• Welcome to the Speedsolving.com, home of the web's largest puzzle community!
    You are currently viewing our forum as a guest which gives you limited access to join discussions and access our other features.

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community of 40,000+ people from around the world today!

    If you are already a member, simply login to hide this message and begin participating in the community!

Making 3x3 challenging again?

zslane

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
204
Forgive me if this has been proposed or discussed before, but I wasn't quite sure how to search for this idea, so I introduce it here.

In a world where the 3x3 cube can be solved in mere seconds, we often look for ways to make it challenging again. That's how we get things like blindfolded solving, one-handed solving, etc. But has anyone considered the following simple tweak (to the cube itself):

cco.png

Imagine a 3x3 cube in which the center pieces have a sticker/graphics as shown in the image above. Each center face shows four small triangles/arrows pointing to the color of the adjacent face in the given cardinal direction. When these arrows point to the matching color we say the centers have Canonical Center Orientation (CCO). So, the solving challenge here is to scramble the cube and then to not only solve all the face colors, but to also restore CCO.
 

ProStar

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2019
Messages
6,253
Location
An uncolonized sector of the planet Mars
WCA
2020MAHO01
SS Competition Results
Forgive me if this has been proposed or discussed before, but I wasn't quite sure how to search for this idea, so I introduce it here.

In a world where the 3x3 cube can be solved in mere seconds, we often look for ways to make it challenging again. That's how we get things like blindfolded solving, one-handed solving, etc. But has anyone considered the following simple tweak (to the cube itself):

View attachment 12837

Imagine a 3x3 cube in which the center pieces have a sticker/graphics as shown in the image above. Each center face shows four small triangles/arrows pointing to the color of the adjacent face in the given cardinal direction. When these arrows point to the matching color we say the centers have Canonical Center Orientation (CCO). So, the solving challenge here is to scramble the cube and then to not only solve all the face colors, but to also restore CCO.

This is the same concept as a picture cube, except it's a whole lot easier to solve. Also this really wouldn't be that much of a challenge, because it's just adding an alg at the end that can easily be predicted during PLL. Still a cool concept
 

Q--

Member
Joined
May 10, 2020
Messages
63
Location
I'm not sure either
WCA
2019MCGA02
This actually doesn't add much challenge to the puzzle, other than two incredibly easy algs that can also be done in mere seconds. If you've ever seen a picture cube, with six images on each side instead of colors, you'll notice that center orientation matters. This can also be seen on various 3x3 shapemods. You can easily control center orientation during a solve, or ignore them during the solve and solve them very quickly afterwards. I love the idea of making 3x3 challenging again, but this doesn't add much difficulty.
 

Tony Fisher

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
554
Location
UK
YouTube
Visit Channel
Yes, this kind of thing has been around probably since 1982 at least with things like the playing card picture cube. If you want to make it challenging again try bandaging it. Tape up a 2x2x2 corner group for example. There are a huge number of options and it costs almost nothing. Some make it incredibly hard.
 

ProStar

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2019
Messages
6,253
Location
An uncolonized sector of the planet Mars
WCA
2020MAHO01
SS Competition Results
Yes, this kind of thing has been around probably since 1982 at least with things like the playing card picture cube. If you want to make it challenging again try bandaging it. Tape up a 2x2x2 corner group for example. There are a huge number of options and it costs almost nothing. Some make it incredibly hard.

Great idea. A lot of times you don't even need to mod a 3x3. For example, to simulate a cube with a bandaged 2x2x2 you just scramble and solve with only RUF (unless I'm totally missing something)
 

Sub1Hour

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2018
Messages
1,873
Location
Utah
WCA
2018BECK05
YouTube
Visit Channel
Yes, this kind of thing has been around probably since 1982 at least with things like the playing card picture cube. If you want to make it challenging again try bandaging it. Tape up a 2x2x2 corner group for example. There are a huge number of options and it costs almost nothing. Some make it incredibly hard.
In fact, I believe that a cube is sold with extra parts you can change to make it bandaged in as many ways as you would like. I think it's from Meffert's but I can't remember the name and I'm not sure if anywhere still sells it.
 

JohnnyReggae

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
557
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
WCA
2015BOSW01
In fact, I believe that a cube is sold with extra parts you can change to make it bandaged in as many ways as you would like. I think it's from Meffert's but I can't remember the name and I'm not sure if anywhere still sells it.
You can find a DIY bandage mod here ... https://www.cubezz.com/Buy-5369-CubeTwist+Bandaged+3x3x3+Magic+Cube+Simplified+DIY+Kit+Black+.html

and here .... https://www.cubezz.com/Buy-3821-CubeTwist+Bandaged+3x3x3+Magic+Cube+DIY+Kit+Black.html
 

qwr

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
3,371
YouTube
Visit Channel
Great idea. A lot of times you don't even need to mod a 3x3. For example, to simulate a cube with a bandaged 2x2x2 you just scramble and solve with only RUF (unless I'm totally missing something)

that reminds me: I saw in a CubeSkills video, scrambling with only R, L, U moves to practice F2L inserts
 

SenorJuan

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2014
Messages
515
Location
U.K
I remember seeing other kids at my school with home-made picture cubes in 1981, so I imagine commercial ones would have been around at this time, too.
The Shepherd's Cube is also similar in concept. It has 9 arrows pointing the same direction on each face. Hence the orientation of the centres need to match the rest of the face.
And I agree with Tony about the 'bandaged cube' , just a bit of adhesive tape is all it takes to totally change the puzzle.
Another thing that's pretty straightforwards is to make two adjacent faces the same colour. As well as simply making you think more, it also introduces parity, due to there being an edge-piece with two stickers the same ... though this could be viewed as an annoyance, rather than a challenge.
 
Top