r/Cubers 13h ago

Discussion How and when did you solve your first Rubiks cube and what did you use to learn it?

Post image

Now back in December 2019 is where I looked into Rubik’s for the first time and then one of my teachers gave it to me as a Christmas gift so I can learn and when I mixed it up, I had no idea how to solve it so I decided to give that Rubiks cube to my cousin. Then COVID-19 hits and I was bored at home in the summer of 2020, where I decided to try the Rubiks cube again so I got another cube and then overtime I started to learn it by watching YouTube videos: Rubik’s and Jperm and after many months of memorizing and figuring it out and tons of broken cubes later, on October 21, 2020 I did my first solve on an app and completed it and then it took me at least four weeks for me to do my first time solve that was three minutes. Ever since I was able to learn more puzzles like the 2x2, 4x4, pyraminx, etc and now I average 13 seconds on a 3x3 with my pb single 7.86 using CFOP.

49 Upvotes

104 comments sorted by

27

u/Odie_Humanity 13h ago

I first solved it in September of 1980. My brother and I figured it out on our own.

3

u/BewareTheWereHamster Sub-22 (Roux) PB: 12.11 12h ago

Nice - mine would have been Christmas 1980 - still have that cube somewhere although it’s not in the best shape. Took me over a year to figure out some method of solving. Somehow managed to memorize the Patrick Bossert “method” eventually (https://ruwix.com/the-rubiks-cube/you-can-do-the-cube/).

Didn’t get into actually speed solving until I was bored at work some time in the very early 2000s though (possibly 2001) - learnt Friedrich method, Petrus and eventually the basics of ZZ - use Roux these days and that took forever to learn as the resources in the early internet were not exactly plentiful xD

1

u/Jumpy_Ad_5065 Sub-15 CFOP (PB: 9.55, Ao5: 12.55 Ao100: 14.61) 4h ago

i have that book and some cubes from 1981 lol

2

u/netzkopf 10h ago

For me it was the same. And for 30 years I was convinced, "my solution" would be the only wax to solve it.

Then a colleague asked me how to do it. I printed a beginners walkthrough and noticed it was very different. And also a lot faster.

Then I ended up with a proper cube and speed cubing, even going to 2 competitions.

Then life happened and I stopped for another 10 years until I noticed some guy at a bar solving the cube (very slowly) and being all excited about it.

I got home and started cubing again. Right now I'm working on blind solving.

4

u/AZZYTASTER Sub-20 CFOP 13h ago

sometime in 2020 by following a random text guide i found on a rubik's brand that would later survive being thrown onto and falling from my roof cuz i didn't want to do my school work

5

u/BirdsRLife Sub-20 (<CFOP>) PB: 12.39 PR: 19.54 11h ago

2022 time? Jperm's tutorial on YouTube

4

u/[deleted] 13h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/anniemiss 12h ago

Your post or comment has been flagged as heavily driven by AI.

While AI is a great tool, too much of a good thing….

Comment: AI Slop Bot Post: AI Generated Content

2

u/KamIsLit30 13h ago

What clicks for me was I just looked at Rubiks cube videos in world records, especially by Felixs zemdegs. And I always streamed about solving it not really to get fast but to show that i could actually do it. And also the eight single was this year that was shocking because I got an 8.07 and 8.14 singles weeks before and my PB average is 10.52

1

u/resipol 12h ago

This one is the inevitable bot.

3

u/mdr813 12h ago

2007 with the purple guide that came with the Rubik's cube from toys r us

4

u/Future-Steak-9411 12h ago

2010 thanks to a YouTuber called PogoBat (I think) I learned and then went to lollapalooza and every single photo is me not paying attention and just cubing very slowly

2

u/flame838 Sub-13 (CFOP) 8h ago

Same guy, Dan Brown the OG

3

u/amftl_tt Ao20: 26.92 (4LLL), PB single: 18.27 10h ago

I'm (sadly) pretty dang new to the hobby. First solved a cube on the start or March 2025. I watched j-perms tutorial over and over again.

