3D Cube Puzzle

3D Cube Puzzle is the classic 3×3 twisty cube (often called a Rubik’s Cube) that you can turn right in your browser. Scramble it and race the timer, practice on a smaller 2×2, or copy the colors of your own cube and follow a step-by-step solution, one animated move at a time. It’s free, with no download, and works with a mouse, keyboard or touch screen.

How to play

The goal is simple: turn the layers until each of the six faces is a single color. Each center sticker shows which color belongs on its face.

• Turn a layer: press on a sticker and drag it across its face. The layer under your finger or pointer turns a quarter in the direction you dragged.
• Look around: drag anywhere outside the cube to spin your view. The arrow keys do the same.
• Buttons and keys: the move pad and the keys U, D, L, R, F and B turn the up, down, left, right, front and back faces clockwise. Hold Shift, or press the apostrophe key first, for a counter-clockwise turn. M, E and S turn the middle slices, and X, Y and Z turn the whole cube.
• Undo and reset: Undo (or Backspace) takes back your last turn, and Reset returns a solved cube.

Timed solves

Press Scramble and the cube makes 25 random turns. Next comes a 15-second inspection, the same length speedcubers get in competition, to look the cube over and plan your first moves. The timer starts with your first turn, or by itself when inspection runs out.

When every face is one color, the timer stops and you see your time, move count and five best times, saved in your browser for each cube size. Press P or Esc to pause, which hides the cube so you can’t plan ahead. The 2×2 uses an 11-move scramble.

The solver

Open the Solver tab to get a full solution using the layer-by-layer beginner method. You can solve the scrambled cube on screen, or press Paint my cube to copy a real one. Hold your cube with the white center on top and the green center facing you. Then pick each color and tap the matching stickers. If a color count is off, or a corner is twisted or an edge flipped in a way no real cube allows, the solver tells you what to check.

The solution is split into the method’s steps:

1. Hold the cube with white on the bottom.
2. Build a white cross whose edges match the side centers.
3. Place the white corners with the R U R’ U’ trigger.
4. Insert the four middle-layer edges.
5. Make a yellow cross with F R U R’ U’ F’.
6. Match the yellow edges to their centers.
7. Move the yellow corners to their spots with U R U’ L’ U R’ U’ L.
8. Twist each yellow corner with R’ D’ R D until the cube is solved.

Press Next and Prev to go one move at a time, with the next move highlighted, or press Play to watch it all. Beginner solutions are long, usually about 120 to 200 moves. The solver only works on the 3×3.

Tips

• Learn the notation first. A letter alone is a clockwise quarter turn of that face, as if you were looking straight at it. A letter with an apostrophe (R’) is counter-clockwise, and a 2 (U2) is a half turn.
• Solve the cross on the bottom. It feels harder at first, but you can see the next pieces coming without turning the cube over.
• Trust the last step. While you twist the yellow corners, the lower layers look scrambled. Keep the same face toward you, only turn the top between corners, and they come back on their own.

FAQ

Is the 3D Cube Puzzle free?

Yes. It’s free with no account or install, on phones, tablets, laptops and Chromebooks.

Can it solve my real cube?

Yes. Paint your cube’s colors in the Solver tab, press Solve and follow the moves on your own cube. Keep holding your cube with white on top and green in front while you paint. The first step then tells you how to turn it.

How many ways can a 3×3 be scrambled?

About 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) different positions can be reached.

Does the solver find the shortest solution?

No. It teaches the beginner method instead, so its solutions are much longer than the shortest possible ones. In exchange, every step is a pattern you can learn.

Like turning puzzles? Try sliding tiles into order in the 15 Puzzle or moving discs in the Tower of Hanoi.