Curiosity Cube Terrifies Molyneux

Karloff

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Oct 19, 2009
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Curiosity Cube Terrifies Molyneux



The Cube has no tutorial, which - according to Molyneux - is half the point of the game.

In a recent interview Peter Molyneux, founder of 22 Cans and creator of Curiosity - What's Inside the Cube [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119534-Molyneux-Seeks-Curiosity-Beta-Testers], admitted that the whole concept of making a game like Curiosity terrified him. "Why didn't I just do a game?" Molyneux lamented, but though he regretted his tendency to play to what he described as the "big vision, this big idea," he's still keen to see the final result.

There is no tutorial, and that's the point, Molyneux claims. He wants to see whether people can motivate themselves to find out how Curiosity works. Not having a tutorial doesn't have to be a deal breaker; as recent hits have shown [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/2680-Minecraft], letting players find out on their own how the experience works can be a big part of the fun.

Moreover the experience isn't limited to chip, chip, chip and then chip some more; though the point of it all is to find out what's in the center [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2xMGI-QpZw], there are other secrets to discover. Molyneux wants to encourage experimentation, and the only way to do that is to reward experimenters. For instance, each time a piece is chipped off it sounds a musical note, encouraging players to create chains of sound by planting firecrackers to detonate all at once. There will be other things to find, but players will have to find them out themselves.

It's all part of an effort to leverage social networks and see what happens next, Molyneux claims. "The most powerful force in my life are friends saying 'you've got to watch', 'you've got to listen to', 'you've got to taste,'" he says. He wants to see what happens if the experience offered relies totally on word of mouth in order to succeed.

Source: Games Industry International [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-09-21-molyneux]

Image: Wired [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/09/molyneux-curiosity]


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Smooth Operator

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Oct 5, 2010
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I get this distinct impression he has no fucking clue what the "game" will even be, let's hope it's not an on rails Kinect shooter at least.
 

Tallim

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Mar 16, 2010
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Finally someone will get to the middle of The Cube and all they will see is a shaft of white light and an idiot savant solving prime numbers......
 

Hero in a half shell

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Dec 30, 2009
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rhizhim said:
i bet 20 euros that someone will make a script that bypasses the games protection only to open the cube and get a winner is you screen
I think he's banking on this happening, he wants to see what curiosity will drive people to do. If no one plays the game it shows that gamers just aren't that curious to spend ages of their time and effort on some ill-defined goal that no one can guarantee them, but if people are willing to spend huge amounts of money, huge amounts of time clicking, or huge amounts of effort coming up with hacks and exploits to cut the cube down faster, then that shows just how curious gamers really are.
I see he's also sweetened the deal by adding other things into the mix like musical notes per hit, and "other things to find", again being just a really vague hint that may be nothing, but is designed to spark our curiosity.


I think it'll be interesting to see just how far people go for this game. The point isn't the gameplay, or even the prize, it's watching the gamers who play it.
 

VanQ

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Oct 23, 2009
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This whole concept is so damn pretentious it burns. Molyneux is a hack.
 

Azuaron

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Karloff said:
He wants to see what happens if the experience offered relies totally on word of mouth in order to succeed.
Totally, completely on word of mouth. I certainly haven't heard about this game from any news sources or anything.
 

Formica Archonis

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Nov 13, 2009
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Azuaron said:
Karloff said:
He wants to see what happens if the experience offered relies totally on word of mouth in order to succeed.
Totally, completely on word of mouth. I certainly haven't heard about this game from any news sources or anything.
In fact, that's the only place I've heard anything about it. People don't seem to be talking about it much beyond filling column inches.
 

elilupe

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Wow, I've seen quite the collection of Molyneux-hate on these forums recently. I do agree that pretty much none of his games are perfect and can be quite disappointing at times, but he's like the scientist of game making. Most of his experiments maybe don't turn out exactly how he hopes they will, but they are all incredibly different and creative in their vision. He is one of the few powerful game developers who still obviously loves the medium of video games and truly does what he can to make interesting projects.
 

The Rascal King

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elilupe said:
Wow, I've seen quite the collection of Molyneux-hate on these forums recently. I do agree that pretty much none of his games are perfect and can be quite disappointing at times, but he's like the scientist of game making. Most of his experiments maybe don't turn out exactly how he hopes they will, but they are all incredibly different and creative in their vision. He is one of the few powerful game developers who still obviously loves the medium of video games and truly does what he can to make interesting projects.
I agree with this. He is obviously unafraid of trying new things and through trial and error he has reached a level of respect at least amongst peers that is rarely seen in the industry. Though I do contend that he would be an even better bard with the promises he has made. The inner 11 year old in me is still disappointed that the original Fable wasn't the end-all, be-all game he promised makes me want to call him a **** and rub sand in his eyes, but he is really a stand-up fellow in the end.
 

weirdee

Swamp Weather Balloon Gas
Apr 11, 2011
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if the cube stats are hosted on its own server, it's not likely that somebody could hack to the center just like that...
 

Sniper430

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Sep 2, 2009
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catalyst8 said:
Sniper430 said:
Does this sound like a minecraft clone to anyone else? XD
No. In what way does it sound even vaguely similar?
"No tutorial"
"chip chip chip"
"find things"

obviously not 1 to 1. Just popped in mah head at the time. :D
 

bl4ckh4wk64

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Jun 11, 2010
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elilupe said:
Wow, I've seen quite the collection of Molyneux-hate on these forums recently. I do agree that pretty much none of his games are perfect and can be quite disappointing at times, but he's like the scientist of game making. Most of his experiments maybe don't turn out exactly how he hopes they will, but they are all incredibly different and creative in their vision. He is one of the few powerful game developers who still obviously loves the medium of video games and truly does what he can to make interesting projects.
Frankly I think the hate comes from some of Yahtzee's side-jabs at Molyneux. I've certainly seen enough people here just quoting his stance on things and claiming it as their own that I wouldn't be surprised.
 

Proverbial Jon

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Nov 10, 2009
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bl4ckh4wk64 said:
Frankly I think the hate comes from some of Yahtzee's side-jabs at Molyneux. I've certainly seen enough people here just quoting his stance on things and claiming it as their own that I wouldn't be surprised.
I've noticed this common reaction too. I mean the guy's made a couple of bad games but I don't think he deserves all this hatred. He's one of the few people at the forefront of the industry who's trying to evolve the medium. Sure his ideas are outlandish and most times don't entirely work but I expect the same people that moan about him would be the first to complain that all our shooters are brown and gritty.

Molyneux has always put a smile on my face one way or another. He's quite harmless... until the cube's contents are revealed of course...
 

ElPatron

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Jul 18, 2011
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I'm not criticizing Molyneux for his past games. To be honest I couldn't care less about Fable.

But what he's saying sounds pretentious bull and I totally understand the flak he's catching.