How did you get into cubing?

[jun349]

Hi. so the other day i was thinking i would be cool if you all could share why/how you got into cubing, and here we are!
For me, personnally, i got into cubing when i was like 8 and found a youtube video (was made by cubeorithms, props to him ), and the rest is history.
anyway, bye for now

 

[precompsubwr]

I got my first cube in 2018, tried to solve it by color and gave up, then in 2019 I got a mini rubik's cube from a gift box (keep in mind this was still elementary school). Once I got home I decided to finally learn how to solve it, I then got a 2x2-5x5 pack, then the rest is history (you're prob gonna see this phrase a lot)

I remember getting my first sub 20 3x3 solve from a let's race redkb video (it was around 18.7) and then progressing really fast from there

I also had the same main 7x7 since 2021, until I finally got the aofu recently

 

[Dylan K]

Around 7 years ago, (when I was 10 years old) I got a $20 Target gift card from a Christmas party and one of the things that I bought was a Rubik's Cube. I ended up solving it using TheCubicle's beginners method tutorial (best tutorial imo) and from there, I wanted to solve it faster so I got a speedcube (the QiYi Warrior W) and that started my love for Rubik's Cube like puzzles. The next puzzles that I ended up getting were a 4x4 and a 5x5 so that's probably why I like big cubes now. The rest is history.

 

[NebraskanSpeedsolver]

Time: December 2020

I was hanging out at a friends house, and he used to have a lot of random Rubik's products, mostly cubic puzzles. He could solve them, not the fastest but he could. I was intrigued and asked him to teach me. So we sat down and wrote it all down.

We were up till 5 am binge watching Harry Potter movies and teaching me the cube. By the end of the next day, I ended up doing my first timed solve from memory, and it was like 8 minutes. Started actually speedcubing around January of 2023. That's when I realized it was really fun to be super fast.

 

[Spencer131]

I started around 2013 because my friend did it

once I fell down the rabbithole, I never climbed out

 

[ifpigscouldfly54]

I learned to solve it when i was 6 from my dad, then sort of forgot about it for 6 years. For my 12th birthday i asked for some cubes out of nowhere and learned to do it faster. I now do nothing else with my life.

 

[Lord_Oscar]

Told this story a few times, but I'll go into detail here.
(Some of the details are very clear in my mind, and some are somewhat fuzzy, so there may be some inaccuracies.)

When I was 8, my late grandmother bought me a Rubik's Cube as a birthday present. At the time, a few people at my school could solve one, and I was interested in the idea.
I tried to solve my new cube for all of 10 minutes, gave up and put it on my shelf.

The cube stayed on my shelf until 3 years later, when we had a COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand. I learnt to solve through the guide published by Rubik's. As soon as I could solve the cube, I wanted to get faster. At the time, I was the type of kid who would pick up a hobby and be invested in it for a few weeks before dropping it. However, I kept going for almost a year. I brought my times down to around 30 seconds before stopping. I'm not sure why I stopped, I think it's because I started getting into other things, like chess and Tetris.

After not touching a cube for a year, I suddenly restarted cubing. I was sitting at my desk, waiting for Chess.com to load, saw my QiYi MS 3x3, and started turning. I immediately shelved chess and started practising cubing again. After about 3 months, I Googled "Rubik's Cube competitions, NZ" and found the link to New Zealand Nationals 2023. At the competition, I spent almost 3 hours running 3 rounds back-to-back-to-back and met so many people who I am friends with.

Since my first competition, I've reached the top 150 in New Zealand for Pyraminx average and single - one of my proudest achievements. I'm currently in the midst of co-organising a competition that is yet to be announced (gotta get that self-promo in), and am completely invested in cubing. As Feliks Zemdegs said in Why We Cube, to some, speedcubing, is a hobby. To others, it is who they are. Speedcubing plays a huge part in my life. I've met so many people who I am lucky enough to call my friends, and I could not be more grateful to everyone who's played a part in my speedcubing journey.

P.S: "Everyone who's played a part in my speedcubing journey," includes you guys. Thanks for entertaining the (often) strange notions I've said here.

