More than 40 years ago, Hungarian professor Erno Rubik had no idea that he had just created the most popular puzzle on the planet. Nearly 20 million units of the game are sold every year, but can everyone solve it?
All these sales were caused by the difficulty of solving this “riddle” and getting all the faces of the cube to be the same color. Such was the difficulty that even the puzzle's creator couldn't solve it. Rubik took almost a month to solve what he himself had created, even going so far as to doubt the existence of a solution.
Only just over 70% of the world's population solved this puzzle on their own, with most people needing a video tutorial. A challenge that led the Rubik company to market over 500 models with up to eight different variations.
The solution
There are several ways to solve the Rubik's cube puzzle, but one of them is to divide it into seven steps. The first step is to choose the color you want to start with. The central square never moves, only the cubes around it.
Similarly, it's important to distinguish between cubes that are edges and those that are corners. Edges are always located on the sides, while corners are in each corner.
Before you start, you should know that a basic cube has three levels: top, middle and bottom. Each level moves together.
How to get started
Let's start assembling our Rubik's cube. As mentioned above, the first step is to choose the color you want to start with. For example, if we choose white, we'll need to form a cross of this color. We look for the white edges on the cube and gather them all on the same face to form the cross.
The second step is to complete the white color by placing the four missing corners one by one. Once the white face is complete, we move on to the third step to complete the second level of the cube.
We need to place the four edges, the four side cubes that don't match in color, on our level. We're not looking for corners or centers, only edges.
Once we've reached the middle level, the fourth step is to form a cross on the face opposite the color we started with, in this case white. In other words, if you start with the top face, you now move on to the bottom face.
Once you've got the cross on the last face, the fifth step focuses on the edges, which must all be in their respective colors. Make sure that at least two of these edges are correctly positioned.
The penultimate step is to place the corners in their respective colors. Once this is done, simply turn the corners carefully to complete the Rubik's cube.
A complicated process
Over the years, hundreds of methods have been developed to solve this puzzle, but this one is the most effective to date. However, the process is considered so difficult that since its commercialization, associations have been set up to help people who can't solve it and develop an addiction.
But don't worry, if these seven steps seemed complicated, Rubik's official website offers a section with solutions for their cubes, videos included, to help you solve the most famous puzzle on the planet.
My name is Maggie and I'm a writer for thesilverink.com, a website dedicated to news, culture and lifestyle. I have always been passionate about writing and I decided to make it my profession by becoming a web editor. I work on counterpoint.info and I mainly take care of the lifestyle section. I like to share my discoveries and my favorites with the readers, whether it's about fashion, beauty, decoration or gastronomy.
