History Main / TheCube

* BulletTime: Yes, they can do that too.

* FunnyMoments: A contestant persistently had trouble with the game ''Barrier'', where you must step over one or more hurdles blindfolded. When a contestant realized his pants may have been restricting his motion, ''the host allowed him to take them off''.

* ComeForTheXStayForTheY: What makes the show so exciting is how its produced, featuring liberal use of camera effects, slow-motion shots, etc.
* CommercialBreakCliffhanger: Notably averted. Commercial breaks are generally scheduled after a challenge has been presented to the contestant, but before the player decides whether to play on, take the money and quit, or use the Trial Run.
* DethroningMomentOfSuck: Zoe, who wasted '''eight''' of her nine lives on her first game ''Time Split'' (stop a timer on exactly 5.0 seconds). She proceeded to use Simplify after her fifth failure (either undershooting or overshooting the mark by mere tenths of a second), which changed the timer to count in increments of .2 seconds. After ''finally'' winning that, she proceeded to fail on ''Stabilize''. The fact she had a bizarre fascination with wigs didn't help matters, either.
* [[{{DuelingShows}} Dueling Shows]]/FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: Series 2 had a player who stormed his way to the £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was ''Digit'', with an average of 3.4 lives lost. The man, who still had seven lives left and his Simplify at this moment, walked without playing due to being a nervous wreck by this point; the fact that ''Digit'' required an enormous amount of concentration (rolling a pinball down a 1/2" beam with one finger) didn't help matters.

* SurpriseDifficulty: Doing simple-looking stunts inside a glass box? Don't be fooled, it's harder than it looks.
* ThatOneLevel: ''Elevation'', ''Barrier'', and ''Pinpoint'' are all notorious for sapping away most of the lives of the contestants who played them. Typically when this game is won, ''Cylinder'' is offered up next - a game so ridiculously simple it suggests the Cube is trying to bait the player into going on.
** Series 2 adds ''Side-Track''. Like ''Pinpoint'', it's a game where the contestant has to hold onto a metal pole, which will inevitably cause fatigue to set in and make the game harder on subsequent tries, whereas other games are likely to become easier after each try because you know what you're doing better.
** ''Descent'' (bounce a ball off two pillars and into a bucket) is rapidly becoming the single most feared game on the show. Hard not to get intimidated by it after watching a player fail on it despite having eight lives to use when he started on it.

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<<|BritishSeries|>>
<<|GameShow|>>

* DuelingShows/FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere.

CBS recently ordered a pilot hosted by NeilPatrickHarris (who is allegedly quite a fan of the show), and has apparently greenlit an American version of the show. The top prize is $500,000.

* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted; the "Trial Run" gives the contestant a chance to see how he might do before committing to a decision.

* FinalBossPreview: The final level always ends up being the game you had the most trouble with. To make it worse, it is made tougher, ''and'' you cannot use any lifelines on it.
* FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere.

Extremely-wicked British ITV game show where players try to perform physical and mental challenges for progressively larger sums of money (up to £250,000) within a 4 meter wide perspex cube with a limited number of lives, and chances to simplify a task or practice it beforehand. For what this show may or may not lack in originality (stunt game shows are not a new idea, see ''BeatTheClock''), it truly is BetterThanItSounds once you see just ''how'' it's all put together on-screen.

* HomeGame: There's a [[http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3905212.htm "Family Electronic Game"]] as well as an [=iPod/iPhone/iPad=] app game.

* {{Lifelines}}: "Simplify", which makes the stunt easier in some way; and "Trial Run", which allows the player to practice the stunt once before deciding to play on or not. They cannot be used on the final level at all.

** TheAnnouncer: Colin [=McFarlane=], personified as the voice of the Cube itself.
** GameShowHost: Philip Schofield. Justin Lee Collins hosted a pilot for Channel 4.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: A contestant plays ''Contact'' for £50K - essentially a "steady hands" game where you have to guide a ring along a long metal rod without it touching - and ''nails it'' on his first try, giving him 5 lives and both Lifelines available for the £100K game.
** Same for its other appearance as the very last game in series 1. 3 lives for £20k. Goes down to the last life after two poor attempts. Out of nowhere, he somehow manages to clear all three metres and win.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: A contestant persistently had trouble with the game Barrier, where you must step over one or more hurdles blindfolded. When a contestant realized his pants may have been restricting his motion, ''the host allowed him to take them off.''

