WORDS Ciaran McGrath

Curiosity: It’s not a game, so what is it?

Not long ago, Peter Molyneux, one of the more divisive figures in the games industry, jumped ship from Electronic Arts. Now ensconced at experimental start-up 22cans, he has delivered Curiosity (iOS and Android) to the world.

Curiosity is a cube hanging in empty space, made up of billions of smaller cubes. Participants get to peck away at the smaller cubes, revealing layer after layer of the uber-cube. Why? Well, at the very centre lies a “life-changing” secret, which only one person will get to see.

This being a Molyneux production, the whiff of hype lies heavily around Curiosity. The first few days saw the servers congest to a crawl, followed by some speedy patching. Impressive for an app that marries social media with mass futility.

AT THE VERY CENTRE LIES A “LIFE-CHANGING” SECRET, WHICH ONLY ONE PERSON WILL GET TO SEE

To be fair, Curiosity has other features. Clicking earns coins that can be spent to see where Facebook friends (the ones without any shame) have clicked and where on the cube they last were. Some have taken to scrawling messages as they excavate, and others may just drop in to see the decorations on the latest layer. Still . . . that’s it. Once you run out of curiosity, you’ll find yourself running out of Curiosity.

It’s free, so drop in and maybe take a click or two. But remember that it’s not really a game. It’s just an experiment, and you’re the subject.