Rubik's Revolution

Since 1980, all it took to experience endless hours of mind-boggling puzzle-solving -- and its accompanying headaches -- was twisting and turning a brightly colored, 5.7 cubic centimeter block: the beloved and iconic Rubik's cube.

But today's kids, who may not be satisfied with the original's simple goal -- to get each color on one side of the cube -- can feed their Rubik's rage with a new twist on the classic toy: the electronic Rubik's Revolution. Complete with lights, sounds and numerous puzzles, players can play the updated version by themselves or with friends.

It's like Dance Dance Revolution for your fingers, which looks fun and a good way to improve memory, but hardly the mind bender the original Rubik's Cube was. Besides, if all you need to do is to remember steps in sequence, I don't think that counts as a "puzzle". Gizmodo officially hates it and calls this new version "Rubik's Crapolution".

Is dumbing down challenging toys/games the only way to spark interest in kids nowadays? I can't imagine Erno Rubik approving of this bastardization of his baby. It's sad to think this watered down version is what the new generation will remember the Cube by.

As a puzzle lover, I've always enjoyed the challenge of the original although I recall solving it only once. Hopefully they won't stop selling it because now more than ever, in today's instant gratification culture, our brains can use the discipline and the workout.

For more on the original Rubik's Cube, click here. For more on the lame Rubik's Revolution, click here.

Label(s): Thoughts
Tags: games, puzzles, rubik's cube, rubik's revolution, toys

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