The History of the Rubik's Cube and Different Cubes
The Original Rubik's Cube
3x3 Speed Cubes
Since the original Rubik's cube came out, many companies have made speedier 3x3s. Most of these companies are Chinese, like Moyu, Dayan, Shengshou, and more. Some other brands are Cong's Design, Cubetwist, Calvin's Puzzle, Yuxin, MF8, Fangshi, and Lanlan. There are lots of different speed cubes. Arguably, the best cube is Moyu's Aolong V2 which is my main. Some other good 3x3 cubes are the Moyu Tanglong, Moyu Weilong, Dayan Zhanchi, Fangshi Shuangren, and the Yuxin fire.
The World Record Single is 5.25 sec. by Collin Burns and the World Record Average is 6.54 sec. by Feliks Zemdegs |
2x2 Speed Cubes
There are other sizes of Rubik's Cubes as well. 2x2s are really easy to solve. The best 2x2 is probably the Moyu Lingpo. Some others are YJ Yupo, Fangshi Shishuang, Yuxin 2x2, Shengshou Aurora, and the Dayan 2x2.
The World Record Single is .58 sec. by Rami Sbahi and the World Record Average is 1.51 by Lucas Etter. |
4x4 Speed Cubes
After the Rubik's Cube came out in 1974, someone else decided to make a 4x4 version of a Rubik's Cube. He called it the Rubik's Revenge.
Since then, many companies have made other versions of the 4x4. Some 4x4s out there today are the Moyu Aosu, Moyu Weisu, YJ Yusu, Shengshou 4x4 v5, Cyclone Boys 4x4, Yuxin 4x4, and the Lanlan 4x4. The best is probably either the Moyu Aosu or the mini Aosu. The World Record Single is 21.54 by Feliks Zemdegs and the World Record Average is 26.03 by Sebastian Weyer. |
5x5 and 6x6 Speed Cubes
The 5x5 is also called the Professor's Cube. There are lots of 5x5s out. Some are the Moyu Huachuang, Moyu Aochuang, Yuxin 5x5, Shengshou 5x5, and the Lanlan 5x5. The best is either the Moyu Huachuang or the Moyu Aochuang. The Aochuang pops more, though.
The World Record Single is 47.25 by Feliks Zemdegs and the World Record Average is 50.23 by Feliks Zemdegs. The 6x6 is just another layer bigger. Some 6x6s are the Moyu Aoshi, Shengshou 6x6, and YJ 6x6. The best, as you may have guessed, is the Moyu Aoshi. The World Record Single is 1:33.55 by Kevin Hays and the World Record Average is 1:45.98 by Kevin Hays. |
7x7 and Above
The 7x7 is the biggest cube in WCA (World Cubing Association) Competitions. Some of them are the Moyu Aofu, Moyu Cubic Aofu, Shengshou 7x7, and the Lanlan 7x7.
The World Record Single is 2:23.55 by Feliks Zemdegs and the World Record Average is 2:33.73 by Feliks Zemdegs. Cube size goes up to 13x13 for mass produced puzzles, but there isn't a mass produced 12x12. There is a Shengshou 8x8 and eventually Moyu will make their 8x8, there is a Shengshou 9x9 and 10x10. Then, there's the Yuxin 11x11 and the Moyu 13x13, which is $300! There is a 17x17 and a 28x28 prototype. You can find the video for the 28x28 here. |
Other WCA Puzzles
There are four other WCA Puzzles that are common. There is the Pyraminx, the Megaminx, the Skewb, and the Square-1.
Pyraminx The pyraminx is a four sided Rubik's Cube shaped like a triangular prism. This is also called a tetrahedron (see below for more tetrahedrons). Some pyraminxes are the Moyu Pyraminx, the Shengshou Pyraminx, QiYi Pyraminx, and the Dayan Pyraminx. Megaminx The Megaminx is a twelve sided Rubik's Cube, which is also called a dodecahedron (see the section on dodecahedrons below). Some megaminxes are the YJ Yuhu Megaminx, Shengshou Megaminx, Dayan Megaminx, and the MF8 Megaminx. Skewb The skewb is a corner turning, six sided puzzle that is pretty easy to solve. Some Skewbs are the Moyu Skewb, Shengshou Skewb, QiYi Skewb, and the Lanlan Skewb. Square-1 The square-1 is a weird puzzle that I don't know how to describe. It bandages and shape shifts and half of it turns at a time. Some square-1s are the Shengshou Square-1, QiYi Square-1, Cubetwist Square-1, MF8 Square-1, and the Calvin's Square-1. |
Shape Modifications
A shape modification, or shape mod, is a cube that looks like something else, but is really a 3x3 or something. There are lots of shape mods out there. I'll talk about 3x3 and 4x4 mods.
One of the most famous 3x3 shape mods is the Fisher cube. It was invented by Tony Fisher. It's basically a 3x3 rotated 45 degrees. Some other popular 3x3 shape mods are the Mastermorphix, Mirror blocks, Axis cube, Windmill cube, Ghost cube and the Twist cubes. There aren't as many 4x4 shape mods as there are 3x3 shape mods. Some 4x4 shape mods are the 4x4 Mastermorphix, 4x4 Fisher cube, 4x4 Windmill cube, and the 4x4 mix-up cube. |
Cuboids
Cuboids are anything that isn't a cube, I guess. They are usuallly rectangular prisms. Some examples are 3x3x1, 2x2x1, 3x3x2, 3x3x4, 3x3x6, and 4x4x5. There are a lot of other cuboids out there. Some cuboids can shape shift, or change shape, and some can't. Most of the small cuboids are easy to solve and you can apply some methods to bigger cuboids.
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Tetrahedrons
Dodecahedrons
If you read the section about the Megaminx, you know that a Dodecahedron is a twelve sided 3D object. There are Dodecahedrons other than the Megaminx, though. Most of these are bigger Megaminxes such as the Gigaminx, Teraminx, Petaminx, and Yottaminx. Another cube is the Flowerminx which I know nothing about.
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Gear Puzzles
Other Puzzles
There are a lot of other puzzles that I haven't talked about or listed. Some are the Rubik's Clock, Magic, Snake, Curvy Copter, and Void Cube. There are lots more different puzzles out there, but I want to talk about some of these. Clock is a puzzle with dials on it and I don't know how to solve it. There are knobs on the sides to turn the dials, but I don't know anything else about it except that it's a WCA event. Magic is a folding puzzle where there are three rings that you need to connect. The snake puzzle is a puzzle that has many pieces that twist around. You can make a lot of shapes with it. The Curvy Copter is a puzzle that bandages and turns weird. I don't have one and I don't know how to solve it. The Void Cube is a 3x3 cube that doesn't have a center.
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