Find the right difficulty

Don’t know what to start with or what to buy for a friend who already has some cubes? Here comes a few fun cubes in five different degrees of difficulty, from easiest to hardest. You often start with the classic 3×3 cube, but starting with slightly easier puzzles is also a good option.

Do you think there are too many cubes in the list above? Here is some guidance on which path you can take in the choice of cubes. We assume that you have and can solve a 3×3 Rubik’s cube.

1. If you want to try easier cubes, we recommend you try Pyraminx and Skewb. Both of these are easier than a Rubik’s Cube but are fun and popular competitions events. So if you start getting fast at solving either of these, you can move on to more advanced methods and even compete.

   If you want to try something that is not a competition event, you can try the Redi Cube or a 3×3 Gear cube. Both are popular and fun cubes.

2. If you want to try something a bit trickier than a 3×3, we recommend the Megaminx, which is also a competition event. A Megaminx looks a lot harder than it actually is – so if you can solve the 3×3 cube, you will also be able to learn how to solve a Megaminx without any major problems. Other cubes you should try are different kinds of “shape mods”, which is basically a 3×3 but with a different shape. It is often fun to solve one of these after learning the 3×3 cube because you can build on the techniques you have already learned. Examples of 3×3 shape mods are the Qiyi Windmill cube, Qiyi Cylinder cube, Qiyi Mirror blocks, YJ Axis cube V2 and Z Cube twist 3×3.
3. Looking for a challenge? Learn to solve the 4×4 or 5×5. These are both competitive and very popular. You can also try a Cuboid, we recommend Calvins’ 3x3x5. DianSheng FTO is another puzzle that has become very popular lately and some even have wishes for it to become a competition event. The Mastermorphix and DianSheng Case cube are examples of more difficult Shape mods if you want to try one of those. More difficult versions of previous puzzles you have learned can also be included here. For example, the 4×4 Pyraminx or a Gigaminx. The Gigaminx works as a combination of a 5×5 and a Megaminx – so if you can solve these two puzzles, you can most likely solve the Gigaminx without a guide.
4. If you want something really difficult, don’t be fooled by the number of layers on a puzzle – it can often be misleading. In the suggestions above, we show for example a 9×9 and a Teraminx. But keep in mind that the actual solving method is the same for a Gigaminx, Teraminx and Petaminx. More pieces in this case mostly means that you have to do the same thing over and over again. It works the same way with, for example, a 6×6 and a 10×10. If you manage to solve the 6×6 cube, you can in theory solve a 100×100 using the same method. Worth noting here, however, is that there are differences between cubes with even and uneven layers. The 6×6 cube is solved like an 8×8 while a 9×9 is solved like an 11×11. So if you want to try two different sized cubes, we recommend that you try one with an odd number of layers and one with an even number of layers. For example, a 6×6 and a 7×7 or a 9×9 and a 10×10. A popular shape mod is the so-called Ghost cube. It’s basically a 3×3, so theoretically you can solve it using exactly the same algorithms you already know. But the crazy shape makes it incredibly difficult. Again, we can recommend the Square-1, which is perhaps the hardest competition event. But if you manage to get good at it, you can actually solve it really quickly.