The Megaminx is a twisty puzzle similar to the Rubik’s cube, but it’s in the shape of a dodecahedron. It was invented by several people simultaneously. Different manufacturers also produced it with slight differences in design.
Uwe Meffert eventually bought the rights to some of the Megaminx patents.
Different variations of the Megaminx cube logically progressed from the original Rubik’s cube to the dodecahedron. There is the Hungarian Supernova version with 12 different colors; the Ball. B variant, spherical with flags; and the Holey Megaminx variant without face centers, inspired by the Void Cube.
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Related puzzles include the Alexander’s Star, an equivalent of the Megaminx without a center piece or corners, and the Impossible, an equivalent of the Megaminx without a center piece or edge.
You’ve likely also seen images of other versions of the Megaminx that require different methods to solve. Some of the bigger and newer arrivals include the Gigaminx, Teraminx, Zettaminx, Petaminx, and Kilominx.
You’ll find two main versions of the Megaminx cube: one with six colors, with opposite faces having the same color, and one with 12 different colors.
The 12-color version is more popular because it’s the only legal Megaminx cube in official World Cube Association (WCA) competitions.
Phoenix Megaminx
How To Solve The Megaminx
The Megaminx comprises 12 faces and centerpieces, 30 edge pieces, and 20 corner pieces. The face centers each have a single color, the color of that face in the solved state. Edge pieces have two colors, and corner pieces have three.
The objective is to scramble the colors and restore the puzzle to its original state with one color per face.
Each face contains a centerpiece, five edge pieces, and five corner pieces. The face centers can only rotate in place, but you can permute the other pieces when looking for a solution by face-turning or twisting the face layer around the face center.
Juan Pablo Huanqui of Peru holds the current world record for solving the Megaminx in 25.24 seconds this year!
The solution for the Megaminx is almost similar to that of the 3×3 Rubik’s cube, but a few new algorithms come in when you reach the last layer.
If you can solve the classic 3×3 Rubik’s cube, you won’t have any problems solving the Megaminx cube.
To solve the Megaminx, think of it as an extension of the 3×3 with a top layer, upper half, and lower half:
Some algorithm notations are similar to those of the 3×3, including R (right side), U (up-side), and F (front side). However, you can introduce the ‘dR’ for a down-right turn of the Megaminx.
Solving Steps
Step 1: Solve The Bottom Layer
The first step is similar to solving the white cross of a Rubik’s cube, but instead of a cross, you build a white star. Start with the white side as the bottom layer and solve the five edges one by one to build a star.
It’s purely intuitive, and once the edges are done, insert the white corner pieces.
Solve the white corners one by one. The following algorithms can come in handy depending on your case:
- URU’R
- URU’R
- (RU’R)U2RUR’
Step 2: Solve The Lower Half
Turn the solved white face of the cube downwards and use the F2L algorithms from the 3×3 cube to solve the next set of edges.
After solving the edges, the next step is to move the corners above each edge and turn them according to the colors, placing them where they belong.
If the target edge is on the wrong side or has an incorrect orientation, move it to the top layer and apply the appropriate algorithm.
- (URU’R’U’)(F’UF)
- (R’F’RU)(RU’R’F)
Step 3: Solve The Upper Half
Start by solving the inverted triangle of the five upper sides. Take the white side as the bottom and the grey side as the top.
You can solve the down left edge by observation and the down corner and down-right edge by leveraging F’ turns to set the case and F to restore it after solving the cases.
You’ll use the right and left algorithms to solve the down corner and the down-right edge. F’ turns will help you shift positions if the original position of the inverted triangle doesn’t fit the algorithms.
Execute F’ to place the triangle at the down right corner and shift the target position of the edge and corner pieces to solve.
Place the corner you’re targeting at the top right corner and execute the right algorithm from above to solve.
To solve the down-right edge, place the target edge in the top layer and execute (URU’R’U’)(F’UF) or (R’F’RU)(RU’R’F) to solve.
Execute F to return the inverted triangle to the right position at the down corner.
Repeat the above steps to solve the inverted triangles on each side, solving them clockwise. Move the target corner or edge to the top layer if it is incorrectly oriented or in the wrong inverted triangle.
Step 4: Solve The Top Star
In the 3×3 cube, this step involves solving the yellow cross. With the Megaminx, we form a star instead of a cross on top of the puzzle using the same algorithms of the 3×3.
Place the grey side at the top and execute the F R U R’U’F’ algorithm once in each case to solve all top layer edges.
F R U R’U’F’
F R U R’U’F’
F R U R’U’F’
Step 5: Cycling The Edges
This step is similar to swapping or permutating the yellow edges on the 3×3 Rubik’s cube. The algorithm is the same, and you can use it to cycle three edges on the front face of the Megaminx in the desired direction.
Place the grey side and execute the algorithm depending on the number of top edges with the correct permutation.
If there’s only one correct edge, execute the algorithm once from any direction to transform it to the cases below where there are two correct edges. Once you reach this case, execute the algorithm once or twice to solve all the edges.
R’ U’ R U’ R’U2 R
R’ U’ R U’ R’U2 R
R’ U’ R U’ R’U2 R
Step 6: Orienting The Top Corners
Orienting the top corners can be confusing, so it’s important to only focus on the corners that need to be dealt with.
The other sides may temporarily get scrambled, but they’ll restore automatically as you orient the corners.
Start by placing the grey side at dR and targeting the corner in the down-right position as the operating slot.
Make dR turns to move a corner oriented incorrectly to the operating slot and execute the algorithm below once or twice to rotate the corner until it orients correctly.
R U R’ U’)(R U R’ U’)
(R U R’ U’)(R U R’ U’)
Step 7: Permutate The Top Corners
The final step to solve the Megaminx is to permutate the top corners of the grey side one by one. Place the grey side at dR and execute dR + RUR’ and dR + RU’R’ in turns until all corners are solved!
FAQs
What is the hardest Rubik’s Cube?
The Pentamix is considered the hardest Rubik’s cube. It comprises 975 individual parts and has over 1,200 stickers. It took around 75 hours to build, and solving it may take considerably longer, especially if you’re a beginner.
What Are Some Great Versions of the Megaminx?
There are a lot of excellent versions or types of the Megaminx cube, including the Kilominx, a baby Megaminx. A 2×2 megaminx corners-only modification, which means there are no edge pieces or center piece to guide you on which color goes on each side. Suitable for speed cube enthusiasts or amateur puzzlers.
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Kilominx
