History VideoGame / QUBE

* AnAesop: Something like an Aesop is delivered when, at the end, [[spoiler:you're told that you've saved the Earth thanks to trusting your instructions, keeping faith, and not being cynical about what's happening. Players who expect the whole save-the-world thing [[TheCakeIsALie to be a lie]], as 919 says it is, would appear to be wrong. (Assuming you're not just in a [[LotusEaterMachine Lotus-Eater]] [[PeopleJars People Jar]]...)]]

* AnAesop: Much like the first game, the sequel has a notable moral message -- [[spoiler:it is better to learn and understand others than resort to violence in the face of something you don't understand]]. [[spoiler:The alien intelligence is testing Amelia on her patience, kindness, and empathy.]]

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] the interactive cable service developed by Creator/WarnerBros called ''QUBE'' offered in Columbus OH and a few other cities in the late 70s and early 80s (it had more impact than you would think- it carried prototypes for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, Creator/{{MTV}} and concepts like pay-per-view). Also no relation to ''VideoGame/IntelligentQube''.

* AmnesiacHero: Players are told that they've lost their memory, with Nowak saying that it the result of an accident and 919 saying that it was done deliberately so that Nowak could lie to you.
* AnAesop: Something like an Aesop is delivered when, at the end, [[spoiler: you're told that you've saved the Earth thanks to trusting your instructions, keeping faith, and not being cynical about what's happening. Players who expect the whole save-the-world thing [[TheCakeIsALie to be a lie]], as 919 says it is, would appear to be wrong. (Assuming you're not just in a [[LotusEaterMachine Lotus-Eater]] [[PeopleJars People Jar]]...)]]

* BigDumbObject: Nowak claims that the player has boarded one of these to stop it from hitting the Earth. 919 says it's a great big lie. [[spoiler: The ending shows Nowak's version to be true... assuming you can trust what you see, anyway.]]

* ButThouMust: Finishing the game requires getting into the capsule, as Nowak urges. There's no way to take 919's advice instead and refuse (although 919 never explains exactly what you should do ''instead''). [[spoiler: Assuming the ending isn't some kind of trick, though, it's the right choice.]] Possibly (but not explicitly) justified if the player character is less of an amnesiac than either Nowak or 919 thinks. After all, how would they tell?)

* EscapePod: Nowak tells you that the capsule [[ButThouMust you have to]] get into at the end of the game is one of these, while 919 says it's one of many PeopleJars. [[spoiler: Assuming the capsule isn't some sort of LotusEaterMachine, the ending supports Nowak's version.]]
** The sequel confirms that [[spoiler:the ending was indeed real, and even goes into further detail on the mission and the aliens that created the ship in the first place.]]

* PeopleJars: 919 tells you that the capsule [[ButThouMust you have to]] get into at the end of the game is one of these, while Nowak says it's an EscapePod. [[spoiler: Assuming the capsule isn't some sort of LotusEaterMachine, the ending supports Nowak's version.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: 919 is [[AmbiguousSituation apparently]] the liar, though evidence after the twist suggests he's actually delusional.]]

* TheCakeIsALie: 919 claims that the save-the-world scenario explained by Nowak is just a motivational lie, as are her promises that you'll see your wife again soon. According to 919, you're actually going to be [[PeopleJars put in a box]] or outright eliminated. (And people who've played ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', which this game is inevitably going to be compared to, may think they know the script already.) In the end, [[spoiler: it looks like the cake was real after all.]]

* AfterTheEnd: It takes a while to confirm it and it's also more implied than shown, but [[spoiler:the story takes place on Earth after it was devastated by the events of the first game. For all we know, Amelia might well be the last living human on the planet.]]
* AnAesop: Much like the first game, the sequel has a notable moral message - [[spoiler:it is better to learn and understand others than resort to violence in the face of something you don't understand. The alien intelligence is testing Amelia on her patience, kindness and empathy.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: Some of the achievement names are pretty spoilery, especially the one you get for following the red wire at the end. [[spoiler:Something called "The Truthful Enemy" should give you plenty reason not to do what its description demands. Unsurprisingly, it leads to the bad ending.]]
* LastSecondEndingChoice: Amelia is presented with two options at the end of the game, symbolised by two doors with blue and red tubes, respectively. [[spoiler:Specifically, either spare the alien intelligence and help it, or go with Emma's plan to destroy it. It turns out it's a SecretTestOfCharacter, as symbolised by the tubes coming together into one path after you make your choice. And, well, guess which choice fails the test...]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It turns out [[spoiler:destroying the Cube in the first game was a ''bad idea''.]]
* {{Precursors}}: [[spoiler:A lot of "fridge logic" 919 highlights in the previous game is explained by implication, as it turns out the Cube and the alien HiveMind in it actually elevated humanity long ago, passing on their knowledge to them and enabling them - including mechanisms and symbols.]]

* ArmiesAreEvil: Played with. [[MissionControl Emma]] is implied to be connected to the military, whose natural first and last approach to the the cube entity is its destruction. [[spoiler:Going along with her plan ends badly.]]

* SceneryPorn: The second game has significantly more variety in terms of environmental art, and it ''shows'', nevermind the jump to new hardware and a new engine enabling significantly higher visual quality across the board.

* FiveSecondsForeshadowing: [[spoiler:Both paths of the game's LastSecondEndingChoice converge after only a few meters, foreshadowing the reveal that Emma and the alien entity are one and the same.]]

* TheReveal: Two, in fact. Reveal 1: [[spoiler:The game actually takes place on Earth, in an AfterTheEnd scenario caused by the pieces of the Cube falling to Earth.]] Reveal 2: [[spoiler:The entire game was one big SecretTestOfCharacter on the part of the alien intelligence, and Emma was part of the alien hive mind.]]

* HeroicMime: Averted. Millie is ''quite'' talkative, and actively converses with other characters.
* Mission Control: Emma. [[spoiler:And then later, the alien intelligence.]]

A sequel, Q.U.B.E 2, was released in March 13, 2018, modifying the core mechanics with a focus on enabling the player to place one of each colored block type at a time on white tiles, and features a significantly greater variety of puzzle features. The game involves a different protagonist, Amelia Cross, finding herself in a similar alien structure to the first game, but on another planet. Or, at least, that's what she assumes.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: 919 is [[AmbiguousSituation apparently]] the liar.]]

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] the interactive cable service developed by Creator/WarnerBros called ''QUBE'' offered in Columbus OH and a few other cities in the late 70s and early 80s (it had more impact than you would think- it carried prototypes for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, Creator/{{MTV}} and concepts like pay-per-view).