Rubik's Magic

Rubik's Magic, like Rubik's Cube, is a mechanical puzzle invented by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik and first manufactured by Matchbox in the mid-1980s.

Related Topics:
Rubik's Cube - Puzzle - Hungarian - Architecture - Ernő Rubik - Matchbox - 1980s

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The puzzle consists of 8 black square tiles arranged in a 2 × 4 rectangle; diagonal grooves on the tiles hold wires that connect them, allowing them to be folded onto each other and unfolded again in two perpendicular directions (assuming that no other connections restrict the movement). The front side of the puzzle shows, in the initial state, three separate, rainbow-coloured rings; the back side consists of a scrambled picture of three interconnected rings. The goal of the game is to fold the puzzle into a heart-like shape and unscramble the picture on the back side, thus interconnecting the rings.

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Numerous ways to accomplish this exist, and experienced players can transform the puzzle from its initial into the solved state in less than 5 seconds. Other challenges for Rubik's Magic include reproducing given shapes (which are often three-dimensional), sometimes with certain tiles required to be in certain positions and / or orientations.

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In 1987, the so-called "Master's Edition" of Rubik's Magic was published; it consisted of 12 silver tiles arranged in a 2 × 6 rectangle, showing 5 interlinked rings that had to be unlinked by transforming the puzzle into a shape reminiscent of a W. In the late 1990s, the original version of Rubik's Magic was re-released by Oddzon, this time with yellow rings on a red background; other versions (for example, a variant of the original with silver tiles instead of black ones) were also produced, and there also was a strategy game based on Rubik's Magic. An unlicenced 2 × 8 version was also produced, with spheres printed on its tiles instead of rings. Custom versions as large as 2 × 12 have been built using kits available from Oddzon.

Related Topics:
1987 - 1990s - Oddzon

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Professor Rubik holds both a Hungarian patent (HU 1211/85, issued March 19 1985) and a US patent (US 4,685,680, issued August 11 1987) on the mechanism of Rubik's Magic.

Related Topics:
Hungarian - March 19 - 1985 - US - August 11 - 1987

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