Cubic Spree Interview – Fast Cube Combat Built for Friends

Cubic Spree gameplay screenshot.

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Cubic Spree looks intentionally simple visually, but chaotic in motion,what was the design philosophy behind making players control animated cubes instead of traditional characters. Was there a moment where you realized “this is the identity of the game”?

It definitely is intentionally simple! A lot of the style was established early on – we wanted to create something visually impactful with simple means. We also really like the tumbling of the cube and how it feels when moving, and having such a blank canvas for the player also means players are able to customize the sprite and animate their character however they like.

Around the time when we added the background effect (the trail you see behind players among other areas) is when things started to solidify visually. Around that time we also looked closer at what exact colors we use, and looked at how the levels are painted. Every little thing just made us lean even more into the abstract colorful style!

One of the most interesting ideas is blending local and online multiplayer together. What technical or design challenges did that create, and did that feature change the kinds of moments players have compared with a standard online shooter?

Oh boy, yeah this one has given us a few headaches. We’ve long talked about how more games just ought to be easier to enjoy together. That said, we didn’t start out with local multiplayer in mind so we’ve had to make many adjustments to make it happen.

The camera is one area – it focuses on your character, moving the focus area to include nearby opponents. As for local play, rather than split screening the game we wanted to stick with one view port. Solving both problems simultaneously have proven a bit of a challenge however, but we hope we did well or that worst case you simply tell your friend on the couch to behave! (haha)

It’s been a lot of fun playing several players on one and the same view port, couch gaming together really is different from playing online and something we want to enable more of in future titles if possible!

Players can choose and combine weapons to create their own playstyle, were there any combinations that surprised the team or completely broke your expectations during testing?

We have some classic behaviors like using rocket-jumping to platform your way into position. Plenty of weapons also have enough recoil that you can use the recoil to your advantage.

However the Charge weapon has been surprising – it’s a weapon that propels the player forward and deals big damage on impact – it’s seen use by the sniping playstyles. Players use the Charge to hide and run away, finding better angles to snipe from. The Charge also shrinks the character’s size, allowing players to navigate the maps differently by squeezing past narrow gaps that you normally cannot get past.

Cubic Spree animation editor screenshot.

The game lets players create maps and customize animations. Which community creation are you secretly hoping someone builds within the first month after launch?

Personally, I would love to see what kinds of references people create. Memes, callbacks to classic levels from games we all love, or pixel art from some childhood game.

One of our developers did mention at some point how some of the mod tools we’re looking at (spoilers for a later update) may actually allow an ambitious modder to warp the whole game into some sort of open world experience, should they like to. Now that just makes me wonder what wild sort of experiences this game could provide, or should I say framework?

To get a bit personal, I do have a soft spot for the Metroid series – it would be really cool seeing a Screw Attack skin animation, or a level based on like the Kraid boss fight fully animated with the level editor animation tools so that the platforms would move like the boss does.

A lot of multiplayer games chase progression systems, but Cubic Spree seems to lean into expression and social chaos. How do you keep players coming back without turning the experience into a grind?

For us it’s more important that you have a good time and that there is a low threshold for enjoying our game together with your friends, like using Steam Remote Play for instance. We’d rather not use FOMO-tactics, or to hold players back by artificially locking content behind barriers. If you’ve played the game over at a friend’s couch you should be able to get into the game at home and not be faced with a weekend worth of grinding before you can play the way you like.

I really wish players return not because they feel pressured to, but because they enjoy the game and they choose to. Creating your own content, like skins, levels, (and hopefully other things too that we’re looking into), should be a fun way to keep playing together!

If a group of friends plays Cubic Spree for two hours, what’s the one thing you hope they walk away talking about?

I hope they walk away with a feeling of enjoyment and fun. I hope they imagine what other skins they could create or animate, and what levels to build and challenge each other on. But to stick to the question, the *one* thing they talk about… It would make me personally really happy if they walk away smiling, chatting about how much fun that was.

Surtrflame team image.

Written by Aidan Minter, Writer at Fix Gaming Channel.

Send interview pitches, corrections, tips, or developer stories to contact@fixgamingchannel.com.

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