* DethroningMomentOfSuck: Zoe, who wasted 8 of her 9 lives on her first game called Time Split (stop a timer on ''exactly'') 5.0 seconds. She proceeded to use her Simplify after her 5th failure (either undershooting or overshooting the mark by mere tenths of a second), which changed the timer to count only by 2 tenths of a second at a time. She got out of it with 1 life remaining, then proceeded to fail on Stabilize. The fact she had a bizarre fascination with wigs didn't help matters either!

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: The second series had a player who stormed his way to the penultimate £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was Digit, a game with an average of 3.4 lives lost. The man, who still had seven lives left and his simplify at this moment, walked without playing. Even if he played and lost the average amount of lives, he may potentially have been the first to play the final game.
** To be fair, though, the man was a nervous wreck by this point, and the game required an enormous amount of concentration (rolling a pinball down a 1/2" beam with one finger). He probably figured that there was no way he could do this even with all nine lives in stock.

* RuleOfCool: Watching someone count to ten seconds? Dull. Watching someone count to ten seconds ''in The Cube??'' Awesome.
* SurpriseDifficulty: Doing simple looking stunts inside a glass box? Don't be fooled, it's harder than it looks.
* ThatOneLevel: ''Elevation'', ''Barrier'', and ''Pinpoint'' are all notorious for sapping away most of the lives of the contestants who played them. Typically when this game is won, ''Cylinder'' is offered up next - a game so ridiculously simple it suggests that the Cube is trying to bait the player into going on.
** Series 2 adds ''Side-Track''. Like ''Pinpoint'', it's a game where the contestant has to hold onto a metal pole, which will inevitably cause fatigue to set in and make the game harder on subsequent tries, whereas other games are likely to become easier after each try because you know what you're doing better.
** ''Descent'' (bounce a ball off two pillars and into a bucket) is rapidly becoming the single most feared game on the show. Hard not to get intimidated by it after watching a player fail on it despite having eight lives to use when he started on it.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Because there are no safety nets in the money ladder, and because the final game is a much harder version of a revisited game with no lifelines allowed, we're probably never going to see anyone ''play'' the £250K game, much less win it. A recent contestant had 5 lives - more than half his original supply - and still backed down at the prospect of losing the £100K he'd just won.

* WhatAnIdiot: Zoe, who wasted 8 of her 9 lives on her first game called Time Split (stop a timer on ''exactly'') 5.0 seconds. She proceeded to use her Simplify after her 5th failure (either undershooting or overshooting the mark by mere tenths of a second), which changed the timer to count only by 2 tenths of a second at a time. She got out of it with 1 life remaining, then proceeded to fail on Stabilize. The fact she had a bizarre fascination with wigs didn't help matters either!

* CliffhangerCommercialBreak: Notably averted. Commercial breaks are generally scheduled after a challenge has been presented to the contestant, but before the player decides whether to play on, take the money and quit, or use the Trial Run.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: When a contestant requested to remove his pants to complete a stunt... and was allowed to do so. (They were restricting his motion.)

* AllOrNothing: Every task is an all-or-nothing gamble, and once you decide to play, you can't back out. There are no safety nets if you lose all your lives.
* HomeGame: There's a [[http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3905212.htm "Family Electronic Game"]] as well as an [=iPod/iPhone/iPad=] app game.
* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted; the "Trial Run" gives the contestant a chance to see how he might do before committing to a decision.
* {{Lifelines}}: "Simplify", which makes the stunt easier in some way; and "Trial Run", which allows the player to practice the stunt once before deciding to play on or not. They cannot be used on the final level at all.
* Personnel:

* BulletTime: Yes, they can do that too.
* CameraTricks: In fact, this is one of the show's major gimmicks.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: When a contestant requested to remove his pants to complete a stunt... and was allowed to do so. (They were restricting his motion.)
* ComeForTheXStayForTheY: What makes the show so exciting is how its produced, featuring liberal use of camera effects, slow-motion shots, etc.
* FinalBossPreview: The final level always ends up being the game you had the most trouble with. To make it worse, it is made tougher, ''and'' you cannot use any lifelines on it.
* FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere.
* MissedMomentOfAwesome: The second series had a player who stormed his way to the penultimate £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was Digit, a game with an average of 3.4 lives lost. The man, who still had seven lives left and his simplify at this moment, walked without playing. Even if he played and lost the average amount of lives, he may potentially have been the first to play the final game.

