22 x 22 x 22 Rubik's Cube

About 6 years ago Oskar van Deventer premiered his World Record 17 x 17 x 17 cube at the New York Puzzle Party. I was one of the 'expert witnesses' who wrote a letter to the officials at Guiness to confirm that this was indeed the largest n x n x n Rubik's Cube.

Nathan Wilson has shattered that record. See for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzzD1aNsLVU&app=desktop

Tumbling Cube by Yanak Limited $.99

MS from Yanak Limited recently contacted me about his (her?) new puzzle app game Tumbling Cube.  It's a maze game. The object is to roll the cube to its final spot.

We've seen this type of puzzle before. Tumbling Cube is good. The graphics are good. I particularly like the opening graphics.

There are over 100 levels.  At the moment I've done about 20.

I have 3 promo codes for this game. First come, first served. Just email me.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1241789619?mt=8
http://yanakltd.com/

Jellyban - Sweety Sokoban Puzzles by Lu Quoc Man FREE

 Jellyban - Sweety Sokoban Puzzles comes from Lu Quoc Man.

The puzzles are not very hard. However, there is a time limit and a # of moves limit.  Generally, each puzzle must be solved within 1 minute.

There are about 125 puzzles and I've done about 60 of them.
The puzzles themselves come from David Skinner's Microban.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jellyban-sweety-sokoban-puzzles/id1231816949?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.JinguGame.Jellyban

https://www.sokobanonline.com/play/web-archive/david-w-skinner/microban Play David's puzzles on your laptop.

Color Combine Game by Sam Hogan FREE!

  

When I was about 4 years old, I was given a toy that fascinated me. There were 3 circular clear plastic sheets stapled together in the center. Each had 1 circle of color: red, blue and yellow. From that, I learned how to combine the colors to make green, purple and orange. Putting them altogether was some kind of brown.  Color Combine Game, from Sam Hogan, is a puzzle where the objective is to combine adjacent tiles into 1 big pile whose final color matches the background.

  

The first few levels are trivially easy. But then things get pretty tough. Getting the exact shade of pink or teal or cyan can be extremely tough.  My instinct is to just tap out all the permutations until I stumble on the right one.

At the moment, I'm stuck on level 19. According to the Leaderboard, there are not many other players.

I contacted Sam about the number of levels and he told me: it's infinite.

Definitely interesting and hard.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-combine-game/id1249397059?mt=8
http://samhogan.net/

Blork - The Game by Diga Design FREE

  

Blork - The Game came out last year.  I played it for a while, then forgot all about it.

  

The object is to roll Your Man, the cube, and then paint the colored squares the correct color. Of course Your Man must first pick up the orange paint by landing on the orange square with the circle in the middle.

Of the 150 levels, I got stuck on level 25.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blork-the-grid/id964585157?mt=8
http://blorkgame.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blorkgame

QVoid has a similar feel.

Paper Folders by Pavel Smetanin

 

Paper Folders comes from Pavel Smetanin. It's a point scoring puzzle app game.  There's definitely a 'Tower of Hanoi' feel to this game with 3 towers.

  

Unfortunately, the rules of Tower of Hanoi do not apply. It's possible to place larger numbers on top of smaller numbers.

Even worse: it's possible to do as much shifting around as you like.

I got bored after about 45 minutes. My score was somewhere over 4,000,000.  Later, when I went to continue the game, it was gone.

I have to believe that the author meant to enforce some rules. Right now, there are basically none.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-folders/id1233173968?mt=8
http://foxdata.cf/Paper-Folders/

Better Games to Play that are similar (both from Sang Moon Joo):
Lines 123
Zig Zag Number

Cubic Blocks by Pure Sprite Network Technology Co., Ltd. FREE

  

Cubic Blocks comes from somebody in China. Not sure who. I went to the webpage and read about praise for the great leader of China. Whatever

This game is pretty good.  The object is to slide the colored blocks in a 3D space so they match up with the stars.

Some blocks will pass through the stars; others need a block so they land firmly on the star.

There are 80 levels and at the moment, I'm stuck on level 19.

