I played all 20 games in Qubic Games Anniversary bundle
"I'm judging you." is what our editor in Chief said during my latest stream. A stream that consisted of games we've all been judged for a time or two. We got judged because we played them endlessly in waiting rooms, on the couch at home, or at family or friends functions. We got judged because we handed phones and tablets to our kids, and most of them was to keep them quiet for hours of mindless fun.
Qubic Games knows what it's all about. They have been making these games for years. It's the same company who, once a year, gives you games if you own just one of them on your Nintendo Switch. Now, they've upped the ante. They've made a bundle available for Switch. 20 games for $20. And I played all of them, gavel or otherwise. Note that most of these games have a customize, upgrade, and seemingly endless campaigns. You're not here to beat them, you're here to pass time. Here goes!
Hole.io - This one is closer to a game I know called Donut County. There's not really a story here. The game gives you a goal, and you are a hole. Swallow the right things before time runs out, and be 1st amongst other players. If you get big enough, you can even eat the other players, making them start over and respawn. The one who meets the goal and eats the most wins. I played a little of this, and moved on.
Paper.Io - The goal here is to fill in a map of a place, and it's done by connecting with your starting place in any way shape or form. Like Hole.io, there are other players, and you can be taken out by them running into your line before you connect it. This is also how you eliminate others. Same thing here. Played a little, wasn't able to make Switzerland. Kept going.
Mob Control - You may think you've seen this game before on practically any ad. Similar to a tower defense game, you send mobs out to conquer a base on the other side. As you release them, they can go through multipliers to make your mob grow. You mob can defeat the enemies mob with numbers. The mob that destroys the opposing team's base wins. Simple and easy.
Golf Guys - This reminded me of Mario Golf: Super Rush meets Fall Guys. Don't come into this thinking this is going to be easy. After the tutorial, the game throws you on a course with multiple players. Then it becomes an elimination per round game. Then it becomes a race to the finish. Qualify and move on. Win it all by either racing to the pin, or seeing how far you can get before time runs out. I was eliminated in round 3. Because, yes.
Helix Jump - Another game you probably think you've seen in an ad, turn the tower and lead the bouncing ball down to the bottom. Stages get harder as you progress, and there's a bonus round at the the end of each level for a multiplier of your score. If you get the keys, you can unlock skins, and currency. That's pretty much it.
The Nom - A game where you're an alien symbiote, and you have to eat people to move on. Then they send a bunch of armed guards in, and you have to stay out of the field of vision. Keep eating, keep movie. They're yours for the devouring. There are other modes available to up the challenge, but it's the same premise. Eat, repeat.
Infantry Attack - This is a stay in place FPS, where you take on hordes of enemy soldiers, tanks, helicopters, and more. Blow things up, get satisfying head shots, and don't let the soldiers reach you. Again, simple and easy.
Bucket Crusher - I spent WAY too much time with this game. You have a crusher on what looks like an excavator. You use this to chip away at a huge wall in front of you. You then take the bits and convert them into cash. You can use that cash to extend your arm, make your cutter bigger, or even give you more gas at the end of each turn. Once your turn is over, you can play a mini game to keep going. Once you fill the level meter, you win. You can also choose to turn the money earned into prestige points, but that requires you to start all over. The prestige points give you more permanent, and helpful upgrades, like a conveyor belt, or a higher exchange rate.
Sausage Wars - You're a sausage, in a platform fighter, except the platform is just one, and the fighting is automatic. Push your opponents off the counter, or into a sink, or obstacle to win. In my opinion, skip this one. There are better ones out there.
Amaze - This was another fun one. You don't have to necessarily get out of the maze, you ojust have to navigate around it to fill it with one color. You can do it in a zen mode, a timed mode, or the most challenging, the limited moves mode. I liked this one a lot. Definitely a time killer for sure.
Dig Deep - Dig through a 4 by four plain, collect things, take them back up, exchange them for money, go back. Skip this one. Trust me. (Sorry Qubic)
Astro Miner - Same premise as Dig Deep, except no digging, and you can get aliens to help. Skip this one too.
Run Sausage Run - Another skip-able, you are a sausage trying to avoid obstacles, except you can't stop, you can only run faster, and sometimes you run so fast, you bend over backward to avoid said obstacles.
ASMR Slicing - If you hate ASMR like I do, then this game is tolerable. You use different blades to cut through different items, Every 4th item will result in a bonus round, where you cut pieces to perfectly land on a plate, or cut enough to meet a certain weight. Not here for a long time. Not sure of a good time.
Light It Up: This is my favorite of the bunch. Light it up lets you jump left or right, to light up shapes. You can double jump as well, but you can also run our of jumps if there's more than 2 in the same direction. The shapes can also light each other up, if your weight causes them to, or they simply just run into each other. You can also unlock boosters, like a triple jump, or an aura that lights up anything it touches. I could see myself playing this one for hours.
Aquarium Land - You think you have what it takes to run an aquarium? How about several? In this game, you start off in an empty aquarium. Your goal is to catch fish in your field of view, while swimming around in the "ocean" right outside of your aquarium. Once you get enough, you bring them back and put them in a tank. Customers hear about this, and come into your aquarium to take some home. That means cold hard cash for you, once you ring them up. You can also get a staff, and utilize jet skis for speed, or boats for more storage. Obtain a key, and get a rare fish to put in your own aquarium. I played this until I realized I was playing it. Upgrading my storage, and putting narwhals on display in my own little Sea World. The VIP customer is the way to go, by the way.
Pocket Mini Golf/Pocket Mini Golf 2 - It's mini golf. The sequel has a better presentation, but yeah, they're both mini golf games.
Johnny Trigger - An Auto run game that answers the question, what if every bullet you shot, was in slow motion bullet time? Follow your laser sight as you flip, ricochet bullets, and fight bosses. You also auto reload once you hit the ground running again. In this game, you will take down enemies, try to get better guns, and look good doing it. Watch out for the pedestrians, and try to follow the story if you want. This was fun, but it's sequel was even better.
Johnny Trigger: Sniper - No slow down here, but Johnny Trigger is back, and this time he has a sniper rifle. Take out bad guys, as you customize your gun, and upgrade your skill set. Pedestrians and hostages are here too, but you can destroy environmental things like cars, and barrels. I played this a lot too, and just kept chucking bullets at people. The enemies shoot back too, even as you reload, and sometimes try to escape. Headshot!
Eyes: The Horror - This game is a survival horror game, without weapons. You are in a house, trying to get the scoop on what happened here. The goal (on Normal) is to find all the bags of money, so being scared will be worth it. Scared of what? Well the person who died in that house is chasing you, and you can use runes, to see where they are. You can hear it singing up and down the halls, and though it cannot open doors, it can go up and down stairs. If you find the secret room, tell me. It took me two tries to beat this on normal. I never went back, because I'm too tough!
That's it. All 20 games. These games are on the Switch for $4.99 a piece, and probably similar on Mobile, or riddled with ads. This is your opportunity to grab em all. And no, you don't have to play or install them all, but if you want to pass the time, these games are the way to go. Most of them worked with the controller as well, and ran flawlessly on the ROG Ally. Give em a shot. You probably have some anyway. Upgrade, customize, and get those stars! All you have is time.
