The Most Difficult Rubik's Cube, Ranked

Choose the Rubik's Cube you think is the most difficult!

Author: Gregor Krambs
Updated on Apr 27, 2024 06:25
Navigating the world of Rubik's Cubes can be as twisting and turning as the puzzles themselves. For both new enthusiasts and seasoned solvers, understanding which cubes present the greatest challenge can help in choosing their next conquest or sharpening their solving skills. By participating in the voting process, users contribute to a dynamic ranking that reflects the community's current views on difficulty levels. This enables solvers to see how opinions on complexity change over time and what makes a particular puzzle stand out as particularly challenging.

What Is the Most Difficult Rubik's Cube?

  1. 1
    73
    votes
    This is the largest commercially available Rubik's Cube, with 22 layers on each side, making a total of 2,691 individual pieces. It's considered one of the most challenging cubes due to its size and complexity.
    The 22x22 Rubik's Cube, also known as the Teraminx, is a puzzle toy and a larger version of the classic Rubik's Cube. It consists of a 22x22x22 grid of smaller cubes that can be rotated and rearranged to solve the puzzle.
    • Size: 22x22x22
    • Number of Cubes: 10,648
    • Number of Stickers: 7,278
    • Number of Possible Positions: 8.674 x 10^1155
    • Weight: approximately 8.5 kg (18.7 lbs)
  2. 2
    16
    votes
    This cube has 17 layers on each side, making a total of 4,836 individual pieces. It's also one of the largest cubes and requires an immense amount of patience and skill to solve.
    The 17x17 Rubik's Cube, also known as 'Over the Top,' is a supermassive variation of the classic Rubik's Cube puzzle. It is designed to challenge even the most experienced cubers by offering an extremely complex and daunting solving task. With its massive size and vast number of possible combinations, solving this cube requires exceptional spatial reasoning skills, patience, and perseverance.
    • Size: 17x17
    • Number of Cubies: 1,539
    • Number of Stickers: 10,503
    • Weight: Approximately 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)
    • Number of Possible Combinations: approximately 7.4 x 10^1054
  3. 3
    22
    votes

    13x13 Rubik's Cube

    Udo Krell
    This cube has 13 layers on each side, making a total of 1,690 individual pieces. It's a step up from the 12x12 cube and requires advanced solving techniques.
    The 13x13 Rubik's Cube is an extremely challenging puzzle that features a 13x13 grid pattern on each face. It is a larger version of the famous Rubik's Cube and requires intense focus and problem-solving skills to solve.
    • Size: 13x13x13
    • Number of Cubies: 169
    • Total Number of Stickers: 2,643
    • Number of possible permutations: 8.7 x 10^1152
    • Weight: 2.8 kg
  4. 4
    22
    votes

    11x11 Rubik's Cube

    Tony Fisher
    This cube has 11 layers on each side, making a total of 1,331 individual pieces. It's one of the largest cubes that can be purchased commercially and requires advanced solving techniques.
    The 11x11 Rubik's Cube is a variant of the popular Rubik's Cube puzzle, featuring an 11x11 grid of smaller cubes that can be twisted and turned. It is one of the largest and most challenging versions of the puzzle.
    • Size: 11x11x11
    • Number of Cubies: 1464
    • Number of Stickers: 5292
    • Total Possible Scrambled States: 43 quintillion
    • Weight: approx. 2.7 kg
  5. 5
    20
    votes
    10x10 Rubik's Cube
    Dhrm77 · CC BY-SA 4.0

    10x10 Rubik's Cube

    Tony Fisher
    This cube has 10 layers on each side, making a total of 1,000 individual pieces. It's a popular cube among advanced solvers and requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The 10x10 Rubik's Cube is a challenging twisty puzzle that features a 10x10 grid of smaller cubes. Each face of the cube consists of 100 colorful stickers, and the goal is to solve the puzzle by manipulating its layers to restore each face to a solid color.
    • Size: 10x10x10
    • Number of Cubies: 1,000
    • Number of Stickers: 600
    • Number of Possible Positions: 4.03 x 10^381
    • Difficulty Level: Extremely challenging
  6. 6
    12
    votes
    9x9 Rubik's Cube
    RTCNCA · CC BY-SA 3.0

    9x9 Rubik's Cube

    Uwe Mèffert
    This cube has 9 layers on each side, making a total of 729 individual pieces. It's one of the largest cubes that can be solved using traditional methods and requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The 9x9 Rubik's Cube, also known as the Professor's Cube, is a larger version of the classic Rubik's Cube puzzle. It is expanded to 9 layers on each side, resulting in a more complex and challenging puzzle.
    • Size: 9x9x9
    • Number of Cubes: 759
    • Number of Stickers: 594
    • Possible Combinations: 43,252,003,274,489,856,000
    • Difficulty Level: Very Hard
  7. 7
    8
    votes
    8x8 Rubik's Cube
    RTCNCA · CC BY-SA 3.0

