It’s 50 years since Ernő Rubik unleashed his mesmerising magic cube on the world. But why, despite the growth in digital games, is the plastic puzzle as popular as ever
The cubers have come in their numbers. More than 100 people are packed into Wythenshawe Forum on a drizzly Sunday morning for Manchester Winter 2024, a two-day competition revolving around a simple aim: solving a Rubik’s Cube, and other twisty puzzles, in the fastest time possible – sometimes even while wearing a blindfold.
Pockets of parents surround two rows of tables, following every twist and turn. Puzzle anoraks whisper possible winners. The clicks and clacks of sliding plastic is incessant. Volunteer runners clutch freshly mixed-up cubes and dash from the scrambling station towards the competitors.