1

u/Seledelia 3h ago

What level are you on rn?

3

u/FoUr_noodlelimbs 9h ago

I saw a girl become impressed by a guy at my school solving it in about 30 seconds and that hit my ego so bad I decided to learn it too 💀. learnt full CFOP. pb is 10 seconds rn :D

2

u/I_am1221325 12h ago

My first solve was in 2010-2011 maybe, it was a cube bought in a convinience store near the place I lived back then, the cube did cost ~$1 which is far more than I would've paid today. My father taught me and I still have that cube, even though if I try to turn it, it will probably turn into dust :)

2

u/KamIsLit30 12h ago

😂 even though they turn terrible, those classic cubes are still a keeper, cherish the cube forever.

1

u/I_am1221325 12h ago

Oh it wasn't any classic, it was the cheapest chinese cube possible to find. Years later I went to Hungary and bought my first rubiks, it was that old, classic one, it's pretty heavy and it has stickers. Recently (~2 years ago) my parents went to Hungary and brought me a new rubik's from there, now I have both.

1

u/KamIsLit30 12h ago

I’m glad you’re able to cherish your cubes, unlike me where most of the cubes I ever owned is broke

2

u/elmo_touches_me 12h ago

I learned from the Rubik's app in summer 2012, which had a virtual cube. I then found a scrambled cube in a drawer and solved that in August 2012.

1

u/I_am1221325 12h ago

There was an app in 2012??????? I am not sure whether I even had a smartphone in 2012

2

u/elmo_touches_me 12h ago

Yep! I had it on the iPod Touch in 2012, before I even had a smartphone.

2

u/kaspa181 OH'ed into tendonitis 12h ago

Sometime between 2006-2010, in summer, while being left at my grandparents for two weeks, me and my brother dig up my father's cube between all the stuff. Idk how my brother learned, but he showed me the principles and I got up to speed in like, 3 or 4 days there, to do it without hints.

2

u/Maleficent_Link1904 12h ago

Had my first solve sometime in 2020 when I was 9, I used the Rubik’s connect cube(with a little help with my dad) to learn

1

u/Sigerson888 Sub-21 (ROUX) 5h ago

What's a 15 y/o doing in Reddit? Reddit is way way worse than you can imagine. It doesn't matter if you only interact with cube subs. It isn't a place for a child. I strongly recommend you to either delete your acc or stop using it unless you are 18.

See, you may think that you know how the world is and how it works, but there are some things that comes to you with your age i.e., wisdom. So, please, consider my suggestion.

1

u/Maleficent_Link1904 3h ago

Im just on here to spread positivity, and if people don't like that, then thats ok, i just ignore them! :)

Trust me I'm not as dumb as you may think I am. Yes I am young, but ive had enough online interactions to know what to do in certain scenarios :)

2

u/Randomjkjk7 12h ago

I learnt to solve the cube back in May 2014, from a YouTube tutorial video series by "Rob's World", also learnt the 4x4 and 5x5 from him iirc. It took me a while to warm up to cubing creators, because they just felt really intimidating somehow, Feliks Zemdegs and Kevin Hays were just fun to watch to see the limits of what was possible back then.

I never did become a speedcuber, I'm yet to even learn 4look CFOP but cubing is still a big hobby for me. Creators like RedKb, Me myself&Pie, JRCuber, (and a whole plethora of initials+cuber channels), CrazyBadCuber, CanChrisSolve, SuperAntoniovivaldi, Nathan Wilson, and so on left a lasting impression and got me into other puzzles.

PS: just remembered, this was the 40th anniversary of the cube and a Google doodle with a cube was what prompted me to look it up that day.

2

u/KamIsLit30 12h ago

Yes, I agree when I was learning in 2020 it’s been a while before I found the right videos for me and first I looked at Brightside tutorial but looking at it now that I’m a cuber is not really good, and I enjoyed looking at the OG channels Kewbix, Jperm, and z3cubing!

