Other Puzzle Hardware
Magics
Magics are flat folding puzzles which are composed of several flat panels held together by loops of plastic wire. It moves similarly to a Jacob's Ladder, except in two dimensions instead of one. There are two competition events for these type of puzzles (Magic, with 8 tiles, and Master Magic, with 12 tiles), both of which involve solving the puzzle from a specific start into a specific solved state.
Rubik's
- Rubik's was the first company to produce Magics, and because of this most Magics on the market come from that company.
DIY Magics
- Some Chinese shops, such as Cube4You, sell DIY magic kits, which come with tiles and string and require the buyer to print out paper inserts and then assemble the puzzle themselves. These types of Magics have a very wide variety of tightnesses, and can end up either too tight to stay flat or so loose that wires often pop off.
Clocks
The Clock is a round, 2-sided puzzle that consists of 18 mini "clocks", 9 on each side, arranged in 3x3 squares. The hands on the clock can be manipulated by turning small wheels on the side of the puzzle and by pressing four buttons on the face. The object is to get them all pointing in the 12:00 position. The only commonly used type of Clock is the Rubik's brand. Since that company no longer produces this puzzle, to get one it is usually necessary to use eBay to find one. Fortunately this is a very common and inexpensive puzzle.
Pyraminx
The Pyraminx is a tetrahedron or rectangular pyramid-shaped twisty puzzle with three layers of moving parts. The parts are arranged in a pyramidal pattern on each side of the puzzle. The layers can be rotated with respect to each vertex, and the individual tips can be rotated as well.
Most cubers use the Meffert's brand Pyraminx, which can be purchased at Mefferts.com online store. They have two models, the original Pyraminx and the Pyraminx II, which is an improved version of the original. There are some Chinese knock-offs available at other sites such as Cube4you.com and DealExtreme.com.
Megaminx
(STUB) The Megaminx is a dodecahedron shaped twisty puzzle. Each of the 12 sides consists of one pentagonal fixed center, five triangular edge pieces and five corner pieces. The corner and edge pieces are arranged in a five-pointed star pattern.
Meffert's
- Sold at Meffert's online shop. These are generally considered to be the best Megaminx, but are fairly expensive and are often out of stock, making them less accessable than the Chinese brands.
Chinese Megaminxes
- Chinese versions of the Megaminx (often referred to as "Chinaminxes") are sold at Cube4You and other online sellers of Chinese cube puzzles.
- The tiled Chinese Megaminx has a mechanism that clicks faces into alignment. Because of this, it is not very well suited for speedsolving without modifications.
- The PVC Megaminx is a clone of the Edison Megaminx. It is considerably smoother than the tiled Chinese Megaminx and is comparable to the Meffert's Megaminx after lubing and tuning.
Square-1
(STUB)
The Square-1 is a cubic puzzle with irregular cubies. The top and bottom layers consist of triangular edge pieces and quadrilateral corner pieces, and the middle layer consists of two trapezoidal pieces. This puzzle does not have fixed center, and when scrambled, shifts to a random shape. The object is to return it to its cubic state as well as to make each side one solid color.
