I have a general question about twisty puzzles, if this isn't the right sub forum please direct me to where I should post this. Thanks.

I'm looking around and considering buying a twisty puzzle or putting one on my christmas wishlist. The Gear Cube caught my eye. How does the gear cube compare difficulty wise to the rubik's cube?

Futhermore, Does anyone have any reccomendation for which puzzle to get?

For reference, I already have the following: 3x3, 4x4, and 5x5 Rubik's cubes, Megaminx, Teraminx and Oskar's Mosaic Cube.

The Gear Cube is far far simpler than a Rubik's 3x3. I can solve it, so it can't be very difficult at all!

If you're interested, I wrote a bit about my experience with it here:

Gear Cube - Oli's Mechanical Puzzle Blog

My understanding of the gear cube is that it is a relatively simple thing to solve, especially if compared to a 5x5, although i don't own one (yet!) so i'm not speaking from experience.

My personal recommendation would be an introduction to the world of cuboids - There are many fabulous different sizes and types available, each one with it's own individual way of solving (although there is of course common ground) start out with the 3x3x2 domino, and the 3x3x4 puzzles to begin with, they are a great introduction into this particular genre of puzzles.

other than that, perhaps try bandaged puzzles, which are a lot of fun. The cubetwist bandaged kit is especially good value for money. Thousands of potential designs for around $18

4x4x6. Great quality, great puzzle.

I agree with Tony here, this puzzle is amazing. Great design by Tom Z. You can find it at hknowstore.com. It's pretty cheap as well.

I agree that it is a great puzzle, i love it. But it shouldn't be your first cuboid puzzle, its a bit too advanced for that I think.

How are the 2x3x4 and the 3x4x5? I love the cuboids I have, and I think those two and the 4x4x6 are the only mass-produced (correctly proportioned) ones I don't own.

Edit: oh yeah, and to the OP, I personally loved my experience with the helicopter cube (both curvy and normal versions) and the rex cube / master skewb. Intuitive commutators and 3-cycles all day!

the 3x4x5 is a fabulous puzzle - many hours of fun i've had solvign that, its probably my favourite cuboid at the moment. If you buy one though, make sure you tighten it before playing, otherwise it pops/explodes very easily - once tightened though it's very stable.

The 2x3x4 is fun too, but you will need to mod it with the extra'split edge' pieces if you want it fully functional - a frustrating experience to say the least!

The 3x4x5 is no where near as smooth turning as the 4x4x6. I would say the 4x4x5 and 4x5x5 fall between the two in terms of quality. I don't own the factory produced 2x3x4.


I think this was discussed recently. You can easily simulate other simpler cuboids on a 4x4x6. A 2x2x3 would be a great start and then you can move up from there.

My suggestion is the skewb, 2x3x3 and the helicopter cube.
/Andreas

Maybe you would like to have a read of my last blog post! It's a discussion of what puzzles to try after you've started on this journey!
http://www.puzzlemad.co.uk/2012/11/twisty-puzzle-madness-advice-to-beginner.html

Just a very small amount of self-publicity!

If the 4x4x6 is a cuboid that your interested in but are not familiar with cuboids, I would still recommend it because no matter what cuboid you have if you've never solved one before, you might have to resort to a tutorial. I have an extremely detailed, well laid out tutorial here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZVEUSIpEOo

The 4x4x6 starts of solving the same as a cubic 4x4, and after that you move into cuboid algorithms which are detailed in my tutorial. These algorithms will be the same that you would learn for any cuboid, so to me it doesn't matter what cuboid you start with. My first cuboid was a 4x4x5. Cuboids are easily my favorite kind of puzzles.

The helicopter cube may be good since it jumbles. Completely different method of solving than a Rubik's cube/ cuboid. I found it easier to solve than those, however had tried solving it before ever working out a Rubik's cube, I may have thought differently since I had come up with methods.

-d

How about a master skewb or rex cube? I loved those two.

Hello, I guess you are already a decent solver. You can play a lot of puzzles. That's very cool.

Maybe you should try some cubes with jumbling,

like Fisher Cube, Axis Cube, Mastermorphix, YJ Apple cube(this one is very cute) etc.

Those are very cool cubes and not so hard though. Actually, They are 3X3X3 in heart.

After that, You can try some different ones, like SQ1, Helicopter cube, DaYan Bermuda cube, maybe 3X4X5.

Have fun!

I think you mean shape shifting. The term jumbling describes a very complex property of some puzzles that falls out of their underlying geometry. You may enjoy reading about it here and find a (probably out of date by now) list of jumbling puzzles here.

Dave

I would recommend the Pyraminx, Skewb, 2x2 and/or Pyramorphix. They are great puzzles to start out with.

Thanks Dave. I read it, and now I konw that I was wrong about jumbling . I feel sorry for myself again.

Hi, EPenguin, I'm sorry about my last post. I mean you can try some puzzles with shape shifting. That's what I meant.

Fisher Cube, Axis Cube, Mastermorphix, YJ Apple Cube etc.

The rex cube is a very nice puzzle as well as the curvy copter. The professor pyraminx is a good puzzle if you want something a bit more challenging, although you might want to buy a standard pyraminx first.