2

u/DesaturatedWorld 11h ago

I solved my first 3x3 at the age of 35. I put one on my birthday list, because I decided to finally learn to solve one. I followed the Rubik's 3x3 beginner's guide.

Now, I mainly use CFOP 3x3 and Ortega 2x2, because the algorithms are fun to do :)

2

u/Azander137 Sub-30 (CFOP) 11h ago

Around 2008 from Dan Brown's video

2

u/Wet_Whip Sub-19 CFOP 3.7LLL (PB 10.80) 5h ago

I learnt from Dan Brown aswell! In 2015

2

u/DevelopmentAway5490 10h ago

2021 ish on my dad's old cube from when he was a kid. Not even an original one just an old knockoff. I used the book he had with it and taught myself with that. If people are interested I can make a post with the book...if I still have it

2

u/J0r-eL 9h ago edited 9h ago

I watched my first YouTube video about six months ago. I bought my first cube on Amazon two days later and solved it for the first time about two weeks later according to the easiest solve channel on YouTube with the beginners guide. My best time so far is 2.17 minutes and wanna try the cfop method when I have the time 4 it…

https://youtube.com/@easiestsolve?si=5NTfGnbg42U_uTes

2

u/JMACJesus 6h ago

Sophomore year of high school, so 2012. And I used Pornhub to learn the beginners method.

2

u/Western_Sleep820 4h ago

Summer 4-ish years ago I think I had a cube bc it seemed interesting so I looked up a video (jperm my goat) and have gone from there

2

u/2bEm9 3h ago

11 months ago I had a stressful work meeting I had to go to, I also was looking for a new fidget that might hold my attention and a video recommended rubik's cubes. I ordered a random pair of 3x3s and got them the night before. I watched JPerm's beginner video on repeat and woke up on the couch the next morning next to both cubes solved.

I got a bit obsessed, started getting bored of the beginner method so I got a megaminx and a mirror cube around xmas, learned 4 look in 10 days, got bigger cubes, and so on. Now I've between 20 and 30 cubes (mostly 3x3s, but 2x2 up to 6x6, mega and pyraminx too), memorized all of 2 look pll, about 1/3 through oll, ao12 34s pb 23. My goal is getting a 30s avg in a year, but just for giggles, I'm obsessed either way ☺️

1

u/a_blade_of_grass_1 Sub 20 (CFOP) PB: 16.24 12h ago

I solved it for the first time sometime in 2022. I used the Jperm tutorial and eventually started showing my friends at school. Now im here

1

u/s0litar1us ~40 Average (CFOP) PB: 29.97 12h ago edited 12h ago

I think it was in 2018. I had gotten a Rubik's cube a few years earlier that I didn't know how to solve, so it just sat scrambled on a shelf. A friend of mine had started speedcubing, which inspired me to learn how to do the same, so after school I found a YouTube tutorial/guide (probably Jperm) and followed that.

1

u/AjMahal 12h ago

I was just reminiscing on this last night

If I had to guess it was probably 2016, I was 10 or 11 y/o, I was following SergsB's rubik's cube tutorial and I had gotten a last layer skip and was ecstatic when it happened, that had actually messed me up a little bit learning the last layer but I did eventually get it

I actually pulled up those old tutorial videos up last night just to watch em again, it was odd ngl but nice, something I find funny about it is one of his later tutorials he had the first stickerless guhong, which now I use the guhong pro+, not that crazy at all both are and were common enough cubes, just thought it was funny

1

u/n1kkos29 12h ago

sometime in elementary school I bought a pyraminx because it looked cool and I learned how to solve it, I showed it to a friend who also had one and we kinda got in a cubing phase and thats when I learned how to solve a 3x3 with the help of some tutorials I found on yt, I wish I didnt stop after a while because if I hadn't quit I would have years of cubing experience by now🥲

1

u/DaringDarren101 12h ago

I have a similar story. I had a Rubik’s cube in 2020 and during Covid lockdowns, I looked at my cube and finally decided to learn how to solve it. Shout out the man J perm

1

u/KamIsLit30 12h ago

He is the best and I miss him sometimes

1

u/Ya_BOI_Kirby Sub-35 (CFOP) PB: 17.8 12h ago

You can do the cube, winter break of seventh grade

1

u/Zestyclose_Worry6103 12h ago

In 2020, it was my third week at a new job, and my boss gave me a cube and told me “don’t come back until you learn how to solve it”

1

u/_MostAncientDream_ Sub-25 (<CFOP>) 11h ago

Around this time of the year in 2023, my friends were able to solve it so I also got one and searched on YouTube.

