In today’s episode of Scar Tries, I’m showing off an experimental game called Cubic Odyssey. Minecraft is as massive as ever, and while I don’t play it much these days, I have been messing with it on my many Android handhelds when I need a half hour to unwind. If the idea of ‘Minecraft with space exploration’ gets you as excited as I was, Cubic Odyssey might help scratch that itch.
Launching recently and developed by Atypical Games, Cubic Odyssey is enjoying some success. The launch was a little rocky especially for multiplayer, but the developers have been actively working on fixing this. I messed around with the solo mode because that is my go-to preference for how I game, and while Cubic Odyssey shows immense potential, it should have launched in Early Access. Combining Minecraft with No Man’s Sky sounds like the ambitious kind of stew meant for crazy people with too much coffee in their bloodstream, and Cubic Odyssey has a way to go yet.
Available on Steam for $25, Cubic Odyssey on paper sounds like a dream come true for many. How does it hold up from some first impressions? Let’s find out.
| Category | Overview |
| Genre | Minecraft defined the survival/sandbox genre, and Cubic Odyssey is very similar to it with the cube physics. There are loads of Minecraft clones out there, though the space exploration mechanics in Cubic Odyssey let it stand out. |
| Visuals | Cubic Odyssey really takes the ‘limited’ resources it has to make the most of its visuals. It might not look like it, but I really enjoy the visual design in Cubic Odyssey. I have a soft spot for No Man Sky and Cubic Odyssey scratches that itch. |
| Gameplay Mechanics | Survival, crafting, and exploration are Cubic Odyssey’s bread and butter. If you have played any similar games, you won’t be surprised by Cubic Odyssey’s gameplay. Craft tools and devices to aid your survival, eat, and fight enemies that threaten your purpose. There seems to be a loose story around returning to your own planet, but I have not progressed very far in the game to have a concrete opinion on that. It seems okay. The main draw to Cubic Odyssey will be making a spaceship and exploring the galaxy, but it’ll take time to reach that point. This is a very grindy game, and it could use more balance. So far however, the gameplay feels about what I expected. |
| Technical Performance | For such a massive open world that has seamless map generation, you would expect a game like Cubic Odyssey to run terribly. I was pleasantly surprised how well the game plays. Even on an old GTX 1060 laptop you could get away with decent framerates as long as you are willing to drop graphics, but it runs like a dream on my RTX 3060 laptop with few stutters. Steam Deck performance is something I am testing further. |
| Value for Money | $24.99 is a standard price these days for a ‘full release’ indie title, and might even be on the lower side for the survival genre. Atypical Games have priced their title quite reasonably here if we’re measuring through content alone. |
| Fun Factor | While I am enjoying my time with Cosmic Odyssey, there are some things I think need to be worked on. Main two things that irked me are combat and the resource grind: it is very easy for enemies to kill you, especially in space, and it takes a long time to build up to the point where you can explore off-planet. More difficulty settings or a custom modifier will help, but the devs have been working hard on fixing the issues. |
| Conclusion | I was surprised to see Cubic Odyssey launching as a full release rather than Early Access, as there is a fair bit of jank that needs to be ironed out. However, the game is better than I expected it to be so far. I might wait for a few balance patches before diving in, but I’m excited to see where Cubic Odyssey goes next. |
