Puzzle Review: The Square King
I've been a bad boy.
Needing a 'power totem' of sorts for work, I decided that the most defining thing I could use would be a few Rubik's cubes on my desk. The novelty of the cubes to me will never run out, but having them at work make for an interesting conversation starter, and gave my co-workers the ability to 'challenge' me by scrambling the puzzles at random periods when I'm away from my desk.
It's not surprising that in a technical support company full of geeks that there would be one or two cube freaks like me there, but I was lucky enough to have one on my own team who introduced me to a few of his cubes.
Big mistake.
The cube fever set in me again like I hadn't felt since I first solved the original 3x3x3 cube. Madly, over the last few weeks, I've been researching custom cubes and puzzles and purchasing a few items off of eBay.
Okay, more than a few.
...
I'm not going to divulge how much I've spent on cubes.
Instead, I decided I would keep reviews and unboxings on this blog as a resource of what to buy and what to avoid if you are serious about adding decent pieces to your own collection. So, with a whole crap-tonne (it's an industry term) more ado, I bring you the first review:
THE SQUARE KING
The Square King (a Fisher Cube manufactured in Asia with only one color) was one that was owned by the rep on my team who allowed me to play with it for a few days, and I was actually blown away at just how easily the puzzle turned. I took a chance on this offering from eBay user le-gem and after forgetting to pay for the damn thing after I won (stupid new eBay practices), FINALLY got my shipment confirmation and received the puzzle a little under a week from the point of sale.
Box Views
The box design is definitely interesting if you've never seen a Fisher cube before. The front shows a cube that appears to be turned on its diagonal, even though the box is still in it's orthogonal position.
But when you open the box, it looks like a regular cube with a large center piece and two small side pieces.
And when you pull it out...
...it looks like a litle slice of monochrome craziness. For those of you not familiar with transformative puzzles, this is what she looks like when you give her a twist...
...and if you are more daring, a full scramble of the puzzle.
One would think that a monochromatic Rubik's type puzzle would be incredibly easy to solve. And, indeed, matching edges on this transformative puzzle isn't a terrible challenge. People unable to match colors on a traditional cube can solve a generous portion of this cube. But even cube veterans can be presented with a parity error when trying to solve the top layer of the cube. Now, I know what you're thinking:
Parity? In MY Fisher Cube? GTFO.
But it's true. Even in a Fisher Cube with all six sides colored, it is possible to have what seems to be the entire cube solved but one "corner" piece (really an edge considering the angles of rotation) rotated incorrectly in place.
The error in the single colored cube comes from the fact that they are solving by shape, and not by the location of each individual piece. In the end, you have a cube with one point facing outward instead of up, but should colors be applied to all pieces regularly, it would look completely scrambled despite no longer being transformed. A short algorithm can resolve this on a single-colored Fisher Cube, and on a multi-colored it would require soving for centers or corners again.
Another issue that can arise are the center pieces. Because the cube turns along diagonal lines on four of its six "faces" the centers on four sides are what are traditionally called edge pieces. It is possible to solve the cube with one or more of these turned horizontally, or on a multi-colored cube, flipped 180 degrees.
This issue can be solved algorithmically, but even easier, if taken into account at the beginning of a solve, is incredibly easy to prevent from occurring. On multi-color cubes, preventing these parity errors should be simple enough by anyone with a decent method of solving the cube.
This cube was the exact same as the one I had played with weeks prior, and it turns just as easily (sometimes too easily) as I had remembered.The puzzle doesn't corner terribly well, but that's made up for by a fairly sturdy construction that prevents the thing from snapping apart if you twist too hard or quickly in one direction. A simple straightening of the layers allows for the piece to turn easily again. The action is very smooth and is fairly quiet compared to most twisty puzzles in the "ridiculously affordable" range.
The stock stickers are textured which is nice considering how slippery the whole thing feels just due to its action, however they are not of a really great quality. They are better than what come on most commercially available Rubik's Cubes in the US today, but the adhesive wasn't fully affixed to the sheet of material or wears off as some of the stickers can be pulled up in the corner (but not to any degree that would impede solving, also not that it matters on this cube). I'll likely consider getting tile material from CubeSmith to cut my own replacement tiles for this one at some point.
What is a little lacking in the craftsmanship is that the four "center pieces" (flat pieces that are really edges on the four sides that turn diagonaly) have their entire faces pop off randomly as they are just placed into their holes in a less-than-snug fit. I imagine this may have been part or requirement of the assembly process, and could be remedied by a bit of plastic cement or other adhesive, but can be annoying the first time you twist the cube and a tile falls into your lap. This seems to be more of a careless oversight from a mass producer who likely doesn't care about the finished product in the first place.
In all, Fisher Cubes are fun, and this is an affordable (if you pay more than $6 for this, INCLUDING shipping, you're likely being ripped off) and unique addition to anyone's cube collection.
(Note, there is a puzzle branded as a Meffert's single-color Fisher Cube, and the product picture shown looks exactly like the inexpensive version in the above review. This puzzle seems to retail for USD15+. If anyone has one of these, I'd be interested to see what, if any, difference there is between the two(likely none).
