You’ve seen them. Those people at the airport or in a coffee shop, fingers blurring, plastic clicking, turning a chaotic mess of colors into a perfect cube in twenty seconds flat. It looks like magic. Honestly, it looks like they’re doing high-level calculus in their heads while simultaneously playing a piano concerto. But here’s the reality: they aren’t. Most "speedcubers" aren't math geniuses. They're just people who memorized a few patterns and did them enough times that their fingers remember the moves better than their brains do. If you’ve ever felt like throwing your cube against a wall because you can only get one side done, you aren’t alone. That’s where almost everyone starts.
The secret to how to solve rubiks cubes isn't about looking at the whole thing at once. That's the biggest mistake beginners make. They try to "solve the red side," then the "blue side." If you do that, you'll just keep undoing what you already finished. You have to solve it in layers. Think of it like building a house; you don't put the roof on while you're still pouring the foundation.
Understanding the Beast Before You Turn It
Before you start twisting things randomly, you have to understand how the cube actually works. It’s a 3x3x3 piece of engineering. The most important thing—the thing that changes everything—is realizing that the center pieces do not move. If you have a white center piece, that side will always be the white side when the cube is finished. You can’t move a center piece to another face. They are the anchors.
The cube has three types of pieces. You've got centers (one color, fixed in place), edges (two colors), and corners (three colors). You can't put an edge piece where a corner belongs. It’s physically impossible. Once you realize you're just moving specific pieces into their "homes" relative to the centers, the whole puzzle feels a lot less intimidating.
The White Cross: The First Hurdle
Most tutorials, including the famous Layer-by-Layer method, suggest starting with the white cross. You want to get the four white edge pieces around the white center. But there’s a catch. The other side of that white edge piece has to match the center piece on the side. So, if you have a white-and-red edge piece, the white part stays on top, and the red part must line up with the red center.
It's kinda like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. If you just get the white cross but the side colors don't match the centers, you've already failed. You have to restart or fix it. This is usually the part where people get frustrated because it requires "intuitive" solving. There isn't a long string of moves to memorize here; you just have to look at where the piece is and where it needs to go.
The First Layer and the "Righty Move"
Once the cross is done, you need to tuck the corners in. This completes the first layer. This is where you learn your first "algorithm." In the cubing world, an algorithm is just a sequence of moves that performs a specific task. The most famous one is often called the "Righty Move" or the "Sexy Move" (yeah, cubers have a weird sense of humor).
It’s four simple turns:
- Turn the Right side up.
- Turn the Top side clockwise.
- Turn the Right side down.
- Turn the Top side counter-clockwise.
If you do those four moves over and over, you’ll eventually see a corner piece drop right into its slot. It feels like a "eureka" moment. Suddenly, the bottom third of your cube is perfect. It’s a solid block of color with the edges matching the centers. You’re actually doing it.
Why How to Solve Rubiks Cubes Gets Harder in the Middle
The middle layer is where things get tricky. You have to move edge pieces from the top layer into the middle slots without ruining the bottom layer you just spent ten minutes perfecting. This is the part that usually kills the vibe for beginners. You have to use a slightly longer sequence of moves to "hide" the piece you’re moving, bring the slot up to meet it, and then tuck them both back down.
It feels counter-intuitive. You’re moving pieces away from where they need to go to eventually get them there. It's basically a metaphor for life. Honestly, once you nail the middle layer, you’ve done about 60% of the work. The cube looks mostly finished, but the top layer is still a complete disaster.
The Yellow Cross and Beyond
Now you’re at the top. Usually, you’re looking at a bunch of yellow pieces. Your goal is to get a yellow cross without messing up the bottom two layers. This requires a specific move: turning the Front face, doing that "Righty Move" from earlier, and then turning the Front face back.
If you do it right, you'll see a line, then a cross. Don't worry if the side colors don't match the centers yet. We're just looking for the shape of the cross first. Cubing is all about stages. Don't try to solve the orientation and the position at the same time. You’ll lose your mind.
The Final Stretch: Positioning the Corners
By now, you probably have a yellow cross. Maybe you even have a few yellow corners facing up. But they’re almost certainly in the wrong spots. You might have a yellow-blue-red corner sitting in the yellow-green-orange corner slot.
This is the home stretch. You use an algorithm to swap the corners until they are in their correct "homes," even if they are twisted the wrong way. Once they are in the right spots, you flip the whole cube upside down. This is the scariest part of the whole process. You’re going to look at your beautiful, almost-finished cube and start doing moves that look like they are destroying everything.
You’ll use that "Righty Move" again. Up, over, down, back. You do it until the yellow corner you’re looking at is facing the right way. Then—and this is the crucial part—you only turn the bottom layer to bring the next messy corner to your working spot. If you turn the whole cube, you’ll scramble it. I’ve seen grown adults cry because they turned the whole cube at the very last step and had to start over.
Common Pitfalls and Why You’re Failing
Most people fail at how to solve rubiks puzzles because they lose track of their "front" face. If you start a move with the green side facing you, you have to finish the move with the green side facing you. If you get distracted by a text or a cat, and you rotate the cube in your hands, you’re done for.
Another big issue is the cube quality. If you’re using an old, crunchy cube from the 1980s that requires two hands and a prayer to turn, you’re going to hate the process. Modern "speedcubes" from brands like GAN or MoYu use magnets and specialized plastics. They turn with the flick of a finger. It makes a massive difference in how much fun you have. If it’s frustrating to physically move the parts, you won't want to practice.
The "God’s Number" Myth
You might have heard that any cube can be solved in 20 moves or less. This is true. It’s called "God’s Number," and it was proven back in 2010 using Google’s infrastructure to crunch every possible position. But here’s the thing: you are not a supercomputer.
A beginner solve will take you anywhere from 100 to 150 moves. That’s okay. Speedcubers using the advanced CFOP (Cross, F2L, OLL, PLL) method usually take about 50 to 60 moves. Nobody expects you to find the most efficient path. The goal is just to get it done.
Transitioning from Beginner to Intermediate
Once you can solve the cube without looking at a cheat sheet, you’ll get an itch. You’ll want to do it faster. The beginner method is great, but it’s slow. To get faster, you have to learn "F2L" (First Two Layers). Instead of solving the corners and then the edges, you pair them up in the top layer and drop them into their slots together as a unit.
It cuts down on moves significantly. But it requires a lot of "look-ahead." You have to be able to see the pieces moving while you're still doing the previous move. It’s like driving a car; you don't just look at the bumper in front of you; you look three cars down the road.
Actionable Steps to Your First Solve
If you're holding a scrambled cube right now, don't just start twisting. Follow this plan:
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- Get a decent cube. If yours doesn't have springs or magnets, spend $10 on a budget speedcube like the RS3M. It’ll change your life.
- Learn the notation. U means top (Up), D means Bottom (Down), R is Right, L is Left, F is Front, and B is Back. An apostrophe (like R') means turn it counter-clockwise.
- Master the "Righty Move" (R U R' U'). Practice it until you can do it with your eyes closed. This move is the foundation for almost everything.
- Solve one layer a day. Don't try to learn the whole thing in one sitting. Spend Monday learning the cross. Spend Tuesday learning the corners. By Friday, you'll be putting it all together.
- Use a trainer. Sites like J Perm have interactive trainers that show you exactly which pieces to move. It’s much more helpful than a static PDF.
Solving a Rubik’s cube isn't a feat of intelligence. It’s a feat of persistence. Once you understand that the pieces move in predictable patterns, the mystery evaporates, and you're left with a satisfying, tactile hobby that keeps your hands busy and your brain sharp. You aren't just "fixing" a toy; you're mastering a system of logic that has fascinated people for over forty years. Stop overthinking the colors and start looking at the mechanics. You'll have it solved before you know it.