For those unfamiliar with the Rubik’s Cube, it is a 3x3x3 cubic puzzle created by Erno Rubik in 1974, where you have to twist and turn the sides until all the faces of the cube are a solid color. Solving the puzzle can seem to be a daunting task, especially considering there are over forty-three quintillion potential variations of pieces in the puzzle. In this blog, I will simplify the process of understanding the Rubik’s Cube, and in future entries teach the basics for solving the puzzle, as well as showcasing more complicated puzzles with similar properties.

The main concept required for understanding the Rubik’s Cube is the three types of pieces: corners, edges, and centers. Corner pieces are, quite simply, the pieces that are on the corners of the cube. There are a total of eight corner pieces, each with three colors on an individual block. Edge pieces are the remaining pieces on the outer edge of the Rubik’s Cube. There are twelve of them, each with two colors on a piece. Finally, there are center pieces, which are the single-colored pieces in the center of each of the six faces on the cube. Compared to the other piece types, centers are the most important because they are stationary. No matter how you rotate and turn the puzzle, the orientation of the centers relative to each other is always the same. The white center is always on the opposite face from the yellow center, the green is always opposite from the blue, and the red is always opposite from the orange. Because of this property, each face of the Rubik’s cube is defined by the color of the center; for example, the face with the green center will be referred to as the green face.

In the next blog entry, I will explain the basic steps of solving the Rubik’s Cube, and eventually talk about all the puzzles pictured below! For those who want to get a head start, I will be discussing a similar solving method to that of this guide, as well as covering a more advanced method that I personally use when solving my Rubik’s Cubes.