The interesting thing about this puzzle is that it uses a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube as a base, but certain cubes are 'bandaged' together with thick stickers that cover more than one cuby! This makes it so that certain rotations are not possible. As you may imagine, it is quite tricky!
Throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead and scrambled this one up. It took a bit more effort to scramble than a regular cube because you need to look to find a move that is possible now and then.
I worked on this one for a good hour or so, and haven't yet been able to restore it to its solved state. I was able to get two layers solved, but the top layer has been vexing me thus far. As is usually the case, getting the last few pieces in place without screwing up everything else you have done is pretty tricky! I'd love to talk to somebody about how they approach a puzzle like this. How do you come up with the algorithm? I can come up with simple ones, but the long ones are tough for me. Leave a comment if you've got some insight!
As I mentioned earlier, the quality of this puzzle is quite nice. I liked the thick plastic stickers, though their thickness is probably also for structural purposes. I don't really have anything bad to say about it other than the fact that it is tough! It is quite annoying not to be able to make a move due to the way this thing is constructed, but that's the whole idea I guess!
If you'd like more info on this puzzle, check out Jaap's Puzzle Page. He's got a ton of information, including solutions, to many twisty puzzles. A great site!
Overall, Bandage Cube is a fun twisty puzzle that should be in your twisty collection. Definitely not for the feint of heart, but a good challenge! I'm hoping to solve it someday, but that's what I said about the Square 1 that I got during my last twisty puzzle spending spree.
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What is wrong with Jaap's solution to the bandaged cube? ;-) Hey, at least it doesn't jumble!
ReplyDeleteI have a 4x4x4 now that I am trying to solve! Got it part way ...
Yeah, I may try to apply his solution at some point just to get it back to the start, but I'm going to fiddle with it a bit more first! I hate admitting defeat, but I don't really know where to go with this one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried a 4x4x4, just a 2x2x2, 3x3x3 and 7x7x7. I figured go for the biggest one (at the time), so I could hopefully generalize my technique to the others, but I hear the even numbers are different due to that parity issue.