Rubik's Magic

Rubik's Magic is a mechanical puzzle game that was invented as well as the Rubik's Cube of Rubik Ernő Hungary. The game enjoyed in the mid- 1980s as a result of the Rubik's Cube boom great popularity. It is often regarded as his successor, although it is not a puzzle similar to the Rubik's Cube.

Description and purpose

Rubik's Magic is a three-dimensional puzzle game for one player. It consists of eight square plastic plates, which are connected with nylon cords in kind of Jacob's ladder together. On the plates ring patterns are printed on both sides, the cords are in the diagonal grooves. By umklapp movements, the compounds of the segments, which is why the Rubik's Magic can take many different forms change. The apparent aim of the game is, in one convert the pattern of three adjacent rings, which can be seen in the rectangular position on the front with three interlaced rings on the back, where the plates form a hexagonal heart shape. The first issues from 1986 have a black background and rainbow-colored rings. Issues from the mid-1990s have gold rings on red background.

Construction

The diagonal lacing in the manner of a Jacob's ladder does not allow reordering of the segments. Each panel is permanently connected to exactly two neighbors, their orientation to each other does not change. This means that you fold together two neighbors, are always the same edges together. Performs to the folding movement slowly, so that you realize how the tension of nylon strings varies and it can be in a perpendicular direction to reopen. The squares are then connected along another edge, the movement makes them rotate around each other.

Various shapes and arrangements

In addition to the basic forms of blackboard and heart the Rubik's Magic can take about 60 more, mostly three-dimensional shapes, which are characterized by more or less symmetry or associations to other objects arouse such as star, fish, desk, cubicle or dice. This variability makes the actual game appeal and allows a creative approach to the puzzle. The plates are formed at the edges so that they are preferred in 90 ° - 180 ° or - Arrange angles and lock into those positions, so to speak. In the accompanying Instructions and additional books various forms are given schematically, which can simulate the player. Thus, no exact number of all possible shapes can be stated, but, for example, are all shallow ways known.

Nevertheless, the magnitude of the actual different forms, the Rubic 's Magic can take, as well as the number of different disk configurations that exist for a particular form, much less than, for example, the number of possible positions of the cube. Moreover, the pattern of the inner three rings in the normal position has nothing to do with the intertwining of the heart shape: one is the front and the other mounted on to the back of the segments and the segments can have their parity change is not one another - Front - so back and can not be mixed together.

Panel, chain and heart

If you fold the two-dimensional 4x2 array, which is also called plaque, along the long edge means are combined, then the Rubik's Magic can be opened to a three-dimensional annular arrangement, the so-called chain. Each plate is connected to both its neighbors at opposite edges. Considering a square, so a neighbor could be due to one of the four edges, its orientation is fixed and thus even the whole chain. Further, in each chain can inner and outer surfaces are differentiated, so that there are several strings. Each chain can be folded in four different ways to a table, so there are different panels. Only one of them the ring pattern agrees on one side, which is the basic position. To move from the panel to the heart, is a sequence of six folding movements necessary, can be carried out on each panel in two different ways. Thus, different arrangements for the heart shape arise; one of them is the target position.

Variants

• Besides the standard version with eight faces extensions exist with twelve ( Rubik's Master Magic ) and 16 areas.
• At the same time a strategic two-person game was published under this name, in which players had to put a number by turning by alternately setting, similar to the game Gobang, with 16 plates.