Twisty puzzle
A twisty puzzle is a puzzle with twisting or moving layers, such as 3x3x3. The goal of such a puzzle is to reach a pre-defined goal state by moving these parts to transition from one state of the puzzle to another.
Twisty puzzles do not include the Rubik's Clock, 15 puzzle, or related puzzles. They do not include slidy puzzles or assemble/disassemble puzzles.
Categories
There are many different types of twisty puzzles. This is a list of some of the types.
List of Puzzles
This is a list of puzzles, sorted by shape and function. For a longer list, see list of twisty puzzles.
Cube
Cubes are a basic type of twisty puzzle. They are face turning cubes (regular hexahedra) that usually solve similarly to each other. This is a list of popular cubes.
Cuboid
Cuboids are twisty puzzles that are like cubes, except the number of layers on each axis of the puzzle can be different. This is a list of popular cuboids. There are many more cuboids than the ones listed.
2x2 Towers
Floppies and Bricks
3x3 Towers
Bubbloids and Corner Turning Hexahedra
Bubbloids are similar to cuboids by shape, but turn by the corners instead of the faces. They usually have a curvy look from olzing, however, depending on the brand and puzzle, this is not always the case. This is a list of popular corner turning hexahedra.
Bubbloid-Style Turning
Other Corner Turning Hexahedra
- Skewb (A shape mod of a pyraminx without the tips. Each turn of a skewb splits the puzzle directly in half)
4-sided
This is a list of popular 4-sided (tetrahedral) twisty puzzles.
Corner Turning
- Pyraminx (Corner-turning tetrahedron)
- Halpern-Meier Pyramid (Functions like a pyraminx with center pieces and no trivial tips)
- Rob's Pyraminx (A Halpern Meier Pyramid without the edges)
Edge Turning
- Pyramorphix (2x2 shape mod)
- Mastermorphix (3x3 shape mod)
12-sided
Face Turning
This is a list of popular face turning twelve-sided (dodecahedral) twisty puzzles.
History of usage
The term "twisty puzzle" has historically been used as a general name for puzzles related to the Rubik's Cube that are manipulated by twisting parts, sides, or layers.
By 2007, the World Cube Association Regulations distinguished between "all puzzles labelled as Rubik puzzles" and "all other puzzles that are played by twisting the sides, so called 'twisty puzzles'." This distinction allowed events such as Rubik's Clock, Rubik's Magic, and Rubik's Master Magic to be governed by the WCA without necessarily classifying them as twisty puzzles.
This distinction was still used in a 2012 WCA mission statement, which referred separately to "Rubik puzzles" and puzzles "played by twisting the sides." After Magic and Master Magic were removed as official events at the end of 2012, Clock became the main remaining WCA event that did not fit this definition of a twisty puzzle.
The distinction remained in the 2017 WCA Regulations. In the 2018 WCA Regulations, references to a separate category of "Rubik puzzles" were removed. The WCA instead described the puzzles it governed collectively as "mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'." Rubik's Clock remained an official event despite not operating by twisting groups or layers of pieces.
The definition used on this wiki has also changed over time. In June 2012, a twisty puzzle was defined as a puzzle with "twisting or moving parts." By January 2018, this had been changed to "twisting or moving layers," with Rubik's Clock, the 15 puzzle, and related puzzles explicitly excluded.
