Pixel Arcade
About this game
Cube Hopper is a hopping puzzle on a pyramid of 28 cubes drawn in isometric perspective. You start at the top and hop diagonally downward, and every cube you land on changes colour. Turn the whole pyramid one colour and the stage is complete.
The only movement is four diagonal hops on the arrow keys or the on-screen pad. That takes a few minutes to internalise, because pressing up sends you up-left or up-right depending on the key, and there is no way to move along the screen axes at all. Once it clicks, the pyramid reads like a grid and you can plan a full clearing route in advance.
The pressure comes from a coiled snake that hatches partway through each stage and follows your route exactly one hop behind, plus bouncing balls that fall down the left and right faces. You cannot fight any of them. What you can do is stand near an edge, let the snake commit, and then jump onto one of the floating discs at the sides — the snake follows you off the edge and falls, clearing the board for a large bonus.
Later stages change the rule: some cubes need two hops to reach the target colour, and in others landing again reverses the colour, which turns a careless route into a full reset. Isometric hopping cabinets were a short-lived but distinctive experiment in the early 1980s.
FAQ
The controls feel wrong — why?
The pyramid is drawn isometrically, so pressing up moves you diagonally up-left or up-right, not straight up. Think in terms of the cube edges, not the screen.
How do I deal with the snake?
Do not outrun it, out-position it. Hop toward an edge, wait one beat, then take a disc — it follows you off and falls.
Are later stages different?
Yes. Some need two hops per cube, and some let you undo your own colour by landing twice.
Related games
Found a bug or have an idea? Tell us on Discord. Join the Discord