Our Ctrl review, what we have to say about the 3D puzzler. Players try to dominate a cube by crawling over it with their colored bricks, preferably covering other players’ bricks along the way. Your 3 block path can go in any direction, but you need to be strategic to make sure you end with the most blocks showing on all the sides of this 3D cube. This game is light and breezy and provides a unique experience that is not quite like anything else.
We took a look across fun, replayability, player interaction, quality and art & style to come up with the overall score for our Ctrl review. See the breakdown by category below.
FOR MORE: Ctrl Page | How To Play Ctrl | Games Like Ctrl | Buy Ctrl on Amazon
– CATEGORY BREAKDOWN –
Fun (6 out of 10)
For the fun section of the Ctrl review, we award a good 6 out of 10. This game is on the lighter side and easy to play. All you need to do is lay a line of cubes on your turn, but this puzzle cube game challenges your sense of depth and reality, and in that lies the fun. Things can go horribly wrong or gloriously right in the quick 20 minutes it will take to play a game.
A black cube sits on a table with its five remaining sides showing. Each player starts with a cube on one of the sides and on their turn they place three blocks in the cube in any one direction. If it hits an edge, it bends around it, if it hits an opponent, it moves on top of it and steals its possible future points. Each player gets a flag to help them protect a few key spaces, but besides that, you have all the freedom in the world to implement a strategy that is going to end with you having the most blocks showing. Because this is quick, with almost no lag in the game flow, you have tons of freedom and each game is completely new and different, anyone who enjoys these races to solve the puzzle better or first will have fun with this one.
Replayability (6 out of 10)
For the replayability section of the Ctrl review, we award a solid 6 out of 10. Games are quick and easy, and that gets you replayability points right out of the gate. There is one rule, with about 4 restrictions to think about, that is the whole game. You can be in an out of this one in no time and since it is fun, you are going to have no problem playing this one a bunch of time.
Another great ingredient for replayability is freedom in decision making and a variety of paths to victory. Ctrl has this is spades, the small space all players work within is both limiting and refreshingly liberating. Even though everyone is fighting over limited space, on any given turn you could have 36 or so path choices you can take. Games differ enough that your next several plays will feel completely new. Ctrl is replayable like Tic-Tac-Toe or playing with a Rubik’s cube is replayable, it comes down to what you are going to paint within the canvas.
Player Interaction (7 out of 10)
For the player interaction section of the Ctrl review, we award a very good 7 out of 10. The whole game is player interaction and it is unique and exciting enough to be special and get some good points. If you played this game solo it would be incredibly stupid and boring. This is because everything you do is about playing off the moves of your opponent, you zig when they zag. And it’s not one, let others duke it out, while you sneak into a corner and try to carve out some fortified space.
At the end of the game, the winner is the player with the most brick faces showing. The important word there is “showing” because as you build paths, you can build over your opponents and they no longer count. They can in turn do the same to you. This game gets cutthroat, but because it is quick and you got to do what you need to do in a space that small, it feels civil and earned. Aggressive, but not too aggressive, a great space to be in for interaction.
Quality (7 out of 10)
For the quality section of the Ctrl review, we award a great 7 out of 10. Layers, balance and foresight are all things we are always going to ideas that are associated with quality and all of those can easily be used here. This is not the two-hour epic that takes a novel of a rulebook. This game knows exactly what it is, it is a light and colorful puzzle game that hones directly in on an interesting concept, and it does it well.
On the component and production side, there is not much here, cubes and colored blocks, but they are all beautiful. Everything is heavy duty and the lovely shades of blue, red, yellow and green provide the perfect burst of color. The cubes themselves are more satisfying to roll around your hand than a fidget spinner.
Art & Style (7 out of 10)
For the art & style section of the Ctrl review, we award a very good 7 out of 10. There is not too much to this game so to get a score this high, you know it has to be good. It really comes down to the beautiful color scheme and the typography. The game uses standard colors, but they chose these pastel, without being too chalky, tints. It is like it was masterfully planned.
The logo is beautiful and bold, not sure if is the font itself or the beautiful lines that surround it on the box but out of all the games on our shelf, you almost always see Ctrl. Sure, the logo is huge, but its because everything together makes for one beautiful package. Photos are very instagramable.
– IN CLOSING –
Ctrl Review | Board Game Halv
This is the game you asked for if you ever wanted the Rubik's cube to be translated into a competitive and thought-provoking, yet easy to play, board game. Ctrl is a very light and breezy game where you only have one thing to do, place a line of blocks on a 3D cube. The space is small and you are competing to have the most cubes showing, so things can get a little cutthroat, but with a 20 minute playing time, you will be back for another round in no time. This has been our Ctrl review, we hope you enjoyed it!
Product In-Stock: InStock
6.6
See the full explanation of the judging criteria here.
