The ÉCHEC O CUBE app has been completely rebuilt. Not a coat of paint: the way the game is laid out and played has been rethought. Here is what you will find when you open it.
The board finally gets the whole screen
Before, you had to scroll to see the bottom row of your own board. The logo, the score cards and nine buttons ate two thirds of the screen before the game even started.
Now the board is centred, whole, visible at a glance. The score sits in a thin bar at the top, with a gauge showing who is ahead. The controls moved to the bottom, under your thumb, and there are only four left: light, dark, red, undo. Everything else is tucked into a menu that slides up.
Playable grooves light up
This is the change that helps new players most. As soon as you pick your colour, every groove where you are allowed to play lights up. No more guessing.
One detail we care about: the possibilities are short dashes, while a placed pawn is a long bar. The shape tells them apart, not just the colour — so it works for colour-blind players too.
And if you don't want them, a button at the top right turns them off with one touch, and back on whenever you like. Your choice is remembered. Beginners keep them, experienced players switch them off. There is even a "Tournament: no help" setting that removes the lights and the tips in one go, to play as you would in competition.
You place the pawn by lifting your finger
Our pawns lie in grooves a few pixels wide: far too fine to aim at with a finger. Now you put your finger roughly in the right place and the pawn appears as a preview. Slide to adjust if needed. The move is only played when you lift your finger.
Six board looks, switchable mid-game
Neon Cube, Wood, Acrylic Cat, Electric Neon, Quebec Maple, Turquoise Ocean. The palette button at the top opens the strip of looks with a preview of each. One touch, the board changes immediately, the game carries on.
You can also choose the colour of your own light and dark pawns.
And since the choice stays on your device: in an online game, you play in Wood on your phone while your opponent plays in Neon on theirs, in the same game. Each of you sees the board you like.
Real sounds
Placing a pawn now makes a real wooden sound — three different recordings that alternate, with a slight variation each time, so no two moves ever sound the same.
And closing a cube no longer goes unnoticed. Four moods to choose from: Fireworks (a real rocket, a real detonation, then a finale), Cannon blast, Wood and Arcade. Plus a silent mode with vibration only. Each mood plays with one touch in the menu before you choose.
Turn the volume up the first time. That is what it is for.
Your victory rain
It now lives in the game menu, with an instant preview: confetti, flowers, jackpot, EOC pawns, or Quebec maple.
The Chat Blog during a game
Before, you had to leave your game and go back to the home screen to talk to someone. The Chat Blog is now in the game menu, within thumb's reach.
What you choose to see
Six separate switches in the menu: score, allowed moves, letters and numbers, tips, last move, lead gauge. And three quick settings: show everything, Zen (the board and nothing else), or Tournament (no help at all).
Tell us what you think
All of this was built to make the game clearer, nicer and more alive. But you are the one playing it.
What do you like? What annoys you? Which sound mood did you keep? Write to us in the comments or in the Chat Blog. Every remark gets read.
The app stays free until January 1, 2027.
ÉCHEC O CUBE — invented in Quebec in 1999. To play: jeu.echecocube.ca
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