Art, obsession, and identity
In 1974, a Hungarian professor of architecture named Ernő Rubik cobbled together a cube made from wood and paper, held by rubber bands, glue, and paper clips. A few years later, he applied for a patent to market his invention, a puzzle game that eventually became known as the Rubik's Cube. It would go on to become the most popular puzzle toy in the world, selling in its hundred of millions and challenging its users into solving one of the most difficult brainteasers ever devised.
Fifty years after its debut, this deceptively simple puzzle is finding a new audience in Generation Z, and remains as compelling and demanding as ever. But why is the Rubik's Cube still the planet's best-selling puzzle game?
Click through this gallery and learn more about how a cube conquered the world.
In 1974, Hungarian professor of architecture Ernő Rubik created a prototype of a three-dimensional cube. The following year, he applied for a patent on the puzzle. He called it the Magic Cube.
Rubik licensed the Magic Cube to Ideal Toys, a US company, in 1979. Recognizing its novel appeal, Ideal rebranded the Magic Cube to the Rubik's Cube. It hit stores in 1980, and a puzzle phenomenon was born.
A Rubik's Cube was the must-have Christmas gift that winter. Even Santa Claus wanted one! In fact, Ernő Rubik himself was tasked with demonstrating his invention to a perplexed Santa in a London toy store as shoppers looked on!
Soon, cubing fever was gripping the world, with puzzlers everywhere wanting to solve the Rubik's Cube.
Rubik's classic invention has six sides representing nine blocks of a single color—orange, yellow, green, red, white, and blue.
To solve the puzzle, you must twist the cubes so that eventually each face returns to its original color.
A Rubik's is said to hold 43 quintillion potential configurations. That's an astonishing 43,000,000,000,000,000,000 potential variations.
This is what a deconstructed Rubik's Cube looks like. Ernő Rubik's prototype was made from wood and paper, held by rubber bands, glue, and paper clips.
As of 2024, over 500 million Cubes have been sold, making this infuriatingly complex but totally compelling brainteaser the world's best-selling puzzle game.
While the Rubik's Cube reached the height of its mainstream popularity in the 1980s, the puzzle's long shelf life is due to its unique blend of simplicity, complexity, and universal appeal.
And half a century after its appearance, the puzzle has found a new audience with Gen Z.
For most people, just completing the puzzle is a triumph. But for others, it's also about doing so in the quickest possible time. In 1982, the first-ever Rubik's Cube World Championship was held in Budapest, Hungary. First place was won by a "cuber" with a time of 22.95 seconds.
Today, speedcubing competitions organized under the auspices of the World Cube Association (WCA) are held around the world. As of October 2024, the world record for the fastest single solve of a Rubik's Cube in a competitive setting stands at 3.13 seconds, a feat achieved by American Max Park during the WCA World Championships in California and acknowledged by Guinness World Records.
Back in May 2024, engineers at Mitsubishi Electric in Japan built a remarkable AI-powered robot that was able to solve a Rubik's Cube in an incredible 0.305 seconds, an achievement also recognized by Guinness World Records.
Back in the real world, World Cube Association tournaments also see cubers competing blindfolded, an undertaking that requires a remarkable sense of memory and skilled dexterity.
The puzzle has even been solved by those using their feet. The current world record adopting this method is 15.56 seconds—no mean feat considering the difficulty involved!
Attempting to solve Rubik's serves as a powerful tool for boosting cognitive skills, enhancing memory, and improving concentration. It helps develop problem-solving skills and also acts as a stress-relief activity.
As a cultural phenomenon, a Rubik's Cube sparks curiosity and fascination across different age groups and cultures. Puzzle fans are known to attend Comic-Con events dressed as the famous toy.
The Rubik's Cube has even become a fashion accessory, with cubers seen wearing mini versions of the puzzle as earrings.
When cubers gathered in Jersey City in the United States to celebrate Ernő Rubik's 70th birthday, they organized a cake off at the Liberty Science Center, honoring him with cakes and candy made in the shape of the distinctive cube.
In 2020, French street artist Invader created 'Rubik Mona Lisa,' a piece of art made up of 330 Rubik's Cubes. It went on display at the Artcurial auction house in Paris before being put up for sale.
On the other side of the world, a giant Rubik's Cube formed part of 'The 80s are back' exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney in December 2009.
Speaking of giant Rubik's Cubes, this competitor was photographed trying to solve an oversized Cube during the Rubik's Cube World Championship in São Paulo, Brazil, in July 2015.
Many modifications of the original Rubik's Cube exist. These include a mini 2x2 cube, the larger 5x5 Professor's Cube (popular with advanced cubers), a Mirror Cube, and the irregular shaped Ghost Cube.
The Rubik's Cube was a tough act to follow, but Ernő Rubik did just that with Rubik's Magic, a mechanical puzzle first manufactured by Matchbox in 1986. Rubik's Magic: Master Edition appeared the following year.
The Rubik's Snake, also called Rubik's Twist, was released for the first time in 1981, but was totally overshadowed by the success of the Rubik's Cube.
In 2009, the Rubik's 360 made its debut at the Nürnberg International Toy Fair in Germany. It's a 3D mechanical puzzle that is more difficult than it looks. To solve it requires a good strategy as well as full focus, dexterity, and gravity control
A number of celebrities have proven adept at solving the puzzle. Justin Bieber famously squared the cube live on German television in 2015 and did so again on 'The Late Late Show with James Corden.' Other well-known celebrity cubers include Will Smith, Chris Pratt, and former US President George W. Bush.
Meanwhile, Ernő Rubik admits to having taken a month to solve his own puzzle. Today, he can complete it in about a minute.
The reclusive Hungarian puzzle master revealed a lot about himself in his 2020 memoir, 'Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All.' "Puzzles," he writes, "bring out important qualities in each of us: concentration, curiosity, a sense of play, the eagerness to discover a solution." Tellingly, he explains what it was like to experience the astonishing worldwide success of an object he made purely for his own play. Ultimately, Ernő Rubik's invention is all abut the imperfect science of creation.
Sources: (Strong National Museum of Play) (Rubik's Cube) (Smithsonian Magazine) (Guinness World Records) (The New York Times) (Fortune) (Particula)
See also: The origins of Monopoly and other classic board games
Why is the Rubik's Cube still the world's best-selling puzzle game?
This brainteaser is one of the most recognized icons in popular culture
LIFESTYLE Toys
In 1974, a Hungarian professor of architecture named Ernő Rubik cobbled together a cube made from wood and paper, held by rubber bands, glue, and paper clips. A few years later, he applied for a patent to market his invention, a puzzle game that eventually became known as the Rubik's Cube. It would go on to become the most popular puzzle toy in the world, selling in its hundred of millions and challenging its users into solving one of the most difficult brainteasers ever devised.
Fifty years after its debut, this deceptively simple puzzle is finding a new audience in Generation Z, and remains as compelling and demanding as ever. But why is the Rubik's Cube still the planet's best-selling puzzle game?
Click through this gallery and learn more about how a cube conquered the world.