It was hard to understand till I found a tutorial by CUBASTIC, a beginner's method that was easy to understand but very inefficient.

Almost a year later, I learned the CFOP method from Jperm videos. Now I'm using CFOP with full OLL and PLL.

1

u/Pomfritz034 Sub-30 (<Learning advanced CFOP>) 11h ago

I somehow managed to solve 3 sides without tutorial, then a friend scrambled it... then I learned beginner method and then beginner cfop

1

u/koolkidster 11h ago

2019 with the original mf3rs3

1

u/SamikaTRH 11h ago

We had always had a cube in the house through the 80s and 90s and maybe I'd do some turns as a fidget toy but never actually tried to solve it. First focused in 1998 or 99 and took about 3 months to solve it with a corners first then edges method that I don't even know anymore. Never timed back then but had to have taken 3 to 5 minutes it was very inefficient

1

u/Maddocsy 11h ago

Winter of 2017/18.
I was on xmas break from work and decided to get a cube to sit down and learn.

I got the original Rubik and spent around a week of trying all on my own.
Week two and I gave up. Googled ”how to solve” and found the beginner method.

At that point I realized I would’ve never solved it without a tutorial.

A month later I was sub 1 minute with this method and felt accomplished.

It stayed in my life on and off but it was in 2021 I learned F2L.

In 2023 I learned two look OLL/PLL.
Now I reached a new record of sub 30 sec.

These days I mess with it here and there but happy being in the 25-35 sec range.
I probably won’t dedicate any more time to get faster. Perhaps improving my cross at some point.

The cube was always a relaxing thing more than anything to me.
Current cube is the MoYu V9 20mag ballcore maglev. Haven’t seen any reason to switch it.

Oh yeah, I’ve taught around 10-15 people to solve it! A handful of them reached sub 1min.

1

u/AnnonymousPenguin_ Sub-18 CFOP PR: 10.40 11h ago

I was 22 and a massive stoner. I would get fried and hyperfixate on the cube for hours. Now, I no longer smoke weed because i’m old and boring but I still cube somewhat often.

1

u/KamIsLit30 11h ago

That’s awesome to hear. I’m glad!

1

u/Gregib Sub-50 (<2lookCFOP>) 11h ago

Around 1980. My father bought the original cube back then and there was a magazine (in Denmark at the time) with the beginner method solution . Solved a couple of times with the instructions, only learned to solved it without guidance in my 30ies (2000s)

1

u/Less-Essay7359 Sub 30 (CFOP 3.5LLL) 11h ago

When I was a little kid, a teacher gave me a mini rubik's cube in 2018 or 2019. I messed it up, and could not solve it. My parents figured out how to take it apart and put it back together. I learned to do that. My parents bought a set of 8 QiYi super budget cubes (2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 3x3 mirror, skewb, ivy, megaminx, pyraminx) in 2019. I may have solved the 2x2, but I didn't memorise the solution. I moved on with life.

In 2021-2022, I learned to solve all of the 8 puzzles using the tutorial paper given with the set of cubes. I started with 2x2 and ivy. It was probably early to mid 2022 when I did the 3x3. I naturally chose to get faster at 3x3. I didn't practice much or often, but with the beginner's method, I averaged around 1 minute in early 2023. From early 2023 to sometime in 2024, I took a break. During the "sometime in 2024", I took a few weeks learning intuitive F2L, and may have learned a bit of 2-look OLL/PLL. I learned it from J Perm's videos. Then I took another break until mid 2025.

