IQ-Quub

‍Luckily, not all of my recent work has been about variations on existing games. With IQ-QUUB, I had the chance to develop something truly new. Interestingly, it started life as a fifth entry in the IQ-Go series. When I was working on that new sub-collection, I wanted to test whether the dimensions  would allow enough flexibility for future designs.  Often game boards need to have a specific aspect ratio for orthogonal grids. For the regular IQ’s this is for example 5x11 (IQ-Puzzler Pro) or 4x8 (IQ-Waves and IQ-Circuit). But the game board for IQ-Go games is less long and rather 5x8 or 4x6.

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‍The initial idea was to move away from filling squares in a grid and instead focus on filling the grid lines. This gave the game a distinct look, a little reminiscent of Walls & Warriors. It also had two practical advantages: less material (air between the lines is free), and easier-to-grab pieces. The working title was IQ-Hashtag, because so many of the shapes resembled  the “#” symbol. The early prototypes had thin, rounded pieces that looked cute, but since we already had four IQ-Go titles to launch, this one was set aside. Later, when I realized I didn’t yet have a strong concept for the standard 2026 IQ line, I came back to it. I added new pieces, thickened the shapes, and started wondering: could these pieces also be used to form a solid cube? After some computer simulations, I found a set with 25 unique 3D packings. At first glance, a solved cube looked a bit like a Happy Cube, but with one key difference: IQ-QUUB produces a solid cube, while Happy Cubes are hollow. Adding the 3D element really lifted the concept to another level and we really had an eureka moment when we realized it was possible. But the changes needed to allow cube-building created a new problem: the pieces no longer perfectly filled the rectangular grid for the 2D challenges. I was missing three little squares. Removing them from the board left it asymmetrical and unattractive. As a puzzle designer, I like irregular boards because they eliminate symmetrical solutions and force more variety. But visually, I prefer simple, regular or symetrical shapes. So I did the opposite of hiding this “flaw”: I highlighted it. I turned those missing spots into two fixed white squares on the board. To make them blend in better, I added three more white squares in areas where no piece could ever go anyway. Functionally, they do nothing, but visually, they balance the design. I worried the unusual piece shapes would make the puzzles too hard, but for the 2D challenges, the white squares actually provided useful hints and reduced placement options. The 3D challenges, however, were another story. Therefore, I structured the challenge progression carefully: three sides of the solved cube shown for Starter, two for Junior and Expert, and only one side for Master. For Wizard, you still get just one side, but not all pieces are revealed. At first, I thought simply showing a few squares would be enough, but that proved brutally difficult in testing. So I revised it: in Wizard, you see all the visible squares of selected pieces on that side, which makes the puzzles solvable — at least in theory. In practice, most Wizard challenges are still extremely difficult, but that’s exactly what the Wizard level is meant to be. IQ-Quub will be available Spring 2026.