On Rubik's Cubes

[oldunusedaccount 11]

Hello MLPForums! I wanted to bring your attention to a fandom that often goes forgotten.

 

 

 

Over 350 Million Rubik's Cubes have been sold worldwide. Even if you have no clue how to solve one, odds are you have one sitting around on a shelf. The Rubik's Cube is considered the best-selling toy ever made, but just as with a certain pony toy line, the cube is not nearly as interesting as its unprecedented adult fandom.

 

 

 

 

 

During a discussion on Discord, a brony friend of mine was surprised to find that I too enjoyed Rubik's Cubes. While I'm just a passive enthusiast, he is practicing to improve his solving speed in the hopes of jumping into competitions. I on the other hand am much more interested in getting into designing my own cubes in the upcoming year. As we talked, I began to make some parallels with the brony fandom. Both fandoms are male-dominated with a rising female interest. Both fandoms are filled with all sorts of people - creative types, gamers, intellectuals, social personalities, artists, etc. Both fandoms are driven by an insane number of conventions. Both fandoms took the whole world by surprise, upsetting long established cultural expectations. Most importantly, both fandoms are often completely misunderstood by outsiders to the fandom. More on that in a moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The iconic table from the

 

 

"If You Give a Pony A Rubik's Cube"

 

 

comic series.

 

 

 

 

 

Intrigued, I started asking around on brony forums and on Canternet IRC. How many bronies were cubers as well? To my delight, I found several of the twisty puzzle enthusiasts hiding amongst artists, musicians, and writers. Though many of the cubers that I found were coders, I was much more interested in the creative-type cubers, since it's almost expected for programmers to be knowledgeable in puzzles.

 

 

 

 

 

The friend dug around himself and came to the same conclusion: these two fandoms are standing side by side with no bridging subcommunity. So, we made a server on Discord for that very purpose. Generically named "My Little Cubers", the server stands to be a place for brony cubers to unite, as well as a place for curious bronies to learn more about the puzzle and the incredible fandom behind it. I've left an invite link at the end of this post for those interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Pony Puzzle" by Axian-Art

 

 

 

 

 

Now, back to that comparison on how both communities are misunderstood. As any brony will know, people have preconceived ideas about the show. "That show is for little girls", "Grown adults should not be collecting pastel pony toys", "Clearly, there must be something wrong with those people" and so on. That being said, people have preconceived ideas about Rubik's Cubes as well, the most harmful of which is that "the Rubik's Cube is a difficult puzzle made for smart people".

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I've got news for you - learning to solve a Rubik's Cube is no harder than learning to navigate Facebook for the first time, or memorizing a poem. While the puzzle may require out-of-the-box thinking, that requirement can be well met with the intellect of an average 10-year-old. I would know, I was first 10 years old when I picked up a Rubik's Cube and took the time to work it out, and I'm just as average as the next man.

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds, if not thousands of beginner guides exist that will take you through a series of 7-steps to solving the cube, each step having one or two "algorithms" (an instructional pattern) associated with it. If you get these handful of patterns memorized and know in what order to apply them, you can solve a Rubik's cube in under two minutes with almost no mental effort.

 

 

 

 

 

It's true that the fandom is filled with a lot of smart people. However, these people are not all the same. There are artists, seeking to express creativity through the puzzle; engineers, looking to create new derivatives of the puzzle; speedsolvers, creating and practicing longer and more complicated algorithms to cut down solving time; critics, examining and contrasting different cubes and algorithms; etc. In short, all of the diversity that the bronies love is present within this very different yet strikingly similar fandom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"B.B.M.E.F" by PsychoDikdik

 

 

 

 

 

If you have never solved a cube, or have solved a cube but have never checked out the community behind it, I encourage you to do so. It's a fun toy, and an incredible community! And if you are interested in hanging out with a bunch of bronies who also enjoy Rubik's Cubes, check out our Discord Server "My Little Cubers":

 

 

 

 

 

https://discord.gg/35g9Vay

 

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by oldunusedaccount

[ChB 18,550]

I love cubing too! My best time is about 1:02. My brother is a faster cuber, and can solve it in about 25 seconds. I can also solve it in about 20 minutes blind-folded (though for now, I will have to refresh on some of the parity algorithms.)

 

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand...

 

 

It would be awesome if there is a MLP Rubik's cube, with each side being one pony from the Mane 6!!

 

Oh wait a minute, there already is one!

 

Edited November 21, 2016 by ChB

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

I love cubing too! My best time is about 1:02. My brother is a faster cuber, and can solve it in about 25 seconds. I can also solve it in about 20 minutes blind-folded (though for now, I will have to refresh on some of the parity algorithms.)

 

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand...

 

 

It would be awesome if there is a MLP Rubik's cube, with each side being one pony from the Mane 6!!

 

Oh wait a minute, there already is one!

 

 

That's seriously impressive! I can't even break one apart and reassemble it in the right order that quickly. Needless to say, I'm not good at Rubik's Cube. 

However, that MLP cube might give me some hope. I'd certainly be inspired! Very cool. 

[ChB 18,550]

learning to solve a Rubik's Cube is no harder than learning to navigate Facebook for the first time, or memorizing a poem. 

Totally true! For the basic method of solving, there are only six sets of turns (called "algorithms") you need to memorize, each set having 6-8 turns. So, if you can memorize a six line poem, each with 6-8 words, then you should be able to learn how to solve a Rubik's cube.   

Edited November 21, 2016 by ChB

[Luigi 7,869]

When I was eleven, my dad gave me a Rubik's Cube for Christmas. I still haven't solved it to this day, and now my dad's dead. If only I would've gotten to see how proud he would be of me when I showed him the solved cube.

[ChB 18,550]

I'm really sorry for your loss, Flyer.

[Shuga 26]

My best time is 48 seconds. Haven't tried in a long time, though.

[Kaneki 1,073]

I'm really sorry for your loss, Flyer.

 

Same here. I felt like I could've almost lose mine. He had a heart thing but is much better now, and I'll leave it at that.

 

I may join your Discord, btw martyrboy.

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I tried one before, didn't do it much though so I never solved it.