The Rubik's Cube (initially introduced as the 'Magic Cube') was invented by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian architect, designer and university professor, in 1974. Although interestingly, In March 1970, Larry Nichols invented a 2×2×2 "Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups" and filed a Canadian patent application for it. Nichols's cube was held together with magnets. He was granted a U.S. Patent in 1972, two years before Rubik invented his improved cube. There have been others with similar puzzles and patents before Rubik's as well. A number of others have been patented in different countries after rubik's, too, leading me to understand that while the general consensus is that Rubik is the inventor of the one and only cube puzzle-that isn't necessarily the case. Regardless of whether or not it was the first, it is certainly is the most well known version. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide, making it the world's top-selling puzzle game. It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.
My Toy Proposition:
What differentiates my design idea from that of a traditional Rubik's Cube is it's customizability. My toy would include a basic black plastic puzzle cube, and would come with a number of blank adhesive sheets with pre-cut and sized squares that can have any image you choose printed onto them with your computer and printer. Alternatively, you could paint or draw on the sheets to have a hand made image. Because you can customize the images on the puzzle, there are limitless possibilities for how your cube looks, and is played with. With multiple adhesive sheets given, the images could be changed, creating a new puzzle and challenge. The cube would also come with a small plastic stand, so the puzzle could be displayed if one chose to do so.
What makes this toy fun?
• It is challenging, and has an objective.
• Nostalgic association.
• It can be played with only one person.
• It is customizable, and could be one of a kind.
• Because you chose the images, it would be visually pleasing to everyone, regardless of personal taste.
• Based on the images chosen, it could simply be placed on display as an 'objet d'art'.
• It is small and relatively portable.
• It offers variations of the original game-Numbers could be used in place of images/colours, or black and white images could be used to increase difficulty level.
• It is a universal icon-It would be difficult to find someone who didn't understand the objective of a Rubik's cube.
• The puzzle can appeal to everyone, of all ages.
• Corporate logos could be printed on the cube, turning it into an advertisement tool.
Design improvements based on interaction:
• The all black and white design of the images on my cube made it potentially too difficult to solve. The colour association of the squares seemed to be an integral tool used when attempting to solve the puzzle. To avoid potentially unwanted frustration, I would add certain instructions to point this out, and offer the black and white image option as a way to increase the difficulty level.
• A traditional Rubik's Cube can be taken apart relatively easily. By turning one side and prying an edge cube away from the centre, the piece easily dislodges making it easy to "solve" by taking it apart and reassembling it in a solved state. For my cube I would change the mechanics of how it's pieced together slightly such that no cheating is possible. Cheating is never fun (unless your idea of fun is tricking your friends and colleagues into the notion that you're much more skilled than you really are. In that case, you probably have no use for real games at all and are pre-occupied with mind games instead)
• I wasn't able to do this with my prototype-but the final version I would like to be made of 100% recycled plastic. Making products as sustainable as possible seems like an obvious necessity-as well as an additional selling point, specifically to OCAD students who are taught to take environmental responsibility seriously.
• An even smaller, keychain version could be introduced as well. The more portable the toy is, the more likely it is to be played with.
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