 

[1x1 wr holder!]

Around 7 years ago, (when I was 10 years old) I got a $20 Target gift card from a Christmas party and one of the things that I bought was a Rubik's Cube. I ended up solving it using TheCubicle's beginners method tutorial (best tutorial imo) and from there, I wanted to solve it faster so I got a speedcube (the QiYi Warrior W) and that started my love for Rubik's Cube like puzzles. The next puzzles that I ended up getting were a 4x4 and a 5x5 so that's probably why I like big cubes now. The rest is history.

we have exactly the same story sequence like no cap dead serious same story. had gift money ran to the toy aisle and wanted a rubix cube. used the cubicle turtorial (is the best) bought a qiyi warrior W, and then got 4x4. the rest is indeed history.

 

[LukasCubes]

my uncle solved one in like 5 minutes when i was 11 so i said "I'm wanna do that" and did it. yay

 

[1x1 wr holder!]

my uncle solved one in like 5 minutes when i was 11 so i said "I'm wanna do that" and did it. yay

double yay

 

[bldcuber314]

I got my first cube so long ago I can't even remember how many years back it was. Then I spent a year just doing one side over and over again(I was like 7-8 years old) before I decided to learn 2x2. Then I realised I could solve all the corners on the 3x3 using the 2x2 method, and after a day managed to solve the whole cube for the first time, using corners first.

I don't remember how, but after this I was able to solve the whole cube using a layer by layer method. I remember that I independently came up with the method for doing first two layers(not that it was anything very unique) but to this day have no clue how I did LL. I don't think it was Beginners, but this was also before I learnt any kind of beginner OLL/PLL.

Soon, I got my first speedcube(Qiyi Warrior lol) and learnt the method from the tutorial for LL(which involved like 15 looks, as well as using two A perms with B moves instead of a Y perm). I got to around a 45-50 second average. I also got a new 2x2(non-magnetic Qiyi) and Pyra(non-magnetic Qiyi). A Skewb(non-magnetic Qiyi) and 4x4(Rubik's brand).

Then after a while, I just sort of stopped. I think it was because I was quite young at the time for cubing standards, and I had never met another cuber(I think). I wasn't really old enough to start getting to anything serious really. What was kind of sad was that after this, I actually completely forgot how to solve a cube at one point.

Then after a couple of years(I don't know precisely) I saw a guy solving a cube at school. He told me that he cubed together with some other kids in the library at lunch. We started a cubing club, and I picked up cubing again.

It's been nearly 2 years since then, and now I can solve a cube blindfolded faster than I used to take 2 handed!

I hope speedsolving.com doesn't have a limit for how long posts can be...

 

[CubeLite]

So I had a rubik's cube in my house for maybe like 4-5 years, my mom bought it for me an dmy brother, and we could solve 1 face and that's it, I remember that he was able to solve 2 sides and I was very surpised.
But then on 8th o August, everything chanced, I was scrolling on youtube shorts () and saw CubeHead's video about 5 facts that every non-cuber should know

and when he said that he has a tutorial I said, ok, I will learn today, I went, got the cube and watched the tutroail, I reached at the last corners and he said that I need 1or every corner to be permuted, and I think I had 2 or 3, and then I realised that the corners where wrong, since in those 4-5 years, the cube exploded and being putted wrong, so after correcting it, I was able to solve it, then I think after half an hour of rewatching the video, I was able to solve it without the tutorial, I went to my parents and they were shocked, and after that,I sawed to my brother, which he was more shocked, and then he also learnt how to solve it, then the next day, my parents went shopping, and they got me and my brother a skewb and a barrel cube (carbonfiber ones), I learnt how to solve also the skewb, and also soemting that I didn't tell, was that the christmas before this, my aunt got me a "speedcube", it didn't had magnets, but it turned better than the other.
Then in october I wanted a 4x4, but got instead a better 3x3.

 

[abunickabhi]

I bought a rubik's brand cube in 2010 from a toy store and saw badmephisto's videos. The rest is history yo!

