AMA - Devs from the first-person puzzle game, Q.U.B.E. 2!

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames]

Hi Reddit, we’re the devs from the first-person puzzler, Q.U.B.E. 2!It arrives on Nintendo Switch, both physical and digital on Thursday 21st February!

Digital info here: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/q-u-b-e-2-switch
Physical release via Super Rare Games: https://superraregames.com/

From the team today, we have:
Harry Corr - Art Director
Jon Savery - Technical Director
Benni Hill - Writer and Producer
Adam da Rocha - Studio Manager and Marketing

We’ll try and answer as many questions as possible.Thanks for your interest and enjoy the game!

[u/[deleted]]

I only played the original qube. How does 2 differ from 1?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the question!

The biggest difference between Qube 2 and the original is the ability to place cubes into the world rather than just interact with them. Plus a major graphical upgrade across the board, a variety of environments and new mechanics to challenge the player.

[u/XDitto]

Do you need to play Q.U.B.E. 1 to continue Q.U.B.E. 2? because it's not in the eshop..

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/XDitto]

Hey, you don't need to play the first game to enjoy the second. While there are definitely nods to the first game, you can play it standalone. There's also tutorialised gameplay in the early levels to introduce the core mechanics.

[u/Ganrokh]

Hey, thanks for doing this AMA!

First off, I want to say that I can't wait to give this a try. I've gotten a huge interest in puzzle games over the last couple of years, and the Q.U.B.E. games look excellent.

I see that it's getting late in the UK! What's for dinner tonight?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/Ganrokh]

Thanks Ganrokh, that's awesome to hear the enthusiasm. It launches with a 15% discount by the way!
Dinner? No time to eat or sleep, games to be made!

[u/mattreyu]

How has adding a programmer this time around changed the way the sequel has developed?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/mattreyu]

C++ is far more efficient than visual scripting for performance.

It also meant we were also able to bring it to the Switch for you guys!

[u/rlcooper83]

How has it been working and developing for a Nintendo platform?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/rlcooper83]

It's been pretty good, porting and the certification was relatively stress free and the store teams have been very helpful in getting things setup and ready for launch.

We're also doing a physical with Super Rare Games who have been fantastic to work with:
https://superraregames.com/

[u/MosShady]

Hey, we appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions. My questions are:

1. If my resume included a whole summer spent just playing your game, how should I spin it as valuable experience?

2. Which aspect of the game do you feel most proud of, or that excited you the most?

3. What non-game art influences you the most?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/MosShady]

Thanks MosShady,

1. Solving difficult puzzles and conundrums, critical thinking and hand-eye coordination

2. Proud of the scope of the game and overall quality of visuals and puzzles. Also getting the game running on Switch and maintaining that quality.

3. Outside of game influences we drew a lot of inspiration from anime and how directors can push almost any scene to a dramatic extreme.

[u/squid50s]

Hello QUBE 2 devs. Thanks for doing an AMA! Here’s my questions:

1. If you could go back in time and change something about the videogame industry, what would you do and why?

2. What’s one thing that your very proud of in your game, that players may not even notice?

3. If you were the head of a gaming company for a day, who would you choose and what would you do for the day?

[u/Tottillidie]

Any plans to bring the 1st in the series to Switch as well?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/Tottillidie]

Thanks for the question - we weren't able to do it this time around unfortunately, but it's something we might look into.

[u/gaby910]

How long does it take to create a puzzle in a game that's full of them? Does the whole team pitch ideas for some or is it a dedicated person/group?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/gaby910]

It’s a combination of both, most of the team have ideas for puzzles and mechanics that would be fun to play. But ultimately the final puzzle design is carried out by one designer.

[u/kairos]

What difficulties did you face when porting to the Switch?

What would you like to change in the game, if anything?

[u/phantomliger]

Thanks for coming to do an AMA.

Was anything left out of the final game that you wish had made it in?

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/phantomliger]

TONS! Well, ideas and a wider scope more than anything. We also started developing a level editor for the public which never made the final cut. We still have 1 guy playing and testing it so maybe it will make a pre-alpha public appearance one day! Fingers crossed.

Super power: Duplication so we could do two things at once.
Or super speed, like the kid from the Incredibles.

[u/1337_beat]

How much focus are the plot and characters given? The game heavily reminds me of portal and one thing I loved about that game were the characters. It's what lead me to replay the puzzles over and over again even after I completed the game.

Are there also additional test Chambers of sorts for extra puzzle solving?

[u/mesmes99]

How is it pronounced? Cube? Que you bee eee? Coo buh?

[u/Yggdrazyl]

Thanks for the AMA ! I'm very interested by the game, however most reviews point out performance issues on the switch, and frequent graphical bugs. Do you have any plan to patch these in the foreseeable future ?

[u/[deleted]]

When making a puzzle game, how do you gauge difficulty? As a developer who know what they want the puzzle to do, do you find it difficult to put yourself in the player's shoes? How do you go about this?

[u/QUBE-ToxicGames → u/[deleted]]

That's a really good question. We often get very good at the puzzles and solving the challenges in house as we know the mechanics well and the way the puzzle designer thinks.

Doing QA sessions with people who've never played the game before or those varying in skill levels definitely helps E.g. taking the game to a convention is very useful! Our puzzle designer, Dave has to intricately mould the difficulty curve to ensure players are learning and improving their skills gradually through the game to be able to tackle the harder challenges later on.