Well, if you thought you’d seen everything a Rubik’s Cube could possibly do, think again. Cubios, Inc. and Spin Master are about to shake up the puzzle world—literally and figuratively—with the Rubik’s WOWCube.
This isn’t your dad’s puzzle toy. It’s being pitched as a handheld smart device and gaming platform, and it goes on sale on October 9 with a price tag of $299 USD. Clearly, this is aimed squarely at the holiday tech market.
The launch window: Why is the WOWCube re-emerging now?
If you’ve been following the tech toy space, you might have noticed the WOWCube doing the rounds for a while now. It’s true—the device itself has been in development and shown off at various events, but the key word here is launch.
I first saw this thing several years ago, back when working on MakeUseOf.com. There, one of my colleagues, James Bruce, had the chance to review the WOWCube, and he was pretty impressed (something that isn’t easy to do!)
The reason it’s being heavily promoted now, with a firm sale date of October 9, is simple: Spin Master, the renowned toy and entertainment company, has now partnered with tech innovator Cubios, Inc. to take the device to market. This partnership provides the essential muscle—the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing heft—that a niche tech gadget needs to successfully move from a proof-of-concept into a mass-market retail product.
What better time, than the run-up to Christmas/holiday shopping season?
This timing also coincides with the device’s certified status by STEM.org, making it an attractive purchase for parents looking for educational gifts that encourage critical thinking. In short, the hardware has been around a few years, but the commercial engine and marketing strategy are finally hitting their stride.
Retro re-imagined: Space invaders on a 3d grid?
The big draw for us classic gamers is the promise of seeing familiar faces in a truly unfamiliar format. The Rubik’s WOWCube takes the decades-old puzzle shape and injects it with modern tech, replacing the static coloured squares with 24 small digital screens.
The whole cube is a motion-sensing controller, packed with gyroscopes that track how you twist, shake, and tilt it in 3D space. This radically alters the experience of playing older games.
They are launching with some serious classics, too. We’re talking about Space Invaders—the arcade legend that basically invented the fixed shooter genre—and Cut the Rope, which is a modern classic in its own right. It’s hard to imagine how you play Space Invaders when the screen is constantly twisting and turning, but that’s the whole point! It’s taking those simple, pixel-perfect mechanics and forcing a new level of physical interaction.
I’m genuinely curious to see how the experience of a game like 2048 is enhanced when you’re not just swiping on a flat screen but rotating the very surface the tiles are on. It’s certainly a novel approach to retro re-imagining.
A smart toy with a developer SDK
Beyond the games, the WOWCube is making a bid to be more than just a novelty. Cubios is throwing open the doors with an open SDK and a developer portal. They want people to start creating their own games and apps specifically for this unique 3D hardware.
Given that it’s also STEM.org certified, the whole project has a nice educational twist, combining the critical thinking of the original Rubik’s Cube with modern coding and spatial reasoning.
If this genuinely takes off, we could see a lot of interesting ports and unique retro takes built by the community. You can check out the demos at New York Comic Con from October 9 through 12, or just visit the official WOWCube website to register your interest before the $299 USD launch. This thing is definitely a head-turner.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.