11 Cool 3x3 Speed Cube Patterns With Notations

 The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer. Rubik's Cube won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the world's bestselling puzzle game and bestselling toy.

On the original classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six faces was covered by nine stickers, each of one of six solid colours: white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. Some later versions of the cube have been updated to use coloured plastic panels instead, which prevents peeling and fading. In models as of 1988, white is opposite yellow, blue is opposite green, and orange is opposite red, and the red, white, and blue are arranged in that order in a clockwise arrangement. On early cubes, the position of the colours varied from cube to cube. An internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one colour. Similar puzzles have now been produced with various numbers of sides, dimensions, and stickers, not all of them by Rubik.

Those of you who have held a cube in your hand can understand how it feels to see the never-ending mess of colours in the early phases of learning.

A Rubik’s Cube pattern is a design-like looking order of colors.

Well! You don't have to worry anymore. Without even solving a cube you can get to form some really cool 3x3 patterns and impress your friends.. like me 😉

Before starting you should know the notations on the 3x3 cube. Here are important notations you should consider while forming patterns and solving 3x3 cube.

U D F B L R..

and we are ready to go.

Cool 3x3 Speed Cube Patterns With Notations

1. Checkerboard -

This is the most common pattern and this makes every side of cube looks like X

2. Cube in a cube pattern -

Looks like a cube is in a cube!

3. Cube in a Cube in a Cube -

Looks like 2 cubes in a cube! 

4. Anaconda -

Small L on all sides

5. Cross -

Plus on all sides! 

6. Superflip -

Flips all edges 

7. Black Mamba -

L and Lines

8. Plus-Minus -

Except 2 sides, every side has + and - symbol

9. Green Mamba -

Lines on all sides

10. Four Centers Swap -

Swaps 4 center pieces 

11. CheckerBoard In Cube -

Cube in A cube + Checkerboard pattern combined together

The above are some cool basic patterns that might interest you and impress others!

You may have a question in your mind that when we do the different moves, how does a pattern form?

The patterns form by preserving and inserting some pieces into some specific spots/positions.

While you preserve a piece, it may move; but when the algorithm ends, it comes back to its place.

Now,

What is inserting?

Inserting is moving some specific pieces to some specific areas without disturbing the preserved piece.

An easy pattern Checker Board "U2 D2 F2 B2 L2 R2” is formed just by inserting the edges and preserving the corners!

You can make your own pattern too!

It's simple. Just think of a new and good pattern. Then move around the pieces that you wanted to insert/preserve and yay!

You are done!

Now that you have learnt about preserving and inserting to form different patterns, go ahead and guess what is a Rubik's cube mosaic?

About Author

Atharva Bhat

Atharva R. Bhattan 11-year-old from Bengaluru started his cubing journey when he was just 7. He is ranked 14 in India for 3x3 Blindfolded. He has a collection of over 700 puzzles. He loves making Rubik's cube mosaic and its animation videos. He also has a Guinness World Record in solving three rotating puzzle cubes using hands and feet. He has participated in 28 WCA competitions in 2 countries and won 12 podiums with 4 gold medals.