Start every pattern below with a solved 3×3 cube. Keep the same front face and top colour while following the sequence. Each linked pattern opens its exact notation and an interactive player, so you can stop at a difficult turn and inspect the other faces.
These patterns are listed for practice, in no particular order of difficulty. Start with a short sequence that produces an easy-to-recognize pattern, then explore the designs that interest you.
Fifteen patterns to try
- Checkerboard: compare alternating stickers across several faces. This is a useful first test of slice turns.
- Six Spots: inspect the centre of every face instead of checking only the three visible sides.
- Cube in a Cube: rotate the finished cube to see how the nested-cube illusion connects around a corner.
- Cube in a Cube in a Cube: follow the nested outlines and compare them with the simpler design above.
- Anaconda: trace the band as it crosses from one face to the next.
- Python. Compare this connected design with Anaconda to learn its shape as well as its name.
- Black Mamba: watch the whole sequence before trying it from memory.
- Green Mamba: compare its arrangement with Black Mamba using the final-state previews.
- Four Spots: check which faces change and which ones preserve a larger solid area.
- Cross: inspect the arms of the cross and their surrounding corner colours.
- Four Crosses: count the finished faces and inspect the remaining two.
- Gift Box: follow the contrasting bands around the cube like ribbon.
- Spiral Pattern: inspect the result from several angles to see the repeating path.
- Vertical Stripes: compare the direction of the bands on adjacent faces.
- Superflip: all twelve edges are flipped while corners and centres stay in their solved positions. It is a legal 3×3 position, unlike a single flipped edge.
Read the turns before starting
A plain letter means a clockwise quarter-turn when looking directly at that face. A prime (') reverses the direction, and 2 makes a half-turn. M, E, and S each turn a middle slice. The notation reference explains their directions. A move changes the cube’s state. Changing your viewpoint leaves that state intact.
On a physical cube, work on a stable surface and avoid forcing a misaligned layer. On the website, use Next move and Previous move to compare the cube immediately before and after a turn. Use the final preview as a reference for the completed pattern and the playback controls to check individual steps.
Undo a pattern reliably
To undo any sequence, read its moves in reverse order and reverse the direction of each quarter-turn. Keep half-turns unchanged. For example, the inverse of R U F2 is F2 U' R'. Use the inverse sequence as your standard undo method. Some patterns take several repetitions of the original algorithm to return the cube to its solved state.
Reset returns the Digital Cube to its solved state. If you lose your place on a physical cube, reverse the sequence or use the solver. Keep the cube solved until you begin the pattern again. The instructions depend on a solved starting state.
Explore other cube sizes
The pattern library includes designs and interactive playback for every size from 2×2 through 17×17. Select the correct size before following a sequence. An outer-turn algorithm on a 3×3 can produce a different design on a 4×4, and numbered inner-layer moves require enough layers. Each pattern includes its complete notation, a final reference image, and a Digital Cube link that opens the matching size.
