Color-A-Cube Impressions: A Deeply Satisfying Color-By-Number Game

Color-A-Cube is a cozy VR and MR color-by-number game built around voxel models and simple, satisfying interactions. It’s the sort of game that encourages you to slow down rather than chase a high score, and by the time you’ve finished a model there’s a good chance your heart rate has dropped a little, too.

In Color-A-Cube, voxel models made of tiny cubes appear in your environment and your goal is to relax and paint them. Each cube has a number on it which corresponds to a palette of available paint colors. You’ll chill to some peaceful music, select your next favorite voxel model and while away the hours painting each cube the correct color. When all the cubes of your model are painted, you’ll have completed the painting.

The premise is simple, and the execution is polished, especially in the game’s latest Version 1.0 release, which dropped last week.

Your dominant hand takes care of the coloring while your non-dominant hand controls the model itself. Twiddling the thumbstick rotates the model on both X and Y axes, or you can simply reach out to grab, hold, and maneuver the model as if it were a real object. Grabbing it with both hands allows you to resize it instantly, making it easier to grab those awkward little corners where an uncolored cube rests annoyingly.

It’s an intuitive setup that rarely gets in your way. As you finish every cube belonging to a particular number, a progress ring on your hand fills to show how close you are to completing that color. Once you’ve painted them all, your brush automatically switches to the next color in the sequence. There’s also a handy hint button that briefly highlights any remaining cubes of your current color if you happen to miss one.

None of these mechanics are exactly revolutionary, but together they create an experience that’s smooth, relaxing, and surprisingly satisfying (I defy you to dislike the varied reactive sound effects they’ve used for when a cube gets painted). Color-A-Cube isn’t going to change your life. But it may make it a calmer one.

Of course, simplicity is a double-edged sword. Players seeking deep progression systems, narrative experiences, or any kind of challenging gameplay may find Color-A-Cube a somewhat limited experience. But Color-A-Cube knows what sort of game it’s trying to be, and it never deviates. Its appeal lies more in the immediate satisfaction of its core concept. If the idea of sitting down with a cup of coffee (or whatever you like) and spending time with a color-by-number book sounds appealing, chances are you’ll feel right at home here.

There’s also no shortage of content. Now that the game has left Early Access, the base game costs $7.99 on PICO and Meta Quest (with a free trial). This base game version comes with over a hundred voxel models to paint. New free models drop weekly, plus monthly paid DLC packs often pop up. There’s also a paid “Color Pass” that unlocks all available DLC for players who know they’re going to stick around.

And, of course, the models themselves are varied and impressively designed. There are aliens, pirates, transportation, animals, technology, architecture, fossils, living fossils, alien eggs, monsters, foliage, cultural objects, weird characters, food, toys… the list goes on and on. There is, to put it simply, something for everyone.

Perhaps the game’s biggest strength is that it makes excellent use of mixed reality without making a fuss about it. Seeing a brightly colored voxel sculpture floating above your coffee table or desk (or even under a maple tree) feels surprisingly natural, and because the mechanics are so straightforward, the technology fades into the background. You’re simply focused on painting cool models, while also being present in or around your home. (Don’t judge my grungy furniture- we still haven’t pressure-washed after a brutal winter.)

Ultimately, Color-A-Cube succeeds by embracing simplicity. Rather than burying players beneath complicated systems, it builds around one central idea and executes it with confidence. In a market still discovering what mixed reality games should look like, that’s a welcome direction. It may not be the flashiest or most ambitious MR title available, but it’s incredibly satisfying and very well made. Sometimes simple can be very good.

Color-A-Cube is available now on PICO and Meta Quest.