Reviews from

in the past


A unique PS1 puzzle game. Takes a little to fully understand it but after that it's an alright experience.

Kinda like that old flash game Bloxorz, but with a creepypasta edge filled with nothingness. This plays like an early 2010s mobile game. This is fine for 10 - 15 minutes, gets old quickly.

Scared me as a smol child
Never got past the first stage

Whenever I trigger the green fields I yell "ANNIHILATIOOOONN!" which is at least worth an extra half star to me


Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes

I'm all for PS1 puzzle game supremacy and all, but this one - I'm disappointed to report - misses the mark, I feel. Of course it has the issue that all of them do to start with, in that it feels like a smaller mobile game rather than something you were once expected to pay full shelf price for. But this one in particular is plagued with dire collision issues in a game where precision is crucial; why are you even able to get stuck on the blocks? It always happens at the worst times, too - so get ready to die countless times at zero fault of your own. I still love this idea, and think the mechanics/rules on their own are great. I dig the digital-minimalist style, with swelling classical music playing as you navigate this short series of puzzles. Though like the lot of these, a lot of really simple solutions could have upped the replayability here.

as far as PS1 action-puzzle games with ridiculously good music whose core mechanic is about getting rid of endlessly-generating rolling cubes are concerned, I vastly prefer Devil Dice

the most absurdly tense and cinematic orchestral soundtrack ever made for a puzzle game, but believe me, it's fitting

Get ready to think... or die.

Intelligent Qube is an odd entity from G-Artists and Sony Computer Entertainment, one that is both masterful and underappreciated. I can gush about this game all day, so here are my brief thoughts after finally accomplishing a full playthrough.

I.Q. is a puzzle game, wherein the player scores points by capturing blocks...while trying to survive in the process. There are several variables at play throughout the game but, most importantly, I.Q. focuses on avoiding being crushed by a set of randomly-assorted cubes rolling towards you each round, moving in clockwork while also trying to push you off the stage itself. You perfectly capture a set of normal cubes during a round? You're granted an extra row/tick on the stage. But what if you accidentally capture a forbidden cube, or even let some cubes fall off the stage? Well, that row on the stage falls apart.
It didn't take too long for me to fully grasp certain strategies, especially using advantage cubes as ways to look ahead and capture normal cubes without hitting any forbidden ones, which just shows how incredible this game is by its own design. Alongside all of that, I.Q. invokes several emotions through its ominous sound design, hypnotic-looking stages (with a tiny character to scale against the cubes), and an orchestral soundtrack that you absolutely wouldn't expect from a game of this nature. It all just works as a byproduct of early Sony Computer Entertainment; the dark and mysterious wonder of polygonal art that rose in the late 90s.

Intelligent Qube deserves to be high up there with other notable puzzle games like Tetris and Panel De Pon, one that shows its quality in both production and replayability. It's brilliant, haunting, and has really never been replicated after more than 20 years now. So please, for the love of god, go experience this piece of work for yourself. One of SCE's finest from their first home console.
And of course, in the words of the game's ecstatic announcer: "Perfect!"

First time I've played this since I wore out the demo disc as a child and minus some very slightly fiddly controls it really holds up. Difficulty ramps up nicely and the music goes hard, a hidden gem of the original Playstation's library.

It's a really solid puzzle game with a fun loop. It's held back a bit by feeling clunky to control (the amount of times I got crushed because my guy would get stuck on geometry or have other weird collison issues was very frustrating, and this was a game that only took about 2 hours) and the camera perspective makes it difficult at times to actually see where my marked spots are, but I enjoyed it.

The core gameplay loop is a lot of fun. When I was a kid for some reason I was too dumb to understand not to capture the black blocks.

The game is very unforgiving if you make a mistake but you can continue at each stage, so not a big deal.

Bogus that you can't save your progress in the ps1 original, happily used the PS5 save states to get around this.

Could have used a puzzle mode or something but I had a real good time cranking on this for like 2 hours and getting the platinum trophy.

Intelligent Qube, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the cube.

Super fun, strategic puzzle game where you’re managing both your own movements on the “board” and the cubes that continually move toward the edge, before the ground literally falls out from under your feet.

The game has a great late 90s VR vibe, and the soundtrack sounds like something out of Star Wars. My only real gripe is the lack of an endless mode (which you almost expect from a puzzle game like this).

Intelligent Qube aged surprisingly well, and if you like puzzle games you should check it out.

Why the hell does an obscure PS1 puzzle game about clearing cubes have an orchestral soundtrack that sounds like it belongs in a space opera

Simultaneously simple yet stressful with a one of a kind atmosphere to boot, a pleasant surprise from the PlayStation Classic’s otherwise questionable library. Just don’t assume it’s an accurate measurement of your own IQ.

Puzzle bem simples, só pra testar teu Q I e acabou a minha análise

As a kid I played the demo of this a lot. Something about the sound effects, lack of music, and being in a black void made this game feel very ominous to me.

This game has a terrifying aura. The music and sound design in general are great, and the whole thing has this oppressive feeling to it that makes clearing levels feel really rewarding.

I swear to god, whenever people try to do digital horror on purpose they always fail the mark but games from the late 90s nail it without even trying, could you imagine yourself in an empty space on floating blocks with more blocks rushing toward you to push you off the edge or crush you while odd orchestral music plays even though it does not fit the atmosphere in the slightest? Yeah, that's Kurushi for you when you take it literally, but outside of its appearance, it's just a nice puzzle game that aged pretty damn well.

It's honestly a pretty barebone puzzle game, you got 9 stages which is all the same thing but with more difficult patterns to figure out, there's no other game mode than 1-player or 2-player, it's just a puzzle game that does its puzzle thing pretty well and I think it's ok! It's no masterpiece but I had fun going through the game, it's easy to pick up and play like all arcade puzzle games so I guess I do recommend it for all PSN users since it's available with PSN premium.

O jogo é extremamente simples, de início parede impossível perder, mas a partir do level 4 por ali, já começam a te jogar umas combinações de cubos mais zuadas

Mesmo assim, esse jogo não tinha direito nenhum de ter uma música de fundo TÃO BOA, real surpreendeu

Wanted a quick one before Tears of the Kingdom, so I gave IQ a go. As a whole it was a delightful lil puzzler. They take minimalistic mechanics and get a lot of mileage out of it with some really challenging and speedy stages. I really dig how much the green and black cubes vary up strategy.

Also why did the music go so hard? It's like an epic orchestral score straight out of Super Smash Bros or something like that.

If Sony had any balls they'd stop making all these prestige games that feel ashamed to be games and make stuff like Intelligent Qube 2 instead. A man can dream, right?

It's called Intelligent Qube, but it made me feel pretty stupid, ngl.

One of the first PS1 Classics to arrive for PS5 and wasn't expecting this game to be as awesome and challenging as it was. Definitely reminded me of Catherines gameplay some and the soundtrack was cool, and short enough to not overstay its welcome. A short awesome game thats held up pretty well.

very fun, surreal, and difficult game


I was so hooked that I played for three hours while not knowing one of the basic mechanics. I couldn’t get past stage three but I was so mesmerized by the experience that I kept hitting my head against the wall of oncoming blocks until I finally decided to learn the rules. Intelligent Qube doesn’t keep adding concepts the farther you get. It becomes more difficult, with continually added blocks to your square foot arena, but it never tries to introduce anything else to spice things up. This isn’t a bad thing. It knows exactly what it is and what challenge it wants to give to the player. There is a rush of excitement every time there is a penalty, leaving your avatar with less space to sort out the situation. When there is hardly any room left, the music swells into a ballad of heroic fanfare. It doesn’t shift into an anxiety inducing melody, rather it acts as a push to fight with whatever brainpower you might still have to keep going. It’s a surprisingly worthwhile experience stemming from a concept that couldn’t be more dull.

ファイナルと比べるとややもっさり。でも名曲「黄道」が聴けるので素晴らしいよね。

had a lot of fun with this. beat it in one sitting and it was a challenging but rewarding experience. absolutely adored the atmosphere and score (weirdly reminded me of early '00s Disney scores, Treasure Planet and the like). highly recommend it.

all I want is for Sony to be this company again

it will literally never, ever happen. this is such a gift even all of these years later. I can’t stop thinking about that score. the atmosphere. my god.