All events · 2x2x2 Cube · Practise · Algorithms
2x2 · Beginner
Solve the 2x2 with a first layer and two last-layer steps. A first solve, then around a minute with practice.
Move sequences on this page were checked in a cube simulator (cubing.js): they are legal and, where the text says so, do what it claims. Strategy advice is guidance, not machine-checked.
What you are solving
The 2x2 is a 3x3 without edges or centres: just eight corner pieces. Because there are no centres, any colour can go on any face; you only care that each face ends up one colour.
You only need three faces for notation: R (right), U (up) and F (front). A letter is a clockwise quarter turn of that face, an apostrophe (R') is anticlockwise, and a 2 (R2) is a half turn. The whole puzzle has 3,674,160 positions, so it is very approachable.
1. The first layer
Pick a colour and build that face one corner at a time. Put the next corner in the top layer, above the slot where it belongs, with its three colours matching the neighbouring pieces. Then repeat the trigger below until the corner drops in with your colour facing down.
The trigger returns the cube to the start after six repeats