It’s part Rubik’s Cube, part sliding puzzle, and all fast-paced fun. Combining two of the most classic and popular logic games, University Games‘ Rubik’s Race adds some friendly competition to the challenge of solving a Rubik’s Cube.
Designed for players ages 7 and up, Rubik’s Race pits two players in a head-to-head race to slide their colored tiles and be the first to match the pattern on the included scrambler. Set-up is easy: Just snap together the frame and game bases, place the mini cubes in the scrambler, and divvy up the tiles so each player has four of each color. Then players randomly arrange their tiles in their respective bases using the tile frame. Boom. Done.
Once you’re all set up, just shake up the scrambler Boggle-style, and get ready to race. Players scramble—or slide for that matter—to get the middle of their tray to match the mini cubes on the scrambler as they see it; meaning, you’re solving the same puzzle as your opponent, but upside down. Here’s the nifty diagram from the instruction booklet of what I’m talking about, since that’s hard to describe in words:
Make sense? Great. Of course, whoever completes their cube first is the winner.
This Rubik’s Cube challenge is super cool for two reasons. First, it’s way easier to solve than a regular Rubik’s Cube. It also turns the fun of a sliding puzzle into a two-player race. You’re no longer racing your own wits to create a picture of a rhinoceros (How did it’s horn end up trapped in the opposite corner?!), but against another player solving a similar puzzle—his or her quick-sounding slides ringing in your ears as you shuffle feverishly to figure out how to move your entire Rubik’s Cube down one row because you forgot about the border row. PANIC!
There are also fun alternate ways to play the game, which provide a little bit more variety. You can play Relay Race, where you race to see who can create the four provided patterns in sequence first; Three Color Contest, where players trade tiles so you each have eight tiles of three colors, and then race to complete the provided patterns; or Cube Challenge, where players swap the scrambler for a real Rubik’s Cube (not included—BYO Cube!) and copy the pattern on the side facing each player. Plus, creative players can come up with their own patterns and versions of the game.
Pro tip: When you pack up the game when you’re done playing, separate each player’s tiles in separate Ziploc bags. That way, when you pull out the game to play again, you don’t need to continuously separate the tiles. It also makes it much faster to trade tiles if you want to play one of the alternate games. Unless, of course, you want to keep your kids busy for longer, because, like, you’re finally getting a bit of a break. Then my pro tip would be to mix up those tiles really well.
This game is a fun twist on two classic favorites that makes the game not only multi-player, but also a little bit easier. So, shake up those mini cubes and get sliding—this Rubik’s Cube challenge will be fun for the whole family.
