Calvins Puzzle Lattice Cube (Japanese 6 Color Scheme)

Calvin's Puzzle Lattice Cube (Japanese 6 Color Scheme)

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary cube with a dense grid of cuts. However, the Lattice Cube by Calvin's Puzzle turns around its corners, not its faces. The puzzle was designed by Katsuhiko Okamoto in collaboration with Grégoire Pfennig and is mass-produced by Calvin's Puzzle. We offer the version with a black body and a six-color Japanese color scheme.

How the Lattice Cube works

It looks as if the cuts of a Skewb and a Dino Cube were combined on one cube, but the mechanism doesn't allow that. The Lattice Cube makes the moves known from the Dino Cube plus additional, shallower turns around the corners. You can't do typical Skewb moves. That's why this puzzle is sometimes called the Master Dino Cube, a higher-order Dino Cube.

If you know the Dino Cube, you'll quickly get the hang of it. Much of the solution is intuitive, and the difficulty comes mainly from the number of pieces and from having to get used to turning around the corners. Standard 3x3 methods won't work here.

Turning and build quality

This is a collector's puzzle, not a speed cube. It has no magnets and no tension adjustment. Turning is smooth, but as with most corner-turning puzzles, you need to align the layers precisely. Reviews often mention that the sharp corners can dig into your hands during longer solves.

Japanese color scheme or 4-color?

The Lattice Cube comes in a 4-color and a 6-color version. This cube has six colors arranged in the Japanese scheme, where white is opposite blue rather than yellow as in the Western scheme. As a result, every face has a different color. The 4-color version has the same colors on opposite faces, which makes recognizing pieces harder. If this is your first encounter with this puzzle, the 6-color version is the more sensible choice.

Who is it for?

For those who already have a Skewb or a Dino Cube and are looking for another corner-turning puzzle, and for collectors of unusual cubes. It's a poor choice as a child's first cube. It's better to start with a classic magnetic 3x3.

Specifications

• Type: corner-turning cube
• Manufacturer: Calvin's Puzzle
• Design: Katsuhiko Okamoto, Grégoire Pfennig
• Size: approx. 65.5 mm
• Body color: black
• Color scheme: Japanese, 6 colors
• Magnets: none