The cube might be the most iconic and well studied shape of our times; from our buildings to the atomic structure of crystals, it is a pillar of our world and one of five perfect 3D shapes.

We are introduced to cubes as babies through wooden blocks. By stacking and manipulating them in different ways our imagination begins to assimilate "basic" 3D.

Years later we outgrow blocks and move up to plastic bricks which are more versatile and challenging, but still essentially based on boxes—"standard" 3D.

Blocks plus bricks are the basis of what our hands and minds have grasped as "normal" 3D.

Think of this kit as your personal atom smasher; you will use to break into Advanced 3D by deconstructing the Cube and in that process discover that this humble shape conceals an infinity of stunning patterns.

Your mind may never be the same again.

What is a Cryptocube?

crypto- |ˈˌkrɪpˌtoʊ|: concealed; secret.

A Cryptocube is a maze-like Zome-structure* that conceals a cube, indicated only by its black corners.

Cryptocubes come in many levels of difficulty, from moderate to mind-bending.

Will you be able to solve it?

Yes you will. But the real question is how many different ways you will find to solve it. And the real prize is how will your creativity and imagination will expand as your Cryptocubes rise in sophistication and complexity.

1. Build an all-black reference cube

1. Build an all-black reference cube
2. Remove all the black struts (edges) without disturbing the placement of the corners (black Zomeballs)

You will have to use the colored struts to build a Zome-structure that allows you to remove the black struts while keeping the 8 black corners in place.

We’ve developed an App that you can access on your desktop, mobile or tablet. There you will find:

• Building Guidelines
• Getting started tips
• Challenges
• Hints
• Solutions
• Photos from fellow Cryptocubers

HINTS

We designed our hints to give you a visual sense of the solution but made sure to leave plenty for you to work out on your own.

Hints use a Class system to categorize Cryptocubes according to the types of struts used in the solution (more on Classes below) —we wanted to make it easy for you to select as much (or as little help) as you want.

This hint is for a Class 3 Cryptocube

The Cryptocube Classes

RELAX —No need to memorize these

They are just a handy way to categorize Cryptocubes and come in handy for hints, solutions and challenges. Each class refers to the specific strut combinations used in a given Cryptocube

Each Class can have solutions of multiple levels of difficulty; a Class 3 solution that uses all available struts is more difficult than a Class 3 that uses only some of them.

In the app, you will see that the hints, solutions and challenges are organized by level of difficulty

SOLUTIONS

These are more explicit than hints. You can see the shape and color of the struts as well as the Zomeball orientation and an exact strut count. You still have to work to build the solution, but you’ll have a running start.

This solution requires: 4*B0 + 20*R0

Rule #1: If it works, it works perfectly.

Don't force Zometool components. You can bend a strut to fit it into a tight spot, but struts in finished models are always straight and never under tension.

Rule #2: Take it apart, don't break it apart

Take models apart by grasping a strut with your fingers and pushing the ball straight off with your thumb:

Twisting balls, pulling models apart or crushing them WILL cause parts to break!

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE