Megaminx facts for kids
The Megaminx is a puzzle shaped like a dodecahedron. This means it has 12 flat faces, just like a 12-sided dice. It's a lot like the Rubik's Cube, but it has many more pieces to move around. While a Rubik's Cube has 20 movable pieces, the Megaminx has a total of 50 pieces you need to rearrange!
Contents
What is a Megaminx?
The Megaminx has 12 faces. Each face has a center piece, 5 corner pieces, and 5 edge pieces. The center pieces show the main color of each face when the puzzle is solved. Edge pieces have two colors, and corner pieces have three. You twist the layers around the center pieces to mix up the colors. Your goal is to get each face to be a single, solid color.
There are two main kinds of Megaminx puzzles. One has 6 colors, where opposite faces share the same color. The other has 12 different colors. The 12-color Megaminx is the one used in official WCA competitions. This makes it much more popular than the 6-color version.
How to Solve a Megaminx
Solving a Megaminx is similar to solving a Rubik's Cube, but with more steps because of the extra faces.
If you have a 6-color Megaminx, there's a special challenge. Some of its edge pieces look exactly alike because opposite faces have the same color. This can make it seem like two pieces are stuck, even when the rest of the puzzle is almost solved. It's like a hidden puzzle! To fix this, you might need to swap a pair of these "identical" edges. Then, the rest of the puzzle can be solved normally.
This hidden challenge doesn't happen with the 12-color Megaminx. Since all its edges have different colors, you can always tell them apart.
Besides solving the Megaminx to one color per face, you can also make cool patterns on it. Just like with a Rubik's Cube, you can create designs like stars, checkerboards, or even a pentagon inside a pentagon.
Different Kinds of Megaminx Puzzles
There are many puzzles similar to the Megaminx. They often change the "mega" part of the name to another metric prefix. These puzzles have different numbers of layers:
- Kilominx: Has 2 layers.
- Master Kilominx: Has 4 layers.
- Gigaminx: Has 5 layers.
- Elite Kilominx: Has 6 layers.
- Teraminx: Has 7 layers.
- 8×8 Kilominx: Has 8 layers.
- Petaminx: Has 9 layers.
- Examinx: Has 11 layers. This is the largest one made for sale by companies.
- Zettaminx: Has 13 layers.
- Yottaminx: Has 15 layers. This is the largest Megaminx ever made, created using 3D printing. It's like a 15x15x15 Rubik's Cube, but in a dodecahedron shape!
Other related puzzles include:
- Alexander's Star: This puzzle is like solving only the edges of a 6-color Megaminx.
- Impossiball and Kilominx: These are like solving only the corners of a Megaminx.
- Pyraminx Crystal: This is a modified Megaminx with deeper turns.
- Hexaminx: This is a Megaminx that has been reshaped into a cube.
- Holey Megaminx: This version has no center pieces, similar to the Void Cube.
How Many Ways Can a Megaminx Be Mixed Up?
The Megaminx has a huge number of possible combinations! For the 12-color Megaminx, there are about 101 unvigintillion ways to scramble it. That's a 1 followed by 68 zeros! It's an incredibly large number, showing how complex this puzzle can be.
For the 6-color Megaminx, the number of combinations is slightly smaller. This is because some of its pieces look the same, even if they are mathematically different. Still, it's a mind-bogglingly huge number of ways to mix it up.
Megaminx Records
People compete to solve the Megaminx as fast as possible. This is called speedcubing.
The world record for solving a Megaminx one time is 27.81 seconds. This amazing time was set by Juan Pablo Huanqui from Peru on July 28, 2018.
The world record for the average of five solves is 30.39 seconds. Juan Pablo Huanqui also set this record on August 11, 2019. For the average, they take five solves, remove the fastest and slowest times, and then average the remaining three.
Top 5 Solvers by Single Solve
| Name | Fastest solve | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Juan Pablo Huanqui | 27.22s | La Tienda Cubera Christmas 2019 |
| Amos Nordman | 28.84s | Helsinki Open 2020 |
| Nicolas Naing | 29.22s | CubingUSA Nationals 2019 |
| Yu Da-Hyun (유다현) | 30.12s | CWR Winter 2018 |
| Alexander Vujcich | 30.32s | A New Year in Auckland 2021 |
Top 5 Solvers by Average of 5 Solves
| Name | Fastest average | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Juan Pablo Huanqui | 30.39s | Wuxi Open 2019 |
| Yu Da-Hyun (유다현) | 32.03s | CWR Winter 2018 |
| Nicolas Naing | 32.47s | CubingUSA Nationals 2019 |
| Amos Nordman | 32.48s | Minx C-Open-hagen 2020 |
| Alexei Sinyavin | 35.54s | Bridgeport Side Events 2019 |
Images for kids
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A Holey Megaminx, with black body
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Kilominx, Megaminx, Master Kilominx, Gigaminx, Elite Kilominx, Teraminx
See also
In Spanish: Megaminx para niños
