Cubers from Spin Master take the classic puzzle cube in a new direction with everyone’s favorite heroes. Rubik’s Cubes have been delighting puzzle-solvers for fifty years since Enro Rubik’s original design in 1974. There have been variations in size, but the three-by-three-by-three has always remained most popular. Now with Cubers, superhero collectors can combine their favorite champions of justice with puzzles made all the more challenging by the iconic faces..
Challenging Construction
There have been other aesthetic tweaks to Rubik’s Cubes through the years, mainly printing images on each face of the cube and encouraging players to try to arrange the squares correctly to build the pictures back. Cubers uses all six sides to map out a hero’s head. This turns the puzzle into a truly three-dimensional challenge as solvers will need to chart not only the hero’s face but also the sides and backs of their heads.
Mapping out the head of a hero can be difficult, especially when the patterns seem to repeat. Is this green square part of Hulk’s rugged jawline or forehead? Most of the squares of hair might look just the same, only arranged at different angles. Fortunately, the Cubers designers thought ahead and added small polished plastic shapes in the middle of the squares. They are typically invisible when looking straight on, but catching a glint from the light makes it clear which panels are meant to be on which side, whether a triangle, dot, or the classic Rubik’s logo. Savvy solvers will need to keep careful track of where pieces go all the more than in solving a regular six-color Rubik’s Cube.
Display Pieces
The Cubers cubes are delightful enough on their own, but the small body attachment and stand make them perfect collectibles. Each cube has a blocky body to go with it, and even ears for Batman and Black Panther, turning what is an interesting puzzle into a standing collectible. Oversized heads on dolls have been a mainstay for centuries, more frequently seen today on display toys like Funko Pop! and chibi anime statues. The Cubers go a step further by integrating play into what is already a great artistic motif with the brick-like structure complete with the cubic body to fit the style. Cubers collectors can line up their favorites on the shelf and at any time go for the challenge to destabilize and reform their countenances. For the truly chaotic, they may leave the cubes unsolved for a cubist take on Hulk, perhaps driving perfectionists to want to solve them.
Cubers come with a challenge rating of four out of five. Some of the heroes may be more difficult than others, such as Iron Man having a clear face from his golden faceplate while Spider-man only has a few lines of webbing or Black Panther a few stylistic tribal lines for solvers to navigate. Batman might be the most difficult with just a few lighter shades of black atop his shadowy black cowl. Of course, the greater the challenge, the more meaningful the victory, which is all part of what it is to be a hero.
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