Needing a 'power totem' of sorts for work, I decided that the most defining thing I could use would be a few Rubik's cubes on my desk. The novelty of the cubes to me will never run out, but having them at work make for an interesting conversation starter, and gave my co-workers the ability to 'challenge' me by scrambling the puzzles at random periods when I'm away from my desk.
It's not surprising that in a technical support company full of geeks that there would be one or two cube freaks like me there, but I was lucky enough to have one on my own team who introduced me to a few of his cubes.
Big mistake.
The cube fever set in me again like I hadn't felt since I first solved the original 3x3x3 cube. Madly, over the last few weeks, I've been researching custom cubes and puzzles and purchasing a few items off of eBay.
Okay, more than a few.
...
I'm not going to divulge how much I've spent on cubes.
Instead, I decided I would keep reviews and unboxings on this blog as a resource of what to buy and what to avoid if you are serious about adding decent pieces to your own collection. So, with a whole crap-tonne (it's an industry term) more ado, I bring you the first review:
The Square King (a Fisher Cube manufactured in Asia with only one color) was one that was owned by the rep on my team who allowed me to play with it for a few days, and I was actually blown away at just how easily the puzzle turned. I took a chance on this offering from eBay user le-gem and after forgetting to pay for the damn thing after I won (stupid new eBay practices), FINALLY got my shipment confirmation and received the puzzle a little under a week from the point of sale.
The box design is definitely interesting if you've never seen a Fisher cube before. The front shows a cube that appears to be turned on its diagonal, even though the box is still in it's orthogonal position.
But when you open the box, it looks like a regular cube with a large center piece and two small side pieces.
And when you pull it out...
...it looks like a litle slice of monochrome craziness. For those of you not familiar with transformative puzzles, this is what she looks like when you give her a twist...
...and if you are more daring, a full scramble of the puzzle.
One would think that a monochromatic Rubik's type puzzle would be incredibly easy to solve. And, indeed, matching edges on this transformative puzzle isn't a terrible challenge. People unable to match colors on a traditional cube can solve a generous portion of this cube. But even cube veterans can be presented with a parity error when trying to solve the top layer of the cube. Now, I know what you're thinking:
Parity? In MY Fisher Cube? GTFO.
But it's true. Even in a Fisher Cube with all six sides colored, it is possible to have what seems to be the entire cube solved but one "corner" piece (really an edge considering the angles of rotation) rotated incorrectly in place.
The error in the single colored cube comes from the fact that they are solving by shape, and not by the location of each individual piece. In the end, you have a cube with one point facing outward instead of up, but should colors be applied to all pieces regularly, it would look completely scrambled despite no longer being transformed. A short algorithm can resolve this on a single-colored Fisher Cube, and on a multi-colored it would require soving for centers or corners again.
Another issue that can arise are the center pieces. Because the cube turns along diagonal lines on four of its six "faces" the centers on four sides are what are traditionally called edge pieces. It is possible to solve the cube with one or more of these turned horizontally, or on a multi-colored cube, flipped 180 degrees.
This issue can be solved algorithmically, but even easier, if taken into account at the beginning of a solve, is incredibly easy to prevent from occurring. On multi-color cubes, preventing these parity errors should be simple enough by anyone with a decent method of solving the cube.
This cube was the exact same as the one I had played with weeks prior, and it turns just as easily (sometimes too easily) as I had remembered.The puzzle doesn't corner terribly well, but that's made up for by a fairly sturdy construction that prevents the thing from snapping apart if you twist too hard or quickly in one direction. A simple straightening of the layers allows for the piece to turn easily again. The action is very smooth and is fairly quiet compared to most twisty puzzles in the "ridiculously affordable" range.
The stock stickers are textured which is nice considering how slippery the whole thing feels just due to its action, however they are not of a really great quality. They are better than what come on most commercially available Rubik's Cubes in the US today, but the adhesive wasn't fully affixed to the sheet of material or wears off as some of the stickers can be pulled up in the corner (but not to any degree that would impede solving, also not that it matters on this cube). I'll likely consider getting tile material from CubeSmith to cut my own replacement tiles for this one at some point.
What is a little lacking in the craftsmanship is that the four "center pieces" (flat pieces that are really edges on the four sides that turn diagonaly) have their entire faces pop off randomly as they are just placed into their holes in a less-than-snug fit. I imagine this may have been part or requirement of the assembly process, and could be remedied by a bit of plastic cement or other adhesive, but can be annoying the first time you twist the cube and a tile falls into your lap. This seems to be more of a careless oversight from a mass producer who likely doesn't care about the finished product in the first place.
In all, Fisher Cubes are fun, and this is an affordable (if you pay more than $6 for this, INCLUDING shipping, you're likely being ripped off) and unique addition to anyone's cube collection.
(Note, there is a puzzle branded as a Meffert's single-color Fisher Cube, and the product picture shown looks exactly like the inexpensive version in the above review. This puzzle seems to retail for USD15+. If anyone has one of these, I'd be interested to see what, if any, difference there is between the two(likely none).
