This past summer, I received a Steam key for Cubway. I found it a curious puzzle game in which you control a red square along two dimensions: your goal is to move from the left side of the screen to the right, timing your progress to avoid obstacles that reveal themselves as you advance. The stark presentation and simple controls were intriguing, but I didn't at first see a lot of depth to the gameplay.

Something about it stuck with me, though, and two months later, I took a second look at Cubway. This time I found myself playing through all 46 levels, discovering new mechanics along the way: switches that flipped your axis of movement, levels where you couldn't move backward, and more. While there were puzzle-like elements in each level, later levels required precise timing. In some ways, I was reminded of 1001 Spikes, a game where unpredictable deaths seem unfair but which actually teach you something about how the world works. In this way, Cubway felt more like an action-arcade title.

At $3.99 on Steam or $2.99 on iOS for 76 minutes of gameplay, Cubway isn't a bad deal. A future free update promises more levels, bringing the total from 46 to 55. My thanks to Yerevan, Armenia-based indie developer ArmNomads for bringing Cubway to my attention.