The Rubik’s cube: a famous toy released in the mid-1980s that appeared in nearly every home across the country. It puzzled people for hours on end who had the excitement of solving this incredible toy. But recently, solving cubes has become even more intense than ever before, with people competing to solve this famous puzzle in record time.
But how did this legendary cube begin? In 1974, a Hungarian design teacher named Erno Rubik created this fantastic cube which he dubbed “The Magic Cube.” It was submitted to a toy company known as “Ideal toy & Novelty Company and renamed the “Rubik’s Cube.” In only its first 3 years, about 200 million were sold.
Rubik began working on algorithms with his students to solve the cube between its invention and release to the world. Although not as efficient as modern 3 x 3 x 3 algorithms, they were the first.
Péter Sebestény, noticing the popularity of the 3 x 3 x 3 cube, designed the 4 x 4 x 4 and 5 x 5 x 5 in 1981. These did not gain as significant of acclaim as the 3 x 3 x 3, but still sold in the millions. The 2 x 2 x 2 was actually invented before the 3 x 3 x 3 in 1970 by Larry Nichols, but was not introduced to the public.
The first Rubik’s Cube solving competition occurred in Budapest, Hungary and was won by Minh Thai, a student from Los Angeles who solved the cube in 22.95 seconds. Nowadays, cubers are much faster due to the rise of more advanced cubes and algorithms. The current 3 x 3 x 3 record is 3.13 seconds, held by Max Park, and the one-handed record is 6.2 seconds, also achieved by Max.
The current leading cube brands are Rubik’s, QY Toys, and GAN. GAN is considered the highest performance cube with their best product boasting frosted surfaces, adjustable magnets, easily to lubricate joints, corner twist prevention, a neat little case, and wireless connection to a smartphone to track solves and virtually compete against others (that’s a lot!) However, GAN cubes are usually more expensive than most are willing to pay, the priciest reaching almost $150, but they are the ideal cube for the elite solver. The Japanese company of QY toys comes in second, with exceptional quality and low prices. Priced even lower than Rubik’s themselves, the 3 x 3 x 3 cost only $5 when I purchased it. They make magnetic and non-magnetic cubes, which are both good well-rounded and general cubes for the amateur, hobbyist, or enthusiast. Rubik’s, although the original, usually has the lowest quality of cubes at seemingly unreasonable prices. I once purchased their 5 x 5 x 5, which jammed a lot, was extremely loud when it was being turned, and broke in the second week. I bought a QY toys 7 x 7 x 7 for $5 less and much higher quality. However, Rubik’s still has the highest annual sales to date due to the fact that people know less about the other brands and consider them knock-offs of the original (which they are, but they’re better). Although Rubik’s makes lower quality cubes, they do sell some unique products that other companies don’t offer, such as the Rubik’s Phantom (color panels are black at first sight, but reveal only to heat), and the Rubik’s Impossible (panels change color when viewed from a different angle, this is the most difficult cube I own!!!).
There is an immensely large history of Rubik’s cubes, much more than I could cover in this short article, but I hope you now have an idea of the fascinating story behind this amazing cube and the progress it has made over the past 50 years.
In the meantime, I encourage you to maybe learn how to solve cubes from one of the many online tutorials. It is very fun and addictive once you learn how, I assure you.
