Cubing is just something that never gets old. But, there’s more to cubing than just… Well, cubes. There are many interesting puzzles besides the basic NxN. This article covers some of the coolest, most interesting, and most challenging twisty puzzles.
Mirror Cube
This is one of the most popular shape-shifting cubes. Instead of solving the pieces by color, you solve pieces of different shapes into their correct spots, eventually bringing the cube into solved form. This puzzle can be solved by anyone who can solve a 3×3 but it requires more thinking and it’s a great mental challenge.
“The Amazing Mirror Cube” by Gabriel ‘Briel’ Rocha is marked with CC BY 2.0.
Megaminx
The megaminx is a dodecahedron-shaped puzzle similar to the Rubik’s Cube. It has 12 sides and is solved somewhat like a 3×3. Something interesting about this puzzle is it’s an official WCA event. This means that learning how to solve this puzzle gives you another event you can participate in at your next competition.
Edytor z Legnicy, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Fisher Cube
The Fisher cube, named after famous puzzle maker Tony Fisher, is reminiscent of the 3×3 but also quite different. It has sliced pieces and when scrambled changes shape drastically. This cube is solved with the 3×3 method but the solving experience is much more distinct.
cubemeister.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gear Cube
Finally, the gear cube. The gear cube is special because of how it turns. Although most gear cubes are very simple to solve, their turning mechanics are quite complex. When the layers of the cube are rotated, the gears in the center pieces are spun creating the illusion of spinning gears.
TheProdigy, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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