioned before, you can also undertake randomly-generated quests from NPCs, although there is no solid storyline in place as of yet.

One of the more unusual features provided with Cube Universe is the fact that you can also meet up with other players in the multiplayer mode. This should make it much easier to undertake large-scale projects, as well as meet new people along the way. In terms of graphics, the blocky landscapes are pretty nice, but it’s worth noting that the current early access version might come with low framerates, even if your machine is up to modern standards.

All things considered, Cube Universe innovates in terms of world scale, much like No Man’s Sky did a few years ago. Unlike the latter, however, here you can actually work together with other people and explore the randomly-generated universe with them.