 

[Bingus cuber]

I got a mini cube for Christmas one year. My mom wanted to learn how to solve it. She learned, then she taught me. The rest is history.

 

[randomness...]

found cardistry, tried that first, gave up after a while of not understanding it (I'm now going back to it : D), and as I was scrolling YouTube I found Jperms how to solve a cube.
I was pretty much in the same situation I was right now, where I was over one thing, and stumbling onto another
4+ years was from a scroll!

 

[Garf]

I learned how to solve one about game development, then I got interested in speedcubing after learning different methods to solve and getting a Speedripper in December 2019. So I learned how to get fast during the pandemic and now.

 

[Jilli0]

I was around 7 or 8. My family usually takes a trip to California every year and one year my grandpa was trying to solve a rubiks cube. I thought it was cool, and tried to help him. We eventually got it and I was super proud of myself, but I wouldn't actually get seriously into it until I was around 12 or 13. I don't cube to much, just on and off now. I will always appreciate my grandfather for introducing me to the world of cubing.

EDIT: I think the first time I ever saw the cube solved was when I was like 6 at my local church. I guess I didn't think much of it then

 

[asbjorn]

When I was a tiny little child, I was rifling through things in the basement, and found my dad's OG Rubik's brand cube from the 80s. He helped me solve up to F2L, and told me how he solved it in under 2 mins at a talent show back then. That's what made me want to beat his time. Idk how long it took to beat his time, but it took me about a week to solve it for the first time with no help. Thanks Dan Brown for the tutorial lol. Good times.

 

[precompsubwr]

I got my first cube in 2018, tried to solve it by color and gave up, then in 2019 I got a mini rubik's cube from a gift box (keep in mind this was still elementary school). Once I got home I decided to finally learn how to solve it, I then got a 2x2-5x5 pack, then the rest is history (you're prob gonna see this phrase a lot)

I remember getting my first sub 20 3x3 solve from a let's race redkb video (it was around 18.7) and then progressing really fast from there

I also had the same main 7x7 since 2021, until I finally got the aofu recently

Adding on to this, my mom had a friend (who bought the 2-5 pack for me) and he was able to solve a cube in about 2 minutes, so I thought it was cool and learned from a mix of Z3Cubing's tutorial and the rubik's website

I remember averaging 10 seconds on 2x2, learning ortega soon after (I progressed from beginner to sub 5 in about a month) and getting my first 3bld success in 8:37. I got into bld solving when I was on the bus ride to school in 5th grade, I got a time of 6:33, then low 6 minutes

I also remember learning how to solve a square-1 before actually owning one myself, then pretty quick after I got a 33 once I actually owned one. I have the whole set of qiyi cubes (2-7, all side events except for pyra which I gave away, skewb because I never got the qiyi, and squan I got but lost a piece) and my longest main was the 7x7

And it wasn't until 2023 (three years into my cubing career) when I finally decided to sign up for a competition and it didn't disappoint (I got overall PB2 4x4 solve and a great unknown ranking OH solve)

Edit: forgot about this but I learned how to solve 2x2 before 3x3

 

[unirox13]

Around 20 years ago, me and a few friends made a summer trip to the beach. We had my best friends grandfather's time share condo for the week. Thanks to a tropical storm coming up the east coast, our trip got rained out.

One of my friends was an avid reader so we all weathered the storm and headed to the local book store. I'm not big on reading, so while they were browsing books, I headed to the games and puzzles section of the store. I stumbled across Rubik's Cube that included a guide on how to solve it. I figured, why not learn something new this week and bought it.

By the end of the week I could solve the 3x3 on my own without needing the guide. When I got back from the trip and began researching more about twisty puzzles, I was amazed at how large not only the community was, but also by how many different puzzles were out there. I focused on speedsolving for a couple of years, but that all changed when I got a used 3x3x5 on ebay. The cuboid immediately made me realize that I wasn't nearly as worried about solving fast, I just enjoyed solving. Collecting and figuring out how to solve new and unique puzzles has been my passion ever since.

Now with a collection of nearly 300 puzzles, most of which are unique, I'm still going strong.