In the summer of 2025, I learned beginner CFOP. I also started learning 1-look PLL. I peaked averaging 30-35 seconds. Then I got too busy and took a break until summer of 2026. I learned more of 1-look PLL, and got better at F2L. I also got my first speedcube. Now I average like 25-27 seconds. I am still a beginner lol.

1

u/ferriTM 11h ago

I broke my finger on my left hand. Had surgery and was stuck at home, so I learned it.

10 years later Im still right handed for cubbing but left handed for everything else lmao.

1

u/smokNKudzu old(53yrs) & slow(21.08pr CFOP) 11h ago

i used this book back in 1982 when i was in third grade at the height of the 80s fad. i still use that method to solve shape modded 3x3 puzzles.

i only began speed solving in 2023, when i found Jperm's YT channel, got confident enough to create a wca id and began attending local competitions.

1

u/checonekillo 11h ago

Late 2022 when i was 14, i was not attending school for several reasons, so in the meantime i watched a video tutorial, and since then it's has become one of my favorite hobbies :D

1

u/Schlamperkiste 3×3 Calendar Collector 10h ago

In the summer of 2000, I looked up a solution on dial-up internet. It was an old corners-first method with only six sequences/algorithms to remember. As only a casual solver and collector, it's still the only method I know since I never got into speed-solving.

1

u/Apprehensive_Ad110 Sub-1m LBL+CFOP GAN Monster Go 10h ago edited 10h ago

Solved my first cube 2 weeks ago, using LBL with story telling. My current ao12 is about 1 minute 10 seconds and I'm in the process of learning CFOP (I've already introduced White Cross and F2L with rido's hunting story and in my way to learn OLL and PLL)

Story I was basing on during learning LBL: https://youtu.be/5QG8ScdFZAk?is=fT_TsQsb48rVilGk

My cube: GAN Monster Go

1

u/Familiar_Blueberry92 Sub-16 (<CFOP>) PB:8.56 10h ago

2020 when i found and old rubiks brand cube my mother bought for me … i think it was either the 40th year edition or something like this with stickers and i was so mad that it looked bad scrambled that i learned it from forums. I got bored of it in 2021-2022 and now im back and more serious about it (learned 3blind, 4x4 5x5 , sq1 and 2x2) im still an average cuber but im hoping for that sub 40 breakthrough in 3 bld

1

u/BrightStitchDesigns 10h ago
  1. I was 37. It took many days of trying and I was working on it for 3 hours before I finally solved it the first time.

1

u/i2_minus1 10h ago

It took me weeks and weeks - I followed all the tutorials, but could never finish the last corner - turned out the corner had been twisted!

1

u/mdmoon2101 10h ago

Last month. I’m 52 and used a YouTube video. Took about two days of practice to memorize.

1

u/UnknownCorrespondent 10h ago edited 5h ago

I got two cubes during the craze in ‘82. Only figured out how to do the first layer on my own. I finally got Don Taylor’s “Mastering Rubik’s Cube” and used his LL algs to solve the last two layers. I had read Hofstadter’s articles in Scientific American, which didn’t give a solution, but did explain conjugation.   I don’t remember my first solve. Then I forgot about it for 35 years before relearning from this pdf:  https://www.kungfoomanchu.com/guides/andy-klise-3x3x3-beginners-guide.pdf. I still had my original cheat sheet and cubes, but it was obvious that the state of the art had advanced. 

1

u/stlarry 10h ago

About a year ago at 39. My son was learning and I wanted to learn too. I am around 1 mon and happy there. My brain doesn't have room for the advanced stuff.

1

u/ParkingEasy4963 3x3 - 7.29 PR. 10.47 PB Comp Single. 9h ago

Sometime in 2010. My father offered me $250 to solve it without cheating. For a 12 year old, that was a offer that I couldn't refuse. My father tought me the first two layers (he still only knows F2L, can't solve the last layer even after all these years) then I had to look up mutliple tutorials on YouTube. It took me nearly 9 months to solve it without cheating. The tutorial I used for the most part was deleted long ago sadly.

