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Humans are attracted to odd combinations. For example, put an anthropomorphised shape together with the promise of violence, give it a strange but to the point name like Happy Cube Death Arena, and watch as the juxtaposition and the googly eyes draw in the downloads.

At least that’s what got me to try out Tiny Titan Studios latest game, which is available on iOS and Android as a free download. Despite the appealing name, some decent artwork, and the power of a cute blue cube, the gameplay of Happy Death Cube Arena is as shallow as my reason for downloading it in the first place. Karma!

The game can be summed up in one screenshot or three words - jump over things. As a blue cube trapped in a death arena with a smile on its face (that is both technically correct and a terrible pun), players must tap the screen to jump or double jump over a selection of lasers, spikes and other rolling obstacles that emerge at an ever greater rate.

Happy Death Cube Arena is fun for a little while and doesn't make the mistake of starting off slow, but the gameplay never grows or changes. The cube is stuck in place and can do nothing but jump, the obstacles are limited in scope, and there are no power-ups, extra modes or unlocks. Being able to play as a purple cube instead of a blue one might seem like a silly request, but even small carrots are better than starving!

There are some nice touches in the design - the smears of previous cubes on the arena floor, the cries of anguish as the cube is squashed to a cerulean goo - but any charm that they generate is killed by the full screen ads that pop up every now and again, with no option to turn them off by paying the developers for their efforts. The music, whilst suitably cute and catchy, is nonetheless a very short loop that is likely to cause insanity if consumed in large doses.

Death by jump rope is certainly fun for five minutes, and there are elements of Happy Death Cube Arena that hint at something great. Unfortunately the gameplay has no depth to speak of, and the lack of any reward or hook really limits the shelf life of the game.

Note: The developer has been in touch since this review was posted to let us know an Ad-free version of the game will appear in the next update.

Grab the game here.

Writer:
Claire Phillips

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