I'll have to give this a thumbs down. The game which is very addictive has all kinds of bugs specially at the higher levels. The difficulties too like blasters walls dead cubes are way to random making it impossible to play.
Finally when I tried to uninstall it, the uninstall file doesn't work. Now does the programme show up in my programmes list. Have to do a hard delete and God help my registry!

Downloaded the game when it was offered. Played it but it's just too difficult. Got to level 19.

1. Too many random unpredictability functions. Locked cubes, random blocked cubes, random blasters. Where is the control to 'play' it?
2. The interface is clunky and slow. a couple of times got a 'marvellous' comment from the game and that blocked the screen so much that I lost the level!!
3. Don't like the multiple screens it takes to actually get to the playing level.

Installing it now:-)

The more I play this game, the more I enjoy it. Very challenging, and fun.

Oh yeah, try replacing the faulty driver - assuming it 'is' faulty... if you Google download ialmrnt5.dll drivers you should find some download sources for the driver.

Hi Weezie,
Sorry for the long delay in answering your query. I've been so intent upon downloading mods for my favorite games from filefront before it shuts down on Monday, that I'd not had the time to moderate todays comments or answer any questions. I've got so many files to downlad that I've not even written a review for Sundays games.

It sounds like a display problem. If you google the error you'll find that it would confirm this idea. The only suggestion I can come up with at this late hour (it's 5am) is to roll back your drivers. Sometimes the latest drivers are not the solution. In fact they can be the cause of the problem. If you've upgraded your display drivers recently, it sounds like that may be the problem.

If that doesn't cure the problem it may be your graphics card that's the problem. Have you been getting any glitches recently? for example, spots of color appearing on the display, or the colors shifting, or even weird patterns appearing? A way to test this theory would be to remove your graphics card and revert back to the motherboards (MoBo) onboard graphics chip. Most MoBo's have these (though some of the more recent MoBo's have been without them. You can tell if your MoBo has a graphics chip on board because there will be an extra monitor socket at the back of your computer, usually near the USB sockets. Please PM me in the forums if you need any more assistance.

If it's only occuring with Exocubes, then it's more likely to be the drivers, but I wouldn't discount the graphics card. Unfortunately, I need to go to bed so cannot continue this discussion.


regards

Whiterabbit

This works fine on vista not a problem at all great game

I downloaded exocubes @7:30 CDT 280309 and it said the date was over for verifying. I have Vista, is that the problem?

Thanks

Very nice. If you like puzzle-type games, this is a nice one.

I don't mean to be a pain in the...but I have another question for you Stephen. I'd like to know the date you made the game recommendations in the games discussion, if you remember. You were talking about "Steam" and a bundle of games. I would suggest that a date be put on the forum's page. Thanks again.

Not too many comments today. Maybe I'm not the only one that is disappointed...well I anticipate weekends to get new games. I was so looking foward to a new download but, since this was a giveaway not long ago, I already have it. Thanks, it's a fun game... I was just expecting something new.

Anyway, a question for Stephen. I was reading one of the forums and you were suggesting to someone updating their graphic drivers and to download the latest version of DX9.0. I was just wondering if it is the latest version or if there's new updates. I already have it but I often or at least more than once in a while have problems with certain games. I ran diagnostics and it says everything is perfect. I have problems with my Main Driver although the functionality test saw no problems. Sometimes the game will shut down with "ialmrnt5.dll error and need to reboot system". Any idea on what I should do? I have a XP Professional SP3; 1.60 GHz; 1014MB Ram; Intel DirectX 9.0c; 1280 x 800 (32 bit). Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a nice day.

Geez I almost wrote a novel.

I will pass on yet another repeat. I do find it funny that it does not even install with the correct name. Read comment # 12. The problem is the first time the game was offered it was a real install. the game actually installed to your computer. The repeats are just a zipped file that you unzip and copy to your computer. Sometimes they work well. Sometimes they don't.

nothing new, please repeat Ghost in Sheet

Well, I didn't get this game last time it was given away, so thanks for offering it...again.

