Pyraminx Duo facts for kids
The Pyraminx Duo is a cool, triangle-shaped puzzle, a bit like a Rubik's Cube. It was first thought up by Rob Stegmann and then invented by Oskar van Deventer. Now, a company called Meffert's makes lots of them for everyone to enjoy!
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What is the Pyraminx Duo?
The Pyraminx Duo looks like a pyramid, which is a shape called a tetrahedron. It has 4 corner pieces and 4 center pieces on its faces. Each corner piece has three colors, while each center piece has just one color.
When you twist the puzzle, it turns around its corner pieces. This moves one corner piece and mixes up the three center pieces around it. It's neat how the center pieces seem to go "under" the corner pieces as you twist!
The main goal of the puzzle is to mix up all the colors and then twist them back so that each face has only one color. It's a bit like the Skewb puzzle, but you can see all the corner pieces.
How Many Ways Can It Be Scrambled?
The Pyraminx Duo can be scrambled in 324 different ways. That might sound like a lot, but it's actually a very small number for a puzzle like this!
To give you an idea, the famous Rubik's Cube can be scrambled in over 43 quintillion ways (that's a 43 with 18 zeros after it!). Even the smaller Pocket Cube has over 3.6 million ways to be scrambled. The original Pyraminx puzzle has more than 930,000 ways.
Because the Pyraminx Duo has so few combinations, it's much easier to solve than most other twisty puzzles.
Solving the Pyraminx Duo
Since the Pyraminx Duo has only 324 possible scrambles, it's known as a pretty easy puzzle to solve. Some people even say it's one of the easiest "twisty puzzles" out there!
Because it's not too hard, many people who enjoy puzzles like to figure out their own ways to solve it. It's also fun to try and find the "best" way to solve it, meaning the way that takes the fewest moves.
How Many Moves to Solve?
Computers have figured out the fewest number of twists needed to solve the Pyraminx Duo from any scrambled position. This is sometimes called "God's Number."
Here's how many twists it takes:
| Twists needed (n) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of positions (p) | 1 | 8 | 48 | 188 | 79 | 324 |
This table shows that the Pyraminx Duo can always be solved in 4 twists or less! That's super quick compared to other puzzles. For example, the Rubik's Cube can take up to 20 moves, and the Pocket Cube or the Pyraminx can take up to 11 moves.
Different Versions
There are a few different versions of the Pyraminx Duo. They usually look the same as the original puzzle. However, they use different color patterns. These new color patterns often make the center pieces' directions more obvious, which can make the puzzle a little bit more challenging and fun!