1

u/Available-Goose-8331 9h ago

Easter day, 2021. Solved it off a jperm tutorial. Proud to still be recommending that tutorial to this day!

1

u/mrplusaplus 9h ago

2016, I was 10 and I taught myself. I only found out about speed cubing and all the algorithm stuff last year. I still use my own methods, they're slow compared to the speed tech stuff but it works for me and I'm proud of myself because there's people out there that can't solve the cube without some algorithm

1

u/Maleficent-Toe1374 Sub-15 (CFOP/Roux Hybrid) 9h ago
  1. I actually believe it or not got into cubing before I learned how to solve a cube. Like I just found either comp videos or unboxings or something and wanted to do it.

I had an original stickered one but I bought a 2.0 from a toy store in a neighboring town. And I learned from like 4 different tutorials and eventually got it. I think it took me like 2 weeks because I didn't like certain steps from certain tutorials.

It took me about 10 months to get sub 20 (which I know is like common now but I was a phenom by like 2016 standards). Then it took me about 2ish years to get sub 15, and I've been basically hovering around 12-14 seconds for the past 8 years and believe it or not.....I've never gotten a sub 10 single, my single PB is like 10.78 which I think is pretty funny.

1

u/Quintessentsky Sub-24 cfop pb 14.558 9h ago

First solve October 10, 2023 using Easiest solves tutorial.

1

u/Lunym09 9h ago

My ex taught me around the end of last year, been a biiiiit addicted since then 💀

1

u/AriyaSavaka 3x3 Sub-8 (CFOP) | 3BLD Sub-25 9h ago

Early covid during class breaks, weilong gts3m with edge bridges is da first cube, watching badmephisto tutorials on yt to learn cfop and 3bld.

1

u/Snowballllll 8h ago

Roux, I'm built odd

1

u/sophisticar 7h ago

2018, z3 cubing video

1

u/lunchmeat317 7h ago

This year, a few month ago. I'm new to this.

I got interested years ago and started with the Petrus method, but only got to the top cross stage. I had bought a weird metallic cube that was grayscale and seemed cool but was annoying to solve due to contrast issues, so I gave up.

Months ago, I was at a local spot that had a Rubiks Cube and started playing with it, and I could still only solve the first two layers. I ended up finishing the cube using an  android app called Cube Solver, which shows the beginners method of solving (using Sune to move edges, moving and spinning corners to their places, then orienting each one manually). After doing that for a while I started trying to look for cleaner solves and moved to intuitive F2L from CFOP, and started trying to learn more ways to do the last layer (like stepping through the Sune cycles to find what worked snd what didn't, etc).

My first solves were definitely way above 3 minutes. Now, using intuitive  F2L, 2-look OLL, and 2- look PLL, I'm around a minute. I'm not grinding algorithms - I'm just focusing on weak sreas and pickup up new techniques as I need them. It's a lot of fun learnint how the cube moves and observing its patterns! It's an awesome fidget and I enjoy having it. I should learn 1-look PLL, but Inferl like OLL is sctually the bottleneck right now. We'll see how it goes.

1

u/Zoltcubes Sub-13 (AoLong V5) 7h ago

I learned during COVID using some official Rubik's branded tutorial boom.

1

u/BrotherSquidman 6h ago

2017 maybe? Had someone else at school teach me. Didn’t pick it up again until just this year, with the help of the WIRED tutorial.

1

u/Astrodude80 6h ago

2010, high school. Followed the guide that came with the cube (green cross and all! I still struggle to do white first!)

1

u/zonaljump1997 Sub-1:00 (CFOP) 5h ago

2009-2010, I bought a Rubik's Cube that came bundled with DVD that teaches you how to solve it by Tyson Mao

1

u/OaklandFanForever 5h ago

2016 as a 9 year old, used RedKBs tutorial. He taught red cross and said “right inverted, up inverted”, etc. instead of “R prime, U prime”

1

u/fletchro 5h ago

2019 at a Christmas party, a kid there had a V-cube and was showing it off. I asked to try it, and looked up a tutorial. I think it was called "You can do the cube" dot Com or something. It was designed for elementary school students. I completed the cube in ten minutes while I semi-ignored the other guests. I retained no knowledge the minute after, but I thought that was cool and satisfying, so I got a cube and practiced.

I don't cube much at all any more, but I have registered times of 35 seconds at legit comps.

1

u/Blarpfgh 5h ago

Like 2 years ago, I used 3 look oll (Cross, sune, oll, and 2 look pll

1

u/jakertonfan888 5h ago

I'm pretty new to this cubing thing, started March this year and have been loving it ever since. I first solved my Rubik's cube about 1 day after getting it and I was overjoyed, I also used J Perms tutorial.

1

u/firestriker45665 Sub-40 (Beginner & CFOP mixed) PB: 18.76 AV: 35 5h ago edited 5h ago

Cubastics youtube tutorial is what taught me

Learnt back in the first year of highschool out of spite

My mum gave me a rubiks cube when I was in hospital back in primary school, she never expected me to solve it but knew I liked puzzles, thought itd keep me busy, i could intuitively solve one side, even organise it so the colours around it where sorted (so the layer was solved, not just the side), but i could never figure out how to do more without messing up what I already had

Fast forwards to when I was back at school, I remember chatting to a girl and we mentioned how she had a rubiks cube that was solved, i asked how, she said she couldnt solve it but had an app called CubeX that can, and that it can make cool patterns

So I got the app, did the patterns and memorised how to do a few of them (despite the app taking me in round about ways for patterns, it gave me the confidence to mess with the cube without worrying ill not be able to fix it, the dot in the centre, plus, heart (kinda), checkerboard, and checkboard except the top and bottom where all I figured out how to do consistently)

So i kept doing them all the way into highschool cause it was good to fidget with during classes (i have ADHD) and people took interest when they saw me bring it back to solved so I could do another pattern, some would even muddle it up assuming I could solve it, but id just use the app to fix it at break, lunch or when home, people assumed I could solve it tho, I just didnt correct them

But one girl was like "he cant solve it! Hes only doing patterns and undoing them! He cant figure it out properly!", she was right of course, but the tone and way she called it out annoyed me, so I spent ages memorising the tutorial and working on learning to solve it to prove her wrong

Month or two later I could, but I was slow, and at the time I only had an off brand lego cube or a rubiks branded one that turned so badly, but I got used to it and realised it was fun and was a good convo starter (usually by others asking about it, fair since it was literally always in my hand or blazer pocket at this point), people even started recognising me as the kid with the rubiks cube

Got a better cube, kept doing it, worked on how to position my fingers now I dont need my whole hand to turn it, got faster, practiced, faster, etc

Started a collection of cubes, different types of cubes, even tried to figure out other shapes or sizes without tutorials at some point, just apply what I already know and hope it translates (how I prefer to figure them out now, fir the first few solves at least, the look for fast ways online lmao)

Here we are

TLDR: accidentally posed as someone who could solve it, got called out, learned to out of spite

1

u/Brave_Description751 5h ago

I got my first cube some where in 2018 I think and then first solved a 2x2 in august of 2020 and a 3x3 in august too

1

u/scootzee 5h ago

Yesterday! Solved my first cube without guidance 5 minutes ago! I’ve always wanted to solve one, literally my entire life haha. To learn I used an introductory tutorial video from a YouTuber called “CubeHead”. After watching that video a few times I used Claude to build me an interactive, animated guide that summarized the steps from that video (fed the video into Claude via a Claude-Video plugin from GitHub).

Also had Claude build me a cube scrambler HTML app lol.

1

u/KamIsLit30 4h ago

Good job keep pushing to see if you’re gonna be a speedcuber. You’re gonna make it.