When you want to pull the complainers out of the woodwork, offer 'em something for free, and watch 'em go nuts...lol

The graphics don't do much for this game--this kind of game should be prettier, and a 3D display of the cubes would be nice. They are cubes, after all.

The mechanics of moving a cube are sloppy, and don't make a lot of sense. This probably needs some backstory in the tutorial to help wrap a players mind around it, but instead the tutorial is pretty poorly written and doesn't explain moving well at all.

Finally, the game play is kind of meh. It's just not that much fun to play. The concept is kind of neat, and perhaps with some more fleshing out, it might be a cool game. Right now, it's just not enough fun to justify playing on any kind of a regular basis--pretty much a death knell for a match-3 game.

Installs as "Bagh Chal" not "Exocubes"

I have this from November and the kids & I have both enjoyed it. Thanks GGAOTD, keep up the great work. And a big thank you to Wrabbit too for all your reviews.

Sadie

Got this one last time. Never really figured it out or got into it.

Download and install went very easy in XP SP3. I found it to be a fun, engaging little time-killer. Just what I've been looking for. Easy enough for us addled old buzzards to keep up with. A definite thumbs up!

this game will not work on windows vista.

looks very cool,i love games of strategy

It's the same game Gamegiveawayoftheday met on download last year.

You just gave this game last month of November. I wait all the week to see if you drop e new game, I hoped to see something new for today.

Pretty cool game, but dang it's hard :) very challenging
reminds me of Tetris, Cubis, Bejeweled and chuzzle all wrapped up into one with a huge twist. This is not a great game, but it is very challenging....

The file won't extract correctly. I've tried downloading it with 2 different browsers, with and without a download manager.

I love this game. A match three game with a difference. Took me a while to work out that you can drag the cubes - I was clicking one at a time. Well worth downloading. Like most games doesn't add a link anywhere but can be found in c:/Games (or wherever you installed it). LOVE IT!

Exocubes is a 19.9Mb download that installs to about 27Mb. It received a positive 85% of 200 votes and 48 comments when it was given away a year last summer (2007). I missed it the first time around because I was sunning myself in Turkey at the time. Last time it was given away in November last year it received a positive 58% of 438 votes with 33 comments. You can read the games intro below and the comments made by the giveaway community from both giveaways by following the two links below:


Read comments from July 2007 HERE


Read comments from Nov 2008 HERE

Quote:

Dive into world of Exocubes to aid in the great escape! Manipulate magical cubes, ENERGIZE them with scanners, and BLAST the walls away! Looking for a way to escape from the seemingly endless barrage of rooms? Form combinations from magical cubes, ENERGIZE them with scanners, and BLAST the walls blocking your way to freedom! The world is populated with 49 different rooms, each with different hazards and challenges. Use the items present in the rooms to help you in dire times. Cubes can also turn nasty and make your life even harder. Gather up your wits, skill and survival instincts, you will need them in this great escape!

Reference accessed 28th Nov 2008

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The Game:

The game starts with a grid of colored cubes that slowly move towards the bottom of the screen. If you allow these to reach the bottom the game ends. To stop this happening you must destroy the cubes before this happens, (obviously). You can do this by creating a vertical or horizontal line of at least three or more cubes of the same color that must also be adjacent to the bottom of the grid. To do this you use the mouse to drag and drop cubes so that the same-colored ones are next to each other before a bar like scanner reads the cube configuration that you’ve created and destroys successfully aligned cubes. You can only move one block at a time by clicking on it with your mouse and dragging the block to where you want it to go, so you need to work really fast. This is not as simple as it seems because you can only move blocks vertically, that is up and down and not horizontally, (sideways), within a short space of time before the scanner bar moves. You have to complete a move between the times that the scanner bar moves for the move to be accepted.