    8x8 Rubik's Cube

    Ernő Rubik
    This cube has 8 layers on each side, making a total of 512 individual pieces. It's a challenging cube that requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The 8x8 Rubik's Cube is a puzzle cube consisting of 8 layers on each side, resulting in a total of 64 individual cubies. It is a larger variant of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube, providing an extra challenge for enthusiasts and cubers seeking more complex solving experiences.
    • Size: 8x8x8
    • Total Cubies: 64
    • Number of Layers: 8
    • Total Stickers: 384
    • Difficulty Level: Expert
  8. 8
    8
    votes
    7x7 Rubik's Cube
    Hellbus · CC BY-SA 3.0

    7x7 Rubik's Cube

    Vladimir Yaroslavskiy
    This cube has 7 layers on each side, making a total of 343 individual pieces. It's a challenging cube that requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The 7x7 Rubik's Cube, also known as the 7x7x7 Rubik's Cube, is a twisty puzzle in the shape of a cube. It is a larger version of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube and consists of a total of 6 faces, each with 7 rows and 7 columns, resulting in a total of 294 individual stickers.
    • Dimensions: 7x7x7
    • Number of possible scrambles: Over 16.7x10^160
    • Number of individual stickers: 294
    • Number of possible positions: Over 1.95x10^160
    • Number of possible combinations: Approximately 1.95x10^160
  9. 9
    5
    votes
    6x6 Rubik's Cube
    Hellbus · CC BY-SA 3.0

    6x6 Rubik's Cube

    Panagiotis Verdes
    This cube has 6 layers on each side, making a total of 216 individual pieces. It's a popular cube among advanced solvers and requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The 6x6 Rubik's Cube, also known as the Rubik's Professor or V-Cube 6, is a twisty puzzle that consists of a 6x6x6 grid of smaller cubies. It is an extension of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube and offers a significantly higher level of complexity and challenge.
    • Size: 6x6x6
    • Number of cubies: 216
    • Number of stickers: 216
    • Number of possible permutations: 1.57 x 10^1168
    • Rotational axes: 3 (X, Y, Z)
  10. 10
    9
    votes
    Mirror Cube
    Thomas 003 · Public domain

    Mirror Cube

    Hadan Chaudhary
    This cube looks deceptively simple, but it's one of the most challenging cubes due to its shape-shifting nature. It requires advanced techniques to solve.
    The Mirror Cube, also known as the Mirror Blocks or the Bump Cube, is a variation of the Rubik's Cube. The Mirror Cube is an interesting twist on the classic puzzle, as it features irregularly shaped blocks instead of the standard cubic shape. Instead of solving it by matching colors, the objective of the Mirror Cube is to restore its original shape by aligning the blocks. This puzzle is particularly challenging due to the deceptive shape and lack of color cues.
    • Difficulty level: Very difficult
    • Number of blocks: 17 blocks
    • Shape: Irregular, non-cubic
    • Size: 5.7cm x 5.7cm x 5.7cm
    • Weight: About 120 grams

Missing your favorite Rubik's Cube?

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Ranking factors for difficult Rubik's Cube

  1. Number of pieces (cubies)
    A higher number of pieces usually correlates to a more complex structure and potentially more difficult solution process.
  2. Types of pieces
    Different configurations of corner, edge, and center pieces may add complexity, as unique piece types may require specific strategies to solve.
  3. Number of possible permutations
    The higher the number of possible scrambled positions a Rubik's Cube can have, the more difficult it tends to be to solve, as it takes longer to explore and identify the correct solution path.
  4. Solution approach and algorithms
    The number, complexity, and intuitiveness of the solution methods and algorithms used to solve the cube can significantly impact its difficulty, especially for those new to solving Rubik's Cubes.
  5. Size and dimensions
    Larger or irregularly shaped cubes may pose challenges in handling and visualizing when solving the puzzle, adding to the difficulty.
  6. Amount of time and training required
    A difficult Rubik's Cube will generally require more time and practice to learn and master the solution techniques.
  7. Presence of additional challenges or restrictions
    Some Rubik's Cubes have additional features, such as irregular colors, uneven sizes, or bandaged pieces, which limit certain moves and require new strategies to solve.
  8. Level of intuition needed
    The level of intuition and logical reasoning needed to solve the Rubik's Cube can affect its difficulty, with more complex cubes typically requiring stronger problem-solving skills and adaptability to new solving patterns.

About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most difficult Rubik's Cube. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or Cube is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

  • 3894 views
  • 186 votes
  • 10 ranked items

Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each Cube once every 24 hours. The rank of each Cube is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

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More information on most difficult rubik's cube

Background Information: Rubik's Cube is a three-dimensional puzzle that has been popular for decades. It was invented by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian sculptor, in 1974. The cube consists of six faces, each made up of nine smaller squares, which can be twisted and turned to create different patterns. The goal of the puzzle is to solve it by returning the cube to its original state, with each face showing a single color. Over the years, several variations of Rubik's Cube have been developed, each with its own unique challenges. Some of the most difficult Rubik's Cubes include the 4x4x4 cube (also known as the Rubik's Revenge), the 5x5x5 cube (also known as the Professor's Cube), and the 6x6x6 cube (also known as the V-Cube 6). These cubes require advanced techniques and algorithms to solve, and can take hours or even days to complete. Despite the challenges, Rubik's Cube remains a popular puzzle among enthusiasts worldwide. With thousands of different variations and algorithms to explore, there's always a new challenge to tackle.

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