Megaminx: The twisty puzzles with twelve faces

Who invented it?

Surprisingly, the Megaminx was invented by several people almost at the same time in the early 1980s. Triggered by the enormous popularity of the classic 3x3 cube, many people were perhaps encouraged to develop more puzzles. Consequently, the Megaminx was initially known by different names such as “Pyraminx Magic Dodecahedron“ or “Hungarian Supernova“, for example. It was the German puzzle designer Uwe Mèffert, who secured the rights to several patents and from then on he sold the twisty puzzle under the name Megaminx.

Variations of the Megaminx

The classic Megaminx has 3x3 layers. After it came on the market however, it didn’t take long before further variations of the Megaminx were developed and marketed. Below is a short list to bring clarity to the hotchpotch of names:

• Kilominx: 2x2 layers
• Master Kilominx: 4x4 layers
• Gigaminx: 5x5 layers
• Elite Kilominx: 6x6 layers
• Teraminx: 7x7 layers
• Petaminx: 9x9 layers

Megaminx speedcubing tournaments

The category Megaminx has, on one hand, the tournament format “average of 5“ where each participant is given 5 tries to solve the cube. Of these five tries, the fastest and slowest are scrubbed before an average is calculated from the remaining three. On the other hand, there are also cutoff phases (combined rounds) where the “best of 2” (or best of x) is determined first, followed by a second phase with the “average of 5“.

The current Single Solve world record is held by Juan Pablo Huanqui of Peru. In 2022, it took him only 25.24 seconds to solve the Megaminx. Since 2022, the record holder for the Average Solve is Leandro Martín López with a time of 29.27 seconds.