Gameplay

Rubik’s Cube is a 3D combination puzzle. It is made up of 26 miniature cubes, or “cubies”, and each of these are interlocked with the other cubies. Each of the cube’s faces are made up of 9 cubies arranged in 3x3 rows. The object of the puzzle is to make each of the cube’s six sides one uniform color by twisting and turning the cubies.

History

Erno Rubik, a Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture, invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974. He invented the puzzle unintentionally, while trying to teach his architecture class about cubes. When he realized he created a puzzle, he called it the Magic Cube and applied for a patent. On January 30, 1975, the patent was granted, and in 1977, toy stores in Budapest were selling them. Tibor Laczi took the Magic Cube to Germany’s Nuremberg Toy Far in 1979 (with Erno Rubik’s permission) and signed a deal with Ideal Toys and renamed Rubik’s Cube. It made its international debut in early 1980. Rubik’s Cubes are now sold by Spin Master.

The public absolutely loved the Rubik’s Cube, but many had trouble solving it. Now, there are competitions all over the world to see who can solve the puzzle the fastest. The current record for solving a Rubik’s Cube is 3.13 seconds, held by Max Park. There are other competitions where contestants must solve the puzzle blindfolded, one-handed, with one’s feet, or in the fewest possible moves.

Variations

Many Rubik’s Cube variations simply made the original Rubik’s Cubes bigger, with the largest being 21x21x21. Other variations include mechanical products like Rubik’s Magic, 360, and Twist, electronic products like Rubik’s Revolution and Slide. There’s also Rubik’s TouchCube, in which sliding a finger across its face causes its patterns of colored lights to rotate the same way it would on a mechanical cube.

Rubik’s Cube has also inspired many art exhibits. The Liberty Science Center partnered with Google to design an interactive exhibit based on the Rubik’s Cube. It features a 35-foot-tall rooftop cube made of lights that people can manipulate with their phones. There is also the phenomenon of Rubik’s Cubism, in which artists create a picture using any number of solved Rubik’s Cubes. In 2010, Pete Fecteau created “Dream Big,” a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. using 4,242 Rubik’s Cubes.

Reception & Awards

The Rubik’s Cube was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014. It won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle in 1980. It is the world’s bestselling puzzle game and bestselling toy, selling over 450 million cubes as of March 2021, with that number growing every year.

To learn more about Rubik's Cubes, visit the brand's POP profile or Erno Rubik's POP profile.