Rubik's Cubes: A puzzle that doesn't take a genius to solve!

 Do you know what a Rubik's cube is?

Chances are, even if you don't know it by its name, you've probably seen it lying on someone's desk or on the shelves of a market. Maybe you have one at your home right now!

A 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube

But, you just haven't been able to find that motivation to learn how to solve it. One of the biggest misconceptions about them that prevent many people to start is that you need to be a good mathematician/talented person to be able to solve it. But is it really the case?

How to solve a Rubik's Cube?

If you can't solve a cube already, this may sound new to you, but all you need to be able to solve this puzzle is to know about 7-8 patterns and some sets of moves for each pattern (which we call algorithms). Overall you don't need to be a genius or anything.

If you prefer video tutorials, this is one of the easiest.

And if you like to read and figure out some things on your own, you can check the official guide. They have a pdf guide available with a video playlist too! I learned from this originally, but I think it might be a little harder for some people than the former.

Why should you solve it?

"If you are curious, you'll find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them." - Erno Rubik

The Rubik's cube has been the best-selling puzzle toy for decades and its popularity is no joke. When I was a kid I saw this puzzle for the first time in my house. Only my father and my elder brother were the ones who could solve one face of the puzzle at that time. Growing up I almost forgot about it but then I found the cube again on our shelves. I felt like there was this unfinished task that I had yet to complete. So this time I made sure to learn how to solve it and it was a rewarding experience.

Maybe you can relate to my story too. Most of us are already familiar with this puzzle already yet very few of us actually being able to. What's stopping you? Find yourself a good 30 minutes of free time and a cube, and you'll shock yourself with the results. 

Bonus

The Megaminx

If you know how to solve a Rubik's cube you also know how to solve two other official puzzles without needing to know anything else. They are the 2x2 and the Megaminx. They may look easy/tricky at first but they are just some modifications of the 3x3 puzzle.

Besides the feeling of overcoming a hurdle that you never thought you could cross, there are also some actual benefits of solving the cube.

Benefits of solving a Rubik's cube

1. Perseverance: A famous quote goes - "The first step is always the hardest". The first solve for every person is always the one with the most difficulty. You WILL mess up. But, this is where your perseverance gets tested! Will you back away from the challenge? Or push through?
2. Memorization: To get faster you'll need to learn more patterns over the Beginners' Method. As you slowly learn more about the cube your memorization skills will improve.
3. Visualization: Often cubers will refer to this as "Look-Ahead", where you try to see where some pieces will end up without turning the cube itself. It is a very useful skill to train which you can easily incorporate into many other activities!
4. Fine-Motor Skills: Max Park, one of the fastest cubers in the world, was born with autism with motor skill issues. Doctors found his solving Rubik's cube helped with this issue (Heersink, 2018). Hand-eye coordination is undoubtedly a must-have, and you can train it with this puzzle. 
5. A Relaxing Hobby: In the most challenging times, when you just want a break from the regular world, a Rubik's cube can be one of your best companions to help you relax. 
   

Variants of the puzzle

While the most popular puzzle is the 3x3x3 Cube (or 3x3 in short), there are many more variants of the puzzle that people solve and competitions are held for them. Some of the interesting ones of them are:

• 3x3 OH: Solving a 3x3 cube one handed. It requires greater dexterity, flexibility, and control of the cube than normal two-handed solving.
• 3x3 BLD: Solving a 3x3 cube blindfolded! Where you take some time to first look at the cube and then solve it while wearing a blindfold, no peeking! The methods used to solve it can be easy to understand but doing it can be very challenging indeed. 
• 3x3 FMC: The Fewest Moves Challenge. You get a specific scramble and 1 hour to find as short a solution as possible. This is a test of knowledge about the cube than speed.
• Beyond 3x3: That's right, this cube-shaped puzzle has bigger versions of it. Top-level competitions are held for cubes of size 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, and 7x7. But you can buy puzzles of higher dimensions from shops too.
• Non-cuboid puzzles: Bored of the standard 3x3 or just box-shaped puzzles? Then you can try your hands at these "out of the box" puzzles. These include Pyraminx, Megaminx, Square-1, Skewb, and Clock.

Takeaways

I hope that this blog post gives someone a new look into the world of cubing and gives it a shot. Over the years when I was surrounded by pressure from my academic work, club activities, events, and so on, ending a day by listening to some good music while solving a Rubik's cube is still one of my best hobbies. I hope you'll also be able to find joy both in and outside the cube.