Rubiks reincarnated: Cubed is out, curvaceous is in

The world of the puzzle enthusiast has just been rocked. The Rubik’s cube has dumped its boxy exterior and has gone all spherical on us in favour of a 360 degree design (joining the stylophone with its new curvaceous figure). To be fair, its cubed predecessor did make its debut in 1974, while creator Erno Rubik looked on, rubbing his hands delightfully over the cash cow he just created. So it’s about time it got a face lift, don’t you think? But will the Rubik’s 360 prove to be as popular and posses the same obsession-induced power as its cubed brethren, with the ability to transform people into a bunch of unyielding, or irate colour coded puzzle crackers?

So this is how it works. Instead of (what feels like) pointlessly rotating rows of colourful squares, this unit features six balls trapped inside three transparent spheres. To master it, you will need to decipher how to get those internal balls “from an inner sphere into matching slots on the outer sphere by shaking them through a middle sphere that has only two holes.”

Sounds simple, right? Pah, this is Rubik’s remember, it just won’t be that easy. The all important question remains though – will it be as popular as the original Rubik’s cube? We’ll find out when it reaches the hands of avid puzzlers in August.

[via Engadget]

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