Interesting:
1. There's no leaderboard. But there is a 'world record' for each level for the minimum number of moves on each level. The record for 17 is 9 moves; I needed 49.  Level 18: world record is 29; I needed 40.

2. The world record for level 19 is 45.

3. The world record for level 35 is 108

4. The world record for level 67 is 176

Cubic Blocks is hard! Definitely give it a chance.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubic-blocks/id1223871517?mt=8

5+ (fiveplus) by kubra sezer FREE!

  

5+ (fiveplus) come from kubra sezer. It's a point scoring game.  The object is to place tiles onto the grid to get groups of 5 or more of the same color.

  

I want to like 5+ (fiveplus), but ultimately cannot.

My first game ended with a score of 980; I wasn't playing carefully. My second game is at 48,000, and counting. This game just won't end, even though I want it to. Can I catch the fellow with 69,000? Do I care? He's still adding to his score. I've spent way too much time on this and have neglected more serious, better puzzles.

To make this game better, the grid must be shrunk. Or add a 4th color. Or not allow pieces have less than 3 squares.

At the moment, there are  over 24,000 players and I'm #9 on the leaderboard.

5+ (fiveplus) is popular because of 2 things: good graphics and easiness.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/5-fiveplus/id1237328701?mt
http://www.gamebra.in/

DangoStack by daoxiang lin FREE

DangoStack comes from Daoxiang Lin. The object is to get Your Man, the bright pulsing bubble, to the target. Your Man can jump onto other bubbles and then travel together.

There are numerous features that add to the complexity:
1. Blue and Red circles open and close bridges.
2. The Number Tile: if it says 5, then you must land on it with 5 bubbles to open a bridge.
3. The Ice Field - there are no individual steps, just gliding to the end.
4. Arrows force movement.

I'm not crazy about the graphics. Nevertheless, this puzzle game is pretty good. Not impossibly hard, but hard enough.  Definitely worth your time.

At the moment, I'm stuck on level 55. There are 60 levels. The game is free and there are no ads.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dangostack/id1238970149?mt=8

Super Swipes by Ilya Metelyov FREE

  

Super Swipes comes from Ilya Metelyov.  It's a point scoring puzzle app game.  The object is to slide all the tiles in any direction, in order to get a group of 4 or more of the same color. They disappear - poof - and you get points.  Sometimes extra points when multiple groups are formed.

  

Interesting:
1. Look at the second image. See the blue square inside the red square? After the red is scored, the blue will take its place.

2. The rainbow tile, not shown in the images, acts as a wild card.

3. The graphics are very good and the game is free.

I've only played the game 3 times and my high score is 584, which places me #1 on the leaderboard. Sounds impressive but there are only 15 other players.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/super-swipes/id1246719205?mt=8
https://vk.com/quasar.games

Other Point Scoring Games Worthy of Your Time
NumberMania
Four Straight Lines
Pushopolous
Stickets
Folt
Nineout
Nineout II
BeeCells Lite
Kindly Colors
HexAgony
Domino Drop
Put Number
Tripevo
Triple Town
Kindly  Colors
COLORswipe
SubaraCity
Virus Pop Smash
+1 Number
4 Way Puzzle
Merged!
Enso

Politaire

Treple

numDance

Black Boxes

o:anquan
Levels

Buckets

Hit N Run

Puppo!

Omino!

Tetraslide by Rob Main $.99

  

Rob Main contacted me 2 months ago about his puzzle app game Tetraslide.  I should have reviewed this last month! It's a little like Blockhouse (no longer available).  But much harder.

  

The object is to slide all the men - until they hit a wall - to eventually land exactly on their target spaces.

Tetraslide is actually extremely hard.  I have not solved many of the 135 levels. Just a small fraction.

Trust me: $.99 is going to give you many hours of entertainment and a good deal of frustration.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tetraslide/id955086687?mt=8
https://darbybrennansoft.wixsite.com/tetraslide

Sudoku Spin by Bathroom Break Games LLC FREE

  

The smart folks at Bathroom Break Games LLC have produced their first game called Sudoku Spin.

  

The object is to get each ring and each sector (see the third image) to get the numbers 1-8.

Critical: each ring can spin. By my calculations, there are 64 permutations of arranging just the rings. Fortunately, if there is a conflict, it's highlighted in red.

