SengSo 5x5 Helicopter Icosahedron

ShengShou 5x5 Helicopter Icosahedron

Twenty triangular faces, 200 pieces and turns around the edges instead of whole layers. The ShengShou 5x5 Helicopter Icosahedron (also known as the Sengso 5-Layer Copter Icosahedron) works like a Helicopter Cube, but on an icosahedron. Each face is divided into 10 smaller pieces. This puzzle is for people who already know standard cubes and want to take on something completely different.

How does a Helicopter icosahedron work?

On a regular cube, you turn a layer around the centre of a face. Here, the axis of rotation runs through an edge, where two faces meet. So a single move shifts a group of pieces from several neighbouring faces at once. This is why the layer-by-layer method and 3x3 algorithms won't work here. You need to work out the sequences yourself and understand how the pieces travel around the puzzle. Five layers mean many more pieces to solve than in the 3-layer version, so each solve takes longer and needs more planning.

Build

The available variant is Stickerless Bright: each of the 20 faces has its own bright colour, and the pieces have no stickers, so nothing peels off or wears away. The surface is frosted and the corners are rounded, so the puzzle sits comfortably in your hand during longer solves. With twenty colours, telling the faces apart takes more attention than on a six-colour cube, especially towards the end of a solve.

Who is it for?

This is a pick for collectors and anyone who enjoys figuring out new mechanisms. It is not a puzzle for timed speedcubing or a WCA event, so the focus is on the solving itself rather than turning speed. It is not suitable as a first puzzle. As a gift for a child, it makes sense when the child already solves cubes without instructions and wants something harder. The same mechanism is also available in a 3-layer version (140 pieces, 7 per face). It is simpler and a good way to start with this type of puzzle.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: ShengShou (Sengso)
• Shape: icosahedron (20 faces)
• Mechanism: Helicopter, edge-turning
• Number of layers: 5
• Number of pieces: 200 (10 on each face)
• Finish: stickerless, frosted
• Colour variant: Stickerless Bright, 20 colours
• EAN: 6923039172927