2D Hedgehog - a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 flattened to 2D

Renslay

Renslay

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I made a Python application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 cube on the 2D flat surface, in an "unfolded" way.

This little project was inspired by Burkard Polster's video, "How to build and solve a 4D Rubik's cube in physical 3D (no simulator!)"
. In that video, he shows a physical puzzle, the Hedgehog, which is an "unfolded", 3-dimensional version of a hypothetical 4-dimensional 2x2x2x2 Rubik's Cube. He did this for educational purposes; the first physical 2x2x2x2 cube (in a much more playable form) was constructed by Melinda Green in 2017.

I needed the lower dimension version (3D cube on a 2D surface) for a presentation, but I couldn't find any. So I made it myself in Python, and I call it "2D Hedgehog".

Here you can try it online:

2D Hedgehog by Renslay

A 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube displayed in 2D.
renslay.itch.io

And here is the code if you are interested:
github.com

GitHub - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog: A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D.

A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D. - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog
github.com github.com
 
Artem Tabaliuk ( Артём ) said:
Nice project! The program that you made looks really nice, but it looks trippy if you turn multiple sides at once. Maybe you can make it so one can only turn one side at once so that the whole program doesn't crash. I'm not a programmer so don't take offence
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was an implementation choice that you can start a new animation while the previous one is still ongoing. The way it works is that the last move or rotation overwrites the destination of the tiles, so they look like they rush to their places in a chaotic way.

There are a few ways this can be prevented easily, but honestly, I found it funny, so I left it that way. :)
 
Renslay said:
View attachment 44274

I made a Python application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 cube on the 2D flat surface, in an "unfolded" way.

This little project was inspired by Burkard Polster's video, "How to build and solve a 4D Rubik's cube in physical 3D (no simulator!)"
. In that video, he shows a physical puzzle, the Hedgehog, which is an "unfolded", 3-dimensional version of a hypothetical 4-dimensional 2x2x2x2 Rubik's Cube. He did this for educational purposes; the first physical 2x2x2x2 cube (in a much more playable form) was constructed by Melinda Green in 2017.

I needed the lower dimension version (3D cube on a 2D surface) for a presentation, but I couldn't find any. So I made it myself in Python, and I call it "2D Hedgehog".

Here you can try it online:

2D Hedgehog by Renslay

A 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube displayed in 2D.
renslay.itch.io

And here is the code if you are interested:
github.com

GitHub - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog: A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D.

A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D. - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog
github.com github.com
Click to expand...
Wow that's really good!

I tried making a demo when the video was out, I even posted on hyperspeedcubers discord but I didn't continue developing the project.

This is as far as I went, using Gemini. (uploaded today but the project is dated of august, 27, 2025)
I didn't want to think or to research too much.


Thanks for releasing this project, I tried the python script and it is really good and performs really well 👏👏
 
Renslay said:
View attachment 44274

I made a Python application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 cube on the 2D flat surface, in an "unfolded" way.

This little project was inspired by Burkard Polster's video, "How to build and solve a 4D Rubik's cube in physical 3D (no simulator!)"
. In that video, he shows a physical puzzle, the Hedgehog, which is an "unfolded", 3-dimensional version of a hypothetical 4-dimensional 2x2x2x2 Rubik's Cube. He did this for educational purposes; the first physical 2x2x2x2 cube (in a much more playable form) was constructed by Melinda Green in 2017.

I needed the lower dimension version (3D cube on a 2D surface) for a presentation, but I couldn't find any. So I made it myself in Python, and I call it "2D Hedgehog".

Here you can try it online:

2D Hedgehog by Renslay

A 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube displayed in 2D.
renslay.itch.io

And here is the code if you are interested:
github.com

GitHub - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog: A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D.

A graphical application that simulates a 3-dimensional 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube "unfolded" into 2D. - HantosNorbert/2D-Hedgehog
github.com github.com
Click to expand...
wasn't there a YouTube video on something like this where you had to cut out 8 piecs of paper
 
Filipe Teixeira said:
Wow that's really good!

I tried making a demo when the video was out, I even posted on hyperspeedcubers discord but I didn't continue developing the project.

This is as far as I went, using Gemini. (uploaded today but the project is dated of august, 27, 2025)
I didn't want to think or to research too much.


Thanks for releasing this project, I tried the python script and it is really good and performs really well 👏👏
Click to expand...

That looks so cool! Would you continue it?
 
Renslay said:
That looks so cool! Would you continue it?
Click to expand...
Yes maybe I'll try rewriting it with Amazon Q

Also would you mind if I use your code as reference?

I can learn how you implemented most of the movements and also try to prevent te problems with the animation starting while others still not ended.
 
can you explain why do I have to apply y gyro (1/2) then y gyro (2/2)??

1764071734485.png
 
Filipe Teixeira said:
can you explain why do I have to apply y gyro (1/2) then y gyro (2/2)??
Click to expand...
The tool was originally made for a presentation, and I wanted to explain what is happening during a gyro: a shift in the elements, and then a tilt.
But I couldn't implement two animations following each other in an easy way. So, I made 2 buttons for it.

But you don't have to use the pink buttons.
The purple button "y (gyro) full" is the entire gyro move in one step. And the other purple button is the inverse.
 
JimmyJonLXXXVII said:
Wow. Just wow. We now have 3D puzzles, 2D puzzles, 3D puzzles on a 2D plane, 4D puzzles in a 3D world, and 4D puzzles on a 2D plane.
What's next...
Click to expand...
I saw on the hyperspeedcube Discord channel a 3D cube simulator in 1D:
image-1.png


Also, there are 5d and even higher dimensional puzzles visualized in 3d (projected onto the 2d screen), and even more craziness!
 
Renslay said:
I saw on the hyperspeedcube Discord channel a 3D cube simulator in 1D:View attachment 44312

Also, there are 5d and even higher dimensional puzzles visualized in 3d (projected onto the 2d screen), and even more craziness!
Click to expand...
Well that happened...

I'm so impressed with our world. and I love Erno Rubik.
 
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