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What do you get when you cross an octopus with a cube and a mild obsession with shiny things? In Octocube, you roll colourful octopus cubes across a shared play area, trying to collect the best treasure before your opponents do. It’s simple at first glance, but there’s more going on beneath the surface.
The game comes with three ways to play. There’s a basic mode with clean, easy-to-learn rules, an advanced version that adds powers and tactical wrinkles through something called abyss tiles, and a simplified kids’ version that focuses on the fun of movement and collecting without the scoring complexity. Let’s take a closer look.
👥 2-4 players, ages 8+
⌛ Playing time: 25 minutes
📝 Designers: Karl Lange
🎨 Artwork: Clément Masson
🏢 Publisher: Sit Down! (Review copy provided by Geronimo Games)
Gameplay Overview
At the start of the game, stacks of object and coin tiles are laid out in the middle of the table, forming a kind of ocean grid. Depending on the number of players, abyss tiles are added to the setup. In games with three or four players, abyss tile A is placed in the centre at the start, and rolling onto it immediately gives you an extra move.
Each player chooses a colour and gets their own cube and player board. You place your octocube in your personal area, just off the main grid, and you’re ready to go. Players take turns in clockwise order and always do one action per turn. At the start of the game, that usually means placing your cube on the edge of the grid.
Once your cube is on the board, you’ve got four options. You can roll your cube to a neighbouring empty space, which flips it 90 degrees. If your cube was on a space with one or more tiles before rolling, the top tile sticks magnetically to the cube face that was touching it. Only one tile per face though, so there’s a bit of planning involved. You can pivot your cube on the spot, which is useful if you’re trying to line up a face with space for a tile. You can also retrieve your cube, bringing it back to your board to score tiles. Object tiles score as sets, with larger groups earning more points, while coins are set aside for later. And lastly, you can simply pass your turn if none of the other options make sense.
As players empty tile stacks, new abyss tiles get added. These tiles usually don’t give you anything when you move onto them, but in the basic game, abyss tile A gives you a free second move. In the advanced game, all the abyss tiles have special powers. These might let you swap tiles, rotate your cube, move other players, or otherwise shake things up in the middle of the game. It creates a few surprises and a good bit of interaction without turning things too chaotic.
The game ends once all abyss tiles are in play, which depends on player count. After that, everyone takes one final turn and retrieves their cube to score what’s left. Players add up their scored sets and coins, then get bonuses for having the most of each background colour and each object type. Colour majorities are worth five points for the leader, two for second place. Object types give different bonuses depending on what you collected. Diamonds are worth the most, while starfish are the easiest to collect but score less.
The advanced mode is a bit more competitive, with powers that make timing more important. The kids’ version dials everything down. Players only roll and retrieve. If their cube is in the personal area, they place it and end their turn. If all six faces are full, they must retrieve it. That version ends when someone fills their board, with no final scoring needed. It’s clean, quick, and ideal for younger kids or anyone who just wants to mess about with the cubes.
Artwork, Components and Visual Design
The most eye-catching part of Octocube is, without a doubt, the cubes themselves. Big, colourful, and covered in swirling tentacles, they look slightly ridiculous and completely brilliant. Each player gets one in a bold colour like red, green, orange, or purple. They’re fun to hold and satisfying to roll, especially when the magnets kick in and tiles snap onto the faces.
The tiles are small but sturdy, and have a glossy finish that makes the illustrations pop. Object tiles show starfish, amphorae, sextants, pearls, and diamonds, each with their own background colours. The background colours aren’t just decorative either; they actually play into scoring. The coins have a little gold skull design that fits the theme nicely, and the backs of all tiles show stylised tentacles, so even the reverse side looks good.
The player boards are functional and thematic. On the standard side, they’re divided into rows by colour to show different ocean depths. That helps with tile organisation and endgame scoring. The background has subtle marine shapes and silhouettes to give you the feeling of diving deeper into the sea. Flip the board over for the kids’ version and it’s simplified, but still keeps the bright underwater look.
Abyss tiles have darker artwork and more abstract icons, which helps them stand out from the other tiles. The first player marker is a big tentacle curled around a golden 1. It doesn’t need to look this fancy, but we love that it does. Victory point tokens are thick cardboard coins with clear values, and the rulebook uses light, aquatic colours and easy-to-follow illustrations. Everything ties together into a bright, friendly theme that feels inviting on the table.
Our Experience
Right from the first roll, it’s clear: this game is just as much about feeling the movement as it is about thinking through your next move. Rolling these big octocubes across the board is already fun, but when the magnets kick in and a tile snaps into place, it’s weirdly satisfying. You start to develop a bit of a connection to your cube, like it’s your little underwater treasure buddy.
The magnet system works far better than we expected. It’s just strong enough to hold the tiles firmly without making anything fiddly. Even when a cube has several tiles attached, it still rolls smoothly. Of course, once a face has a tile stuck to it, you can’t collect another one on that side, which means you’re constantly thinking about orientation and timing. It becomes a rolling puzzle.
In the basic game, it’s all about grabbing sets and keeping an eye on the endgame bonuses. Larger sets score more, but there’s only so much time and space, and other players won’t hesitate to roll in and snatch the tile you’ve been eyeing up. The shared grid adds some interaction that you can’t avoid, especially when it comes to blocking someone’s path or stealing a tile at just the wrong time.
The kids’ version was a hit too, especially with younger players. It cuts down the rules and lets them focus on what they enjoy most: rolling, collecting, and seeing their boards fill up with colourful tiles.
The advanced game changes the tone a bit. Suddenly, players are pulling clever tricks and disrupting each other’s plans using abyss powers. Someone moves a tile stack out of your reach, or moves your cube when you didn’t ask for it. It’s not mean-spirited, but it does shake things up, and makes timing more important.
Our Thoughts
We came into Octocube curious but cautious. It’s got a quirky visual hook: magnetic cubes shaped like octopuses rolling across the board, and those kinds of gimmicks don’t always deliver something deeper. But to its credit, the game does have some clever ideas underneath the novelty.
What it does well is accessibility. It’s quick to teach, and it gets people playing fast. The spatial puzzle of rolling, collecting, and managing your cube’s orientation gives it a bit more bite than it might seem at first glance. And yes, the magnetic system is surprisingly satisfying and works smoothly. No small feat when components like this could easily feel fiddly or clunky.
That said, it’s not the kind of game that will hold up to endless replaying if you’re mainly into strategy-heavy games. There’s not much long-term arc or engine-building here. You grab what you can, work with what’s in front of you, and sometimes just get blocked by better timing. The abyss powers in the advanced version add some unpredictability and interaction, but it doesn’t suddenly turn it into a gamer’s game. And that’s okay, not every game has to aim for that.
Where it really shines is with mixed groups. Families, casual players, or anyone who enjoys physical, puzzle-like games will probably get a kick out of it. It’s easy to get into, and the fun comes from the movement and interaction more than from deep planning. It also scales reasonably well. It works with two, but with three or four, there’s a lot more tension and competition for tiles, which improves the pacing.
We did find that it can drag a little if someone takes ages thinking through every move. The puzzle part is engaging, but turns can occasionally stall if players get too bogged down in planning, especially in the basic or advanced versions.
So, Octocube isn’t going to replace your favourite heavy game night title, and it’s not trying to. It’s a light, tactile game that does what it sets out to do: deliver a playful experience with just enough decision-making to keep it interesting. It’s good for what it is. And we’re happy to have it as part of our collection for lighter moments.
📝 We received a copy of Octocube from Geronimo Games for review.
