Sugar Cube : Bittersweet Factory Review

Ever wondered what life would be like as a harmless little sugar cube?

They’re born and they’re put in all sorts of delicious treats, from chocolates, to candy, to cola, heck even in our warm drinks like tea and coffee. Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory changes all this with a unique twist on puzzle-platforming mechanics, making the game quite a mind-bending ride.

Winner of the IGF China 2010, Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory has you take on the role of a solitary sugar cube, willing to oppose his fate of becoming part of a delicious sugary treat. Players will find themselves working their way through 5 distinct factory’s on their quest for freedom, and will encounter some interesting mechanics along the way to help your poor little sugar cube on his quest for freedom.
One of the best features of Sugar Cube, is the fact that it has itself a neat little unique mechanic. Each level is on a grid, and your little sugar cube takes up 4 of these squares on the grid.

When you walk or jump past squares, these tiles flip around to reveal what was on the other side. This could be a platform, some spikes, or maybe even a button to help you progress, but watch out! You can flip those back, so you have to think twice before you make that daring jump, as the platform might just flip away as you soar towards it and you’ll end up as a sugary mess on the floor. That little guy is so cute, we wouldn’t want that would we?

Speaking of which, Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory is a good looking game. It might not be the bleeding edge in realistic graphics, but the game is very well stylised to the cutesy, innocent and sweet charm that it has. Each factory has a different design to it to reflect what horrors are made from a sugar cube, and an appropriately catchy tune so that working through the levels is a treat in itself.
Jumping and flipping your way through these 5 different factory’s will find you solving an incredible 90 levels worth of puzzle-platforming goodness with each factory adding a different twist in the form of portals, buttons, a Super Sugar Cube powerup, that lets you flip all tiles at will, down to simple additions such as conveyor belts and springpads. Mixing these together can create some truly tricky puzzles, and will have you scratching your head for a couple of minutes as you figure out how on earth you get your little sugar cube over to that exit door.

Time is another important element of Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory. The game has a respectable 90 levels, this includes 85 puzzle solving levels and 5 boss levels, one for each area. The disappointing thing is that the boss levels are all essentially the same, meaning that once you’ve done the first one, you’ve really done them all, with maybe the odd mechanic thrown in to make it a little bit different from the last. The best thing about this is of course, there are 85 short, but sweet puzzle levels to jump your way through. I found that roughly, each level takes about 5 minutes, making this game the perfect treat if you want a quick fill of puzzle action. The downside to that of course is that the game only weighs in at a roughly 2-3 hour completion time, but the game has a great balance of rewarding you for the amount of time you put in, and 18 levels per factory feels about right before you move on.
Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t have its share of collectibles and unlockables, and it does come equipped with them, albeit them being few in number. Throughout the game, players can collect different sugar crystals, and upon collecting them all, players are unlocked with the “true” ending of the game. However, the problem with this is that I found that the crystals aren’t particularly hard to get the first time around, and due to this, the “true” ending can be unlocked on the first run through. Couple this with a lack of any replayability and there isn’t much reason to come back once you’ve completed it. I feel the inclusion of a simple timer for a time trial mode would have given this game a little bit of replayability, throw a leaderboard into the mix, and everyone will be trying to beat their friends times, giving this more replayability than it currently has.

The bright and colourful gameplay, coupled with the cutesy characters (even the enemies and monsters are adorable, really) and a pretty neast mechanic with the tile flipping, and Sugar Cube is well worth the price you pay. At only £4.99 Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory will give you that few hours of challenging entertainment you desire, and even though there’s no reason to replay the game unless you missed out on the “true” ending, it’s a small price to pay to experience a more unique puzzle-platforming experience.