Trioncube: Trion Something New Company: BANDAI NAMCO Games America, Inc. Namco Bandai’s upcoming DS puzzler, Trioncube, is a unique spin on the traditional box-stacking puzzle game. For starters, the game features a story, placing you in the role of captain of a penguin-shaped space ship called the Penko. Your mission is to rescue the princess from the clutches of the evil Hell Metal. The story doesn’t get much deeper than that, but it sets up an interesting puzzle game. As captain, your main goal is to keep the ship fueled as it races in pursuit of Hell Metal. You ship is fueled by the energy created by joining cubes, which is where the puzzle element comes into play. The basics behind the whole thing are pretty simple; blocks fall from the top of the screen, which you must combine into 3x3 squares. These squares can then be combined with other squares, creating larger squares. Unlike other puzzle games involving blocks, you job in Trioncube is to create the biggest squares you can. As you combine squares, they will set off combo chains. When the combo ends, they convert into points which are needed to move to the next level. The larger the square, the faster the Penko goes. The trick is that if the block becomes too big you’ll lose, forcing you to know when to destroy your squares and when to let them grow. In the first few levels, blocks come in shapes that are easy to combine; in later levels you’ll have to get a little more creative with your combinations. Unfortunately, Trioncube doesn’t support Internet play, though it still places an emphasis on multiplayer support. The game does, however, support the DS’s Download Play feature, so only one copy is needed during when playing multiplayer with friends. Trioncube is set for release later this month, so stay tuned for the full review. -Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker Related Links: Trioncube -- Official Site Namco Bandai Games