Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube, the first gaming “experiment” from Peter Molyneux's indie company 22 Cans, became available (for free) today on iOS. The idea behind the app is extremely simple: you are presented with a cube made up of millions of miniature cubes that must be tapped away in order to reach the centre. The experiment is collaborative, but only one person will be the one to tap away the final piece and reveal the mystery hidden within.
As the game says, “something amazing is hidden at the centre of the cube” and “it will require the help of the whole world to chip away at its many layers”. Though I doubt every human being alive will contribute to this massive digital pass the parcel, at the time of writing, nearly 5,000 people have already downloaded and tried out the app.
The experiment is still in its early stages, obviously. At the moment only the top layer has been disturbed, and players have used the blank canvas the cube provides to draw pictures, write messages, or just make a mess. Lots of people have taken the opportunity to leave URLs for other players to find, though of course those will be wiped away either when another more destructive player comes along or the next layer is revealed.
Unfortunately, the app seems to be running very slowly and prone to crashing, which messes up things like the streaks that can be built up. Hopefully as more people download the app and the problem becomes more obvious, 22 Cans will step in to alleviate the issue somehow.