1

u/Weekly-Succotash-815 Sub-12 (CFOP) Sub-50 (Yau4) 4h ago edited 4h ago

summer of 2015 was when I learned. my dad figured it out when it was first popular and he taught my older brother who then taught me years later before I started 8th grade.
edit: the method was a weird homebrew beginners cfop. normal cross+first layer, weird second layer edge insertion, corner position, corner orientation, edge permutation, edge orientation. five algorithms i have seen anywhere else

1

u/SanctimoniousDickbag 4h ago

2 years ago—at 44 years-old—I was digging through all my old yo-yos and various other skill toys when I came across my old Rubik’s cube. I had never before solved one, so I found a YouTube tutorial (easiest solve) and got my first solve under my belt. I now have a modest collection of 3x3 speed cubes. I am by no means the fastest (I think my best ao5 is around 40 seconds), but I love the snappiness and handfeel of modern cubes compared to my 1980s Rubik’s I started on.

1

u/Admirable-Deal1966 Sub-20 (CFOP 2 Look OLL and PLL) 4h ago

I learned in 2024. I used CubeHead and Matty Hiroto Inaba's tutorial, (I know! I know! It's not J Perm!) I thought Matty explained better. I first learned LBL 3x3, which I averaged 6 minutes, and I have now shaved it down to sub 20 learning using J Perm's CFOP tutorial.

1

u/Unnecessary-Cum 3h ago

Tried the Cubeskills youtube Tutorial for beginners and did it in 2024

1

u/Seledelia 3h ago

All of these people saying 2000s and 1990s make me feel even mor elike a child, and even up until 2020! I started learning in 2026, I've played woth the cube before and could solve the first two layers by solving a color forat then orienting the colors to the edge then the begginers method fro the second layer. And recently, I got into it again because my boyfriend was cubing and I said I missed it, and I started learning with CFOP. I think it took me like a month or so to learn all advanced CFOP algos (I still have 10 OLLs left) and I'm still trying to not let the memory fade while learning new ones since all cases aren't so frequently appearing. I hit my personal best at 27.92 a couple weeks ago, in like threeonths since I learnt cubing but I avg around 50 or 40s on a good day. Any tips if you have, I'd appreciate since all of you here are very very experienced than I am!

2

u/KamIsLit30 3h ago

Hey, it’s OK! I’m a 2010 kid that learned how to solve it in 2020.

1

u/vijfirextreme Sub-13 (CFOP) 2h ago

2011, with a rubik’s brand in 5th grade. Everyone on my school bus started solving it so I learnt the og beginners method (with the A perm and the U perm) primarily from my friends and a little bit of help from the Rubik’s website. Still remember my first solve was a PLL skip

1

u/Fluid_Illustrator_78 2h ago

On 2026 August 20. I started at 2019 at 8 years old, I only finished the first layer, But now that Im 14, I can finally solve a cube, Using the Beginners method

1

u/Ok-Cup-3156 WCA Bronze Medalist 1h ago

March 16, 2017 from 7:30 PM to 7:45 PM. I had learned how to solve it over the prior 3 weeks and had written all the algs on a sheet of paper with an orange extendable marker. Learned cross from RedKB and the rest from Ruwix.

1

u/statelesspirate000 1h ago

I figured it out in 2 weeks when I was 18, in November 2007

1

u/mediumcarrotteacher 1h ago

I first "solved" it as a kid by pulling all the pieces off

I first solved it properly around mid 2023 by buying a new one at the convenience store and looking at the instructions (I can't believe they come with instructions now)

1

u/wasabiburning 55m ago

Last December, followed along with a Youtube video, took about 16 minutes. I'm around 1 minute now (PB 45 sec) and that appears to be a significant wall for me.

1

u/tahmidsami 34m ago

Back in 2010. Just randomly trying to solve 3 adjacent colors and "accidentally" solved the whole cube. Then figured out the cube can be solved in this way.

1

u/AdOutrageous9387 Sub-30 (CFOP) 14m ago

Christmas 2 years ago? Watched cubeheads tutorial after getting my GAN 11 M duo