I've tackled about 20 of the easy levels.

Numerous times: I've rotated the rings, then started filling in the grid, only to discover that my rings were wrong. Back to square one. Still, I wonder if there are multiple solutions in terms of ring rotation.

In a regular sudoku grid, every single square must be one and only a distinct number.  That's not the case with Sudoku Spin. If a sector is missing only a 3 and a 7, and they both land on the same ring, then the order is not important.

The graphics are very good.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sudoku-spin/id1219674107?mt=8

Other Innovative Sudoku Puzzle Apps
Kropk'i Sudoku  This is really a Latin Square with a couple of innovative ideas. It plays fast.
Quindoku Same as Logi5Puzz
Logi5Puzz  Same as NumDom. But NumDom has larger grid sizes.
Spindoku is totally different, but still very cool.
Hi-Lo Sudoku is one of my favorite variations.
Cryptdoku I played it so long ago, but it's cool. Long gone from the App Store.
Stimko Gold - outstanding version of squiggly Sudoku.  Handcrafted puzzles.
Kakooma - interesting for about 3 levels
RollDoku - never even solved 1 level, so hard
Cohabit- played this on my ipod touch - before ipad was invented
FlowDoKu - one of my favorites. Will not delete this.
Sudoku Mine combines Sudoku with Minesweeper
Sudoku Killer  combines Sudoku with Kakuro. I've spent a lot of time on this one. I can do the easy levels in about 10 minutes.
3Doku - a cubic version of Sudoku
Pokergreen Puzzles - a poker version of Sudoku
Star Sudoku
Sudoku Maze

Who owns the largest Rubik's Cube?

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/04/giant_rubiks_cube_installed_on.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkwlRTX2ecA&app=desktop

Michael Hostetler They were actually very careful to make the distinction between yours and theirs. "This is a truly amazing and unique kinematic mechanism that functions as a Rubik's cube," said Noel Perkins, the Donald T. Greenwood Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and adviser to the students, in a news release. "There is no other human-manipulable cube like this, to the best of our knowledge. That said, it is not technically the largest cube. We're aware of a larger cube that requires the user to literally roll it on the ground to solve and rotate the faces. None of that is required by our stationary design. So to be very precise, it is the world's largest stationary, human manipulable Rubik's cube." https://www.google.com/.../giant_rubiks_cube_installed_on...

Giant Rubik's Cube installed on University of Michigan campus

MLIVE.COM|BY MLIVE.COM

Like · Reply · 4 · 6 hrs

Tony Fisher I have read what they wrote and the distinction is totally contrived. Mine can be stationary and mind is hand solvable. They have made the 2nd largest working Rubik's Cube in the world yet that would not have made headlines. I have had multiple comments on my videos about me losing the record and they have succeeded in their attempts to mislead. Disgraceful.

Like · Reply · 5 · 6 hrs

Neil Hutchison Take it to Guinness, they would have to confirm the claim, and that would surely be disputed.

Like · Reply · 2 · 5 hrs

Michael Gottlieb The only difference between a "stationary, human manipulable" cube and yours is a stand that holds it in the air for you. Not much of a distinction!

Like · Reply · 1 hr

Tony Fisher Neil Hutchison It's not an issue for Guinness or which is the larger since there is no despite about that. It's about people believing something false. In a week or two if you search for "what is the largest Rubik's Cube" it will be theirs. That's the way search engines work.

Like · Reply · 35 mins

Write a reply...

Robin Verstraten a better title to give some credit: "the worlds largest fully functioning rubik's cube that isn't made by tony fisher"

Like · Reply · 1 · 3 hrs

Tomas Linden I have a 1x1x1meter that is a exact upscaled version of the original (all parts identical with the original except size and material). Mine is (afaik) the biggest wooden Cube! Maybe there is room in the world for different versions!😃

Like · Reply · 1 · 2 hrs

Tony Fisher I was trying to see how big there's it. It looks about the same as yours and 1m seems a logical size. That would make it equal 2nd (or 3rd?). 
Ignoring the misleading claims I have to admit it looks pretty good.

Like · Reply · 31 mins