What size first after 3x3

[Arbornaut]

Joined the forum for my 9 year old son, he got a rubiks brand cube for Christmas & has learnt the beginner method. Quite a few of his class mates have cubes but none of them are really dedicated enough to learn to solve them, so my son solves their cubes for them. Quite by accident one of his friends ended up with some sort of speed cube, from eBay, I’ve ordered a little magic 3x3 for him now too. He’s starting to get faster & trying to finger trick but instead of learning any faster methods for now he’s keen to try a bigger cube. So would the 4x4 be the next best step or would a 5x5 be better, I have no idea how the larger cubes are solved & just wondered if the odd number cubes were somewhat similar & that perhaps the even number cubes were solved in a very different manner.

 

[AbsoRuud]

Your son might like one of the gift boxes that contain 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5. They are fairly cheap, because the cubes are entry level cubes.

 

[GenTheSnail]

He’s starting to get faster & trying to finger trick

Here is a great video on proper finger tricks that he should learn. They'll help a lot especially if he wants to get faster.

but instead of learning any faster methods for now he’s keen to try a bigger cube. So would the 4x4 be the next best step or would a 5x5 be better? I have no idea how the larger cubes are solved & just wondered if the odd number cubes were somewhat similar & that perhaps the even number cubes were solved in a very different manner.

So both 4x4 and 5x5 solve somewhat similarly to each other. Most people use reduction methods to solve big cubes, pairing all of the centers with each other, then the edge pieces, and then solving the whole thing like a 3x3. However, they both have and an edge parity where a single edge is flipped-- something that cannot happen on a 3x3.

In some respects a 5x5 could be considered an easier puzzle, but that's mostly after one knows how to solve it. If he plans to figure out the solution to each cube, I think 4x4 would be a little bit easier simply because it's smaller and there's less to solve.

Your son might like one of the gift boxes that contain 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5. They are fairly cheap, because the cubes are entry level cubes.

I think this is a good idea. While puzzle boxes tend to have slightly cheaper cubes, they are nonetheless good quality cubes.[/QUOTE]