In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Rubik's Cube, Google is launching Google Doodle and an interactive version of the popular mental "toy." The move has likely opened the door for a number of office workers attempting to solve the old world tech through modern means.
The Rubik's Cube has become a fixture in pop culture since its invention in 1974 by Hungarian sculpture and architecture teacher Erno Rubik. While we know the cube by its current name, Rubik originally called his creation the "Magic Cube."
And now anyone can play by the click of the mouse.
Google has now taken the cube --one of the world's top-selling toys of all-time -- and made it digital. That means the roughly 2.5-inches square toy that has 21 miniature cubes and connects to a center square can be played online.
The move is part of Google's continued efforts to take more traditional games and ideas and turn them into successful online concepts that function.
Google Doodle has launched an interactive video that should help those stumped by the digital puzzle by showing how another user was able to crack the cube and solve the puzzle. It will give real-time advice for those struggling to make each side one unified color.
An animated version is currently available on Google's homepage.
Even though the Rubik's Cube has gone digital, that doesn't mean anyone attempting to solve the device shouldn't look back to the original guidelines as a way to start playing.
"Get to know your cube. For example, you should know that white is opposite yellow, orange is opposite red and green is opposite blue. The center-piece colors are always opposite each other," says the Rubik's Cube website in taking a first look at your cube.
The idea of a digital Rubik's Cube could have many managers and supervisors concerned that they could catch employees going for the cube instead of required job-related work.
"Solve the white cross. The Rubik's website recommends you aim to create a white cross on the top face of the cube first of all. This will make the next phase easier," adds Rubik's Cube.
And Google hopes many will begin to follow those simple, yet much more difficult than initially thought, directions.