* NintendoHard: All of the stunts have been tested prior to production. In the later stages of the game, they make it a point to use challenges that gave the testers the most trouble - to the point that the contestant would have to do ''better'' than the testers in terms of average lives used to complete the stunt.
* RuleOfCool: Watching someone count to ten seconds? Dull. Watching someone count to ten seconds ''in The Cube??'' Awesome.
* SurpriseDifficulty: Doing simple looking stunts inside a glass box? Don't be fooled, it's harder than it looks.
* ThatOneLevel: ''Elevation'', ''Barrier'', and ''Pinpoint'' are all notorious for sapping away most of the lives of the contestants who played them. Typically when this game is won, ''Cylinder'' is offered up next - a game so ridiculously simple it suggests that the Cube is trying to bait the player into going on.

* TheFaceless / TheVoiceless: The Body, a woman wearing a silver mask who demonstrates the tasks in clips, allowing the contestants to judge if they will go on or not. However, she has revealed her mouth once - to demonstrate a stunt involving blowing a ball into a glass of water - so she's not ''that'' shy, maybe.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The new series is introducing contestants whose games air over two episodes. That makes the trailers for next week's episode give away at least some of the contestant's future progress. For example, anyone who watched the second episode's trailer knows that the contestant is going to at least reach the £50K game.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: The second series had a player who [[spoiler:stormed his way to the penultimate £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was Digit, a game with an average of 3.4 lives lost. The man, who still had seven lives left and his simplify at this moment, walked without playing. Even if he played and lost the average amount of lives, he may potentially have been the first to play the final game.]]

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: The second series had a player who stormed his way to the penultimate £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was Digit, a game with an average of 3.4 lives lost. The man, who still had seven lives left and his simplify at this moment, walked without playing. Even if he played and lost the average amount of lives, he may potentially have been the first to play the final game.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: The second series had a guy who stormed his way to the penultimate £100k game, losing only two lives in the five games. The £100k game was Digit, a game with an average of 3.4 lives lost. Mark, who still had seven lives left and his simplify at this moment, walked without playing. Even if he played and lost the average amount of lives, he may potentially have been the first to play the final game.

* FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts.

* AdaptationDistillation: ''MinuteToWinIt'', an attempt by NBC to rip-off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts.
** Actually, that show's more like ''BeatTheClock'' than anything.

* {{Lifelines}}: "Simplify", which makes the stunt easier in some way; and "Trial Run", which allows the player to practice the stunt once before deciding to play on or not.

* BackFromTheDead: Sort of, since the final task (if you even '''make''' it that far) is guaranteed to be one of the tasks you already played, but in a harder form. To make the pain even worse, it'll also end up being the one you had the most trouble on. And you aren't allowed to use Simplify or Trial Run on it.

* CameraTricks: A plenty.

* AllOrNothing: Every task is an all-or-nothing gamble. There are no safety nets if you lose all your lives.
* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted; one of the lifeline things allows the player to give a task a "trial run" before committing themselves to it for the money.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: When a contestant accepted a suggestion to take off his pants in order to make a challenge easier (they were restricting his motion).

* TheFaceless / TheVoiceless: The Body, a woman wearing a silver mask who demonstrates the tasks in clips, allowing the contestants to judge if they will go on or not. However, she has revealed her mouth once, so she's not ''that'' shy, maybe.

** TheAnnouncer: Colin McFarlane, personified as the voice of the Cube itself.

* BackFromTheDead: Sorta, since the final task (if you even '''make''' it that far) is guaranteed to be one of the tasks you already played, but in a harder form. To make the pain even worse, it'll also end up being the one you had the most trouble on. And you aren't allowed to use Simplify or Trial Run on it.

* ThatOneLevel: ''Elevation'', ''Barrier'' and ''Pinpoint'' are all notorious for sapping away most of the lives of the contestants who played them. Typically when this game is won, ''Cylinder'' is offered up next - a game so ridiculously simple it suggests that The Cube is trying to bait the player into going on.