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Curiosity enters final 50 layers

Molyneux says the prize at the core will be "experimental and thought-provoking"

22 Cans' debut project, the iOS and Android title Curiosity, now has just 50 layers remaining before what's inside the cube is revealed to a single person.

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Since November 6 last year, the intriguing mobile and tablet game has drawn in about five million users, according to creator Peter Molyneux.

The game asks players to tap away at tiny cubelets which together form layers of a massive cube. Brick by brick, these layers have been shed, revealing a slightly smaller cube in the centre in a Russian Doll fashion.

Now, some seven months later, Molyneux has revealed to CVG the progress made so far, and offered new hints about what is in the centre of the cube.

"We thought we would get to where we are now, which is past 270 layers," Molyneux said in a newly published interview.

"We're talking about 25 billion cubes destroyed so far. That is a vast number. If one person had to do that it would take them 806 years to do it. There's been about five million different users involved in the experiment, with about 100 million cubelets destroyed per day."

The Curiosity experiment will end when the final 50 layers are stripped. It has been determined that the person who breaks the final block will be the only person to receive a secret "life changing" reward.

"There are only three people in the world that know what's in the cube," Molyneux told CVG.

"Myself, the sound engineer who recorded the sounds of the final video and one other person. The answer to what's inside is as interesting as the journey to the centre. What's in there is as experimental and thought-provoking as the whole game. It is definitely life-changing, by any measure, and it's only possible into today's world."

Reflecting on the whole Curiosity experiment, Molyneux said he was disappointed by server issues but amazed by community contributions to the project.

"I remember one person went on Curiosity and sketched the Twin Towers. Then someone else drew a plane crashing into them. And then someone changed all that into a big peace sign. I mean, all of these live commentaries are fascinating.

"If you limit people's ability to communicate, then they find other ways. We've been astounded by that. I was also amazed by a group of Italians who set out to turn all the penis drawings into palm trees."

22 Cans' next project is the PC and iOS game Godus, which has been funded about half a million pounds on Kickstarter. Molyneux says that the lessons taken from Curiosity will inform features in Godus.

"We have taken specific things from Curiosity and have added them into Godus, like giving people the chance to interact together."

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