Magic Cube 3D is a free online twisty cube puzzle you turn in your browser — the classic 3×3 of six coloured faces, plus the 2×2 and 4×4. Drag a sticker to turn its layer, drag the background to look around the cube, or use the move buttons and the standard U R F D L B keys. The level ladder is built for learning: each level is a scramble of one to eight twists, and its par is the fewest turns that solve it, found by an exact search rather than guessed, so three stars means you found a shortest solution. A hint names a turn on that shortest path and costs the third star. Free play gives you a full random scramble on any size with a timer, your best time per cube, the scramble written out in notation, and a seven-step beginner guide for the 3×3 that ticks off each stage as you finish it: white cross, first layer, middle layer, yellow cross, yellow face, last-layer corners and last-layer edges. Every algorithm the guide gives is checked by a test that follows it move by move. No download, no account, and it works on a phone.
How to play Magic Cube 3D
- The cube is solved when every face is one colour. Press Play and it opens on Levels the first time (after that it reopens in whichever mode you used last); on Levels the cube has been scrambled by a few twists.
- Drag any sticker along its face to turn that layer a quarter turn, the way you would push it with a thumb. Drag the empty space around the cube to look at it from any side.
- You can also turn faces with the twelve move buttons, or with the keyboard: U R F D L B turn the top, right, front, bottom, left and back faces clockwise as you look at them, and holding Shift turns them the other way.
- Level 1 is one twist from solved, level 8 is eight. Par is the fewest turns that solve the scramble — found by an exact search — so matching it means you found a shortest solution.
- A half turn counts as one move, and two quarter turns of the same face in a row are merged into one. A middle-slice turn counts as two, because it is two faces turned at once.
- Solve in par without a hint for three stars, within twice par for two, and any solve earns one and unlocks the next level.
- Stuck? Hint lights up the layer to turn and says which way. It is a turn on a shortest path from where you are now — or, if wrong turns have taken you more than eight from solved, it takes back your last one. Using a hint caps that solve at two stars.
- Undo takes turns back one at a time, Restart returns to the same scramble, and New scramble gives a different one of the same length.
- Free play scrambles a full 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4 with 11, 25 or 40 random turns, times your solve, and keeps your best time for each size on this device. Solved cube gives you a clean cube to practise on.
- On the 3×3 in free play, the guide beside the cube shows the seven stages of the beginner method, ticks each one off as you complete it, and gives the move sequence for the stage you are on.
- Keyboard extras: M, E and S turn the middle slices, X, Y and Z turn the whole cube, the arrow keys look around, Backspace undoes, and H asks for a hint.
Tips
- Learn to read the notation first. R means the right face clockwise as you look at it, R′ means anticlockwise, and R2 means a half turn — every guide and scramble online is written this way.
- On the early levels, look for the one face that does not line up and ask which turn would put it back. The last twist of a scramble is usually the easiest one to see.
- From level 5 on, think backwards: the scramble was made with face turns, so undoing it means finding them in the reverse order. Turning a face back and forth to test an idea costs nothing once you undo it.
- Undo is free. Going past par costs stars only if you finish that way, so undo a wrong turn instead of stacking another one on top of it.
- In free play, solve the cross on the bottom face while looking at the sides. The white stickers are easy to see from above, but the edge colours matching their side centres is what matters.
- The centres never move relative to each other when you turn faces, so the centre sticker tells you what colour each face will end up.
- For the 2×2, the corner steps of the 3×3 guide work unchanged: first layer, then the top face, then place the last corners.
- Speed comes from turning without looking for each move. Learn one sequence at a time until your hands know it, then time yourself in free play.
FAQ
Is Magic Cube 3D free to play?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy. All eight levels and free play on the 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4 are included.
Is this the same as a Rubik's Cube?
It is the same kind of puzzle: a 3×3 cube of six coloured faces whose layers turn, played here in 3D in your browser. Magic Cube 3D is an independent game with no connection to the Rubik's brand, which is a trademark of its owner; Magic Cube was the puzzle's name when it first went on sale in Hungary in 1977.
Is par really the fewest possible moves?
Yes. Every level scramble is measured by an exact search that finds the shortest solution, counting a half turn as one move, and only scrambles whose shortest solution is exactly the level's number of twists are used. No sequence of turns can solve one in fewer moves than par.
How do I turn the cube?
Drag a sticker along its face and that layer turns a quarter turn in the direction you dragged. Drag the space around the cube to look at it from another side. The move buttons and the U R F D L B keys turn the six faces too, with Shift for the other direction.
How do I solve a whole cube?
Open free play on the 3×3 and follow the guide beside the cube. It uses the classic beginner method in seven stages — white cross, first layer, middle layer, yellow cross, yellow face, last-layer corners, last-layer edges — ticks each one off as you finish it, and gives the move sequence for the next. The sequences are checked by tests that follow them turn by turn from hundreds of positions.
What do the hints do?
On a level, Hint lights up a layer and says which way to turn it. While the cube is within eight turns of solved — always, unless wrong turns have carried you further — the turn is on a shortest path from where you are, so following hints from the start solves a level in exactly par. Further out, it takes back your last turn. Using a hint limits that solve to two stars.
Can I play the 2×2 or the 4×4?
Yes, in free play. Choose 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4 and press Scramble; each size keeps its own best time. The 4×4 scramble includes wide turns, so its inner layers are mixed as well.
How are moves counted?
A quarter turn or a half turn of a face is one move, and two quarter turns of the same face in a row count as one half turn. A middle-slice turn counts as two, since it is the same as turning two opposite faces, and turning the whole cube over counts as none.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Drag stickers with a finger to turn layers and drag around the cube to look at it, or tap the move buttons. On a phone held upright the cube sits above the buttons, and the frame grows taller to give it room.