There are two modes Arcade and Classic, of which there are 49 levels in the arcade mode and nine in the classic mode. The difference appears to be in the time it takes to destroy the wall at the bottom of the screen, which takes a lot more hits in the classic mode than it does in the arcade mode. Once the wall has been broken into sections they will start to move, making it harder to hit the wall pieces still surviving. Once the wall has been destroyed you are able to proceed to the next level (room). The options menu allows you to change the volume of sound effects and music as well as toggle to windowed mode and also toggle on or off the hints. The help menu contains fourteen pages each with an animated series of screens showing you the various effects achieved by some of the power ups that are available, which include color changers, bombs, one that slows the scanner down and lockers, plus a few others. Power ups are introduced gradually as you progress through the levels. You can also choose from five different custom cursors, and there are four different block sets, which initially are blanked out but are unlocked after level 5.

There are no difficulty settings, but in the action mode the first 20 rooms are labeled beginners. I’m assuming later levels will be labeled differently, but I haven’t the time to play it out to past level 20 at the moment. While in game you can bring up the main menu by clicking on the link provided. This initially brings up the options menu with links to the help menu and main menu. When you first start the game you are asked if you wish to follow a tutorial, which takes you through the first few simple moves. In my opinion, it’s worth the effort as it makes clear the moves that are explained in the help menu. You can see all the help pages and the tutorial messages by following the link to my images below. It’s worth checking out the slideshow as the images are in a semblance of order, but there are nearly 80 images so it will take about four or five minutes to flick through the lot, though you can use the arrow key to zip through them much faster. Alternatively follow the link to the page with all of them on, though they are only thumbnails and are much harder to see.


Video:




Watch video of Exocubes game play HERE


More video of Exocubes game play HERE




Images:


See all images HERE

See all images as a slideshow HERE




Googled:

See Googled images HERE



System Requirements:

O.S…………………………………………...Windows 98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP;
CPU………………………………………….600MHz and above
System RAN………………………………..128MB
Graphics RAM…......................................32MB
Graphics Emulation………………………..DirectX 8 or greater or Open GL

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Conclusion:

When I first installed and saw this game I wasn’t impressed, it looked like a Tetris clone, which we’ve seen plenty of over the last ten years or so, plus I posted several free versions over in the forums as part of the free weekday games project back in September:

Get several freeware Tetris clones HERE



However it’s nothing like Tetris, so those of you (like myself), who overloaded on Tetris when it first came out on the original Game Boy back in the early 90’s can breath a sigh of relief; (though I’m starting to enjoy playing the game again now, especially as there are several versions that vary enough to make it entertaining enough to play them. The free ones I’ve linked to above are well worth the effort to download.

Overall I’d give this game a 6 out of 10; it’s challenging enough, especially when you’ve only got a little bit of the moving wall to destroy, but I found after several levels I became a little bored. The game is very colorful, but it lacks something; maybe some mini games that are all the rage in some genres of games at the moment. I do think when the blocks are almost at the wall there is no need for them to flash white, which obscures the colored blocks and makes it almost impossible to make correct matches at the most crucial time. There is a siren which should suffice. The music is rather dull as well, but you can easily turn off the volume and play something on your stereo, or alternatively go into the sound folder found in the games resource folder and exchange the appropriate ogg file. As it stands I regret buying the game (from Reflexive over a year ago), but hey, I’m mad anyway, lol. Thankfully, you can check it out and keep it for free if you think you’ll like it.

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Other reviews worth reading:

Gamezebo review



Read Swan’s review of Exocubes Here


Read comments made about Exocubes Here

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Similar Games for free:

Rhombis:

Get Rhombis Here

I’ve tested all of Gametops games and have found them free from virii, however they do open up your browser (in an innocuous way) when you close the games down. Some games also want to install tool bars and actually hijack your browser, thankfully you can stop this happening by ensuring you uncheck any tick box that’s presented to you during installation. I’ve also found recently that if I don’t have my pop up blocker switched on I’ll get several pop ups while I’m visiting the Gametop site.


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