REVIEW – I’m a child of the 70’s and I remember having an original Rubik’s cube. Back then we didn’t have the internet, so I couldn’t look up videos on YouTube to help me learn to solve the cube. I’m not even sure the cube came with instructions to help you solve it. I don’t recall how I obtained the step-by-step instructions, but I felt pretty cool when I finally got it solved – even with a cheat sheet.
Fast forward to today and we have the GoCube which doesn’t require a cheat sheet to learn how to solve it. It just requires you phone or tablet and some time. Let’s check it out.
What is it?
The GoCube is a 3D puzzle cube that uses sensors and an app to help you learn to solve the puzzle and compete with others to see who can solve it the fastest.
What’s in the box?
- GoCube
- Storage pouch
- Charging stand
- Charging cable
- Quick start guide
Design and features
The GoCube is a shiny plastic cube with 3×3 pieces on each face. Each face has its own color: white, yellow, green, blue, and red.
There are 4 holes in the center yellow piece. These holes are for the included charging cable.
You can charge the GoCube with the included cable as you see above.
Or you can attach the charging cable to the included charging stand.
The charging stand is a cool way to display the GoCube when you’re not using it.
LEDs in the pieces throb when the cube is charging which is cool effect. You can also use the stand for your phone when you’re playing with the cube but it’s not all that stable.
The GoCube app
Unless you’re a 3D puzzle savant, you’re probably going to need help learning to solve it. That’s where the GoCube app comes into play. With the app, you can go to “school” and learn step-by-step animated lessons that will help you learn the fundamentals and algorithms needed in order to move the pieces into the right spots to solve the cube.
The app includes animations, video, and it knows in real-time how you’re holding the cube so that you will orient it correctly for each step and series of moves.
What I like
- Premium cube
- An app that helps you solve in real-time
- Ability to compete with others
What I’d change
- Expensive
Final thoughts
The GoCube is fun and I would have loved to have had it back when I was a kid trying to solve the original Rubik’s cube. The cube itself is well made and easy to manipulate compared to the original cubes. That said, paying $100 for a puzzle cube is a big ask when you can buy a standard cube for less than $10 and then go to a site like You Can Do the Cube where you can learn similar step-by-step instructions on how to solve it. The best thing that the GoCube has going for it is the competition feature where you can participate into battles with others that have the GoCube to see who can solve the fastest. So I guess it comes down to asking yourself the ability to compete is important enough to pay for it with a premium cube like the GoCube. If so, the GoCube is a lot of fun!
Price: $99.95
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by GoCube.
