Death Squared doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to puzzlers, but instead takes a strong concept and iterates on it. As it’s currently free through Amazon Prime, you should definitely pick it up.
You play as two AI cubes, tasked with completing a series of puzzles in order to… get approved? The details are shrugged off as a joke by Dave, a slacker in an unsatisfying job at a large corporation, set sometime in the distant future.
Dave’s conversational, seemingly improvised dialogue mixes with the cold, yet subtly biting humor of his AI companion, IRIS. While none of the jokes will make you burst out laughing, they’re cute enough to provide a much-needed break between the mentally taxing puzzles.
The soundtrack has a pleasant and non-intrusive beat conductive for critical thinking. Even though you’ll hear the same track over and over again, it seldom becomes grating.
Think Outside the Box
You directly control the two cubes in the story mode, but most stages incorporate other elements that move when one of the cubes does. The main two obstacles, lasers and holo-cubes, work in different ways in each stage, making each new level an experiment.
Lasers will only explode the cube of the opposite color, but cubes of the same color will block them. Likewise, holo-cubes are only solid for cubes of the opposite color. Just like any good puzzle game, it introduces each new concept one level at a time, so it’s very rare to feel at a loss at what to do, even if they require a lot of thought.
While the game is perfectly playable solo, the story mode can easily turn into a co-op experience with the other player controlling the other cube. You can also have four people play at the same time in party mode, which uses similar concepts but becomes even more chaotic with the two extra players.
So How Do I Claim This Game?
In order to claim Death Squared, you must have a subscription to Amazon Prime, although you can also sign up for the free trial and still keep the game, even if you cancel. Once you’ve subscribed, link your account to Twitch Prime at twitch.tv for no additional cost. On Twitch, there should now be a crown in the top-right corner. Click it, scroll down until you find Death Squared, and voila! You have a free game!
Death Squared is only available through Twitch Prime throughout August, so be sure to pick it up soon!
