The original series offered contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4m × 4m × 4m perspex cube.

The challenges involve physical and mental tasks including catching, throwing, estimation, reacting, memorisation, and balancing.

[2][3] The game is played by a single contestant within a transparent Perspex cube that measures 4 metres along each edge.

The goal is to complete a series of seven games, each of which awards an increasing amount of prize money, before failing a total of nine times.

Games are selected for each individual contestant before the show to test their mental and physical faculties in various ways.

When a contestant succeeds, they are shown a preview of the next game and can decide to either stop playing and keep their winnings or continue and risk the money.

During a preview, the game is named and described by a male voice (provided by McFarlane) and demonstrated by "The Body," a woman dressed in a full-body jumpsuit and featureless metal mask.

The exact nature of the change, such as by allowing more time or increasing the size of a target zone, is not revealed until the contestant chooses to use Simplify.

"Trial Run" allows the contestant to make one practice attempt at a game with no lives or money at stake, then decide if they want to play or stop.

The seventh is runner Mo Farah, who successfully completed the final game on an episode of a 2012 celebrity series in which British gold medallist athletes competed for charity.

[6] The revival aired in 2020, renamed to The Million Pound Cube,[7] with pairs of contestants taking part who have a pre-existing relationship.

When a two-player game is introduced, it is demonstrated by two Bodies dressed in jumpsuits and masks as in the original version.

While the original Body displayed collar-length brown hair behind her mask, however, these two wear hoods that cover the backs and sides of their heads so that all physical features except their hands are entirely hidden from view.

In the revival format, a team have managed to beat the sixth game for the very first time, which became the eighth contestant to have a chance to attempt the jackpot but decided to walk away with £100,000.

[10] In February 2009, ITV purchased the rights to the show and filming began during April 2009 at Wembley's Fountain Studios.

The Cube is one of the first shows to use the game freeze filming technique on a frequent basis, such as when a contestant jumps in celebration.

Old series were broadcast in Bosnia and Herzegovina by RTRS, in Serbia by IQS Life and in Singapore by MediaCorp Channel 5.

[23] The German, Italian, Portuguese, Saudi Arabian, Spanish versions, and the 2010 U.S. pilot of The Cube were filmed at The Fountain Studios in London using the British set and games.

This app version originally featured sixteen games from the series: Balance, Cylinder, Descent, Drop Zone, Focus, Multisphere, Perimeter, Precision, Quantity, Reaction, Revolution, Shatter, Stabilise, Stop Zone, and Time Freeze.