Shape Mods 

Shape Mods: puzzle cubes in unusual shapes

These figure puzzles look like a fruit, an animal, a ball or a little house on the outside, but inside they have a regular cube mechanism. Here you'll find fully functional cubes shaped like an elephant, a panda, an apple, a banana or a Christmas tree, among others. Most of them are solved the same way as a classic 2x2x2 or 3x3x3 cube. If you can solve a regular cube, you can solve one of these too.

What changes and what stays the same?

Cubers call these puzzles shape mods. The shape of the pieces changes, but the moves work exactly the same. Once scrambled, the apple or the panda turns into a jumbled lump, and solving it means bringing the figure back to its original shape. Some models, such as the YuXin panda, are a single colour. You can't rely on colours to guide you, so only the shape and position of the pieces matter. It's an interesting challenge for anyone who already knows the algorithms and wants to check whether they really understand what they're doing, rather than just repeating moves from memory while looking at the colours.

2x2, 3x3 and other shape mods

Most of these figures are based on the 2x2x2 cube. They include the YuXin animals (panda, tiger, mouse, calf, penguin, dragon), the football, volleyball and softball cubes, the YuXin Earth globe, as well as the DianSheng House Cube and the YJ Fortune Cat. The Fanxin apple and lemon and the YJ Apple Cube work like a 3x3x3 cube. A few models have a different layout: the Fanxin Banana Cube is a 2x2x3 cuboid, and the Z-Cube Christmas Tree is a small 3x2x1 puzzle. With these, knowing how to solve a regular cube helps, but some moves are restricted, so you'll need to adjust your approach a little.

Who are these puzzles for?

People mainly buy shape mods to solve for fun, as a gift or for a collection. They aren't made for setting records, because their unusual shape makes them harder to grip and turn quickly. They're also not allowed in official competitions. A child who is just learning to solve will find it easier to start with a colourful 2x2 figure than with a single-colour figure based on a 3x3, as that one already requires some command of a solving method. Experienced cubers will find a change from the regular cube here, and something nice for the shelf.