Sifteo Cubes Competition Round 1 Finalists!

February 6th, 2013

Congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry for Round 1 of the Sifteo Cubes Competition! We’ve all enjoyed reading about and experimenting with each of the prototypes and designs this month. Teaming up with the Sifteo crew, we played and poked and twisted and discussed each of the 41 entries and have come up with a list of SIX FINALISTS. Each of the finalists will move on to Round 2, and will be sent physical cubes to further develop their game, as well as receive detailed design feedback, and have access to ongoing support to complete their game over the next month. The winner of Round 2 will receive the prizes listed here.

The SIX FINALISTS, in no particular order:

Squaresville, by Frank Force – Sifteo says, “Frank Force submitted three awesome prototypes for EGP, but Squaresville was certainly our favorite around the judging table. What at first appears to be a simple platformer belies some imaginative twisting of the player’s spatial expectations. Frank has also shown some great development skill on the Sifteo platform. He pulled a lot of graphical complexity out of the Sifteo Cubes and backing Squaresville with his own level editing system. Looking forward to seeing what kind of perception twisting level design Frank can build into Squaresville.”

Cube Cafe, by CC Chamberlin – Sifteo says, “Cube Cafe takes a well loved genre and brings it to the Sifteo platform in a way that takes good advantage of the physicality of the cubes. Bringing a “plate spinner” into the physical space enhances the natural frantic nature of the game. CC’s was able to pack a lot of content into his prototype, proving out the game’s capacity to expand into new mechanics. We really look forward to seeing more great content and art in Cube Cafe.”

Love Conspiracy, by Arnaud de Bock – Sifteo says, “Love Conspiracy is a unique generative storytelling game. Arnaud de Brock really embraced the experimental nature of the competition and it caught the eye of almost every judge. The art direction and particular symbols employed by Love Conspiracy come together to make a great experience for those who want to explore de Bock’s world of abstract characters and narrative. we believe opportunities for interesting emergent play abound as Love Conspiracy is polished in the next month.”

ColorBall, by Frédéric Vauchelles – Sifteo says, “Colorball is a puzzle game with spatial and timing elements that lend themselves well to Sifteo Cubes. Even in this prototype, the combination of twitch and puzzler is reminiscent of games like Portal and Hundreds. We’re really excited to see what additional puzzle mechanics and design Frederic can explore polishing ColorBall.”

SHIFTED, by Niek van Suchtelen – Sifteo says, “SHIFTED’s great abstract visuals and super challenging gameplay made it a standout among the puzzle entries. The game’s presentation fits the cubes so well and makes interactions quite natural. Niek also provided a great design document with proposals for how to take the game forward in interesting ways. Our own puzzle design gurus at Sifteo saw a lot of great opportunity here. We expect SHIFTED to do a great job of melting our brains even more with another month of polish.”

Parapluie, by One Life Remains – Sifteo says, “Parapluie pits players against each other in a frantic, fast paced search through a psychedelic maze. Players rush out into the maze with little direction, trying to be the first to reach their goal. The trick is, once they find it they must trace their steps back. This juxtaposition of frantic competitive play with skilled memorization really drew us to Parapluie. We look forward to seeing Simon and team polish and evolve these mechanics during the next month.”

Honorable Mentions:

There were so many promising entries, we’ve also selected six honorable mentions for games that didn’t quite make the cut, but that show great promise. Each honorable mention will receive a Sifteo t-shirt, detailed feedback from the Sifteo team, and a discount on hardware to continue to polish their prototypes. In no particular order, they are:

Little Conquerors, by Alejandro Iglesias
“We really loved the puzzle battle concept and art direction of Little Conquerors.”

Peong, by Frank Force
“We had some good fun playing Frank’s take on the classic Pong brought to Sifteo Cubes. I think I need to work on my serve.”

Dungeon Doors, by CC Chamberlin
“This math dungeon crawler is a learning game with added depth and fun narrative trappings.”

Kokoy, by Omar Duarte
“Kokoy’s beautiful visuals and level of finish really caught our eye.”

Virtual Chemistry Lab, by Thiago Garcia
“We love the concept of using the Sifteo Cubes as a working chem lab. Can’t wait to see where these talented folks take this.”

Love Tester, by Wes Ehrlichman
“Love Tester is packed full of great social and communication puzzles. There’s a nugget of fun here that bears some further exploration.”

What now?

If you were selected as a finalist or honorable mention, we need some additional information from you! Please send the following to contact at experimentalgameplay.com at your earliest convenience:

• Finalists: Please contact us and provide the following.
  • 1. An address where you would like the set of cubes mailed.
  • 2. Are you eligible and interested in an internship at Sifteo in San Francisco?
• Honorable Mentions: Please contact us and provide the following.
  • 1. An address where you would like a t-shirt mailed.

Round 2 will begin soon!

Once we get the sets of cubes sent out to each finalist, we’ll post here again, and announce the deadline for all Round 2 submissions. Congratulations again to everyone who submitted an entry, and good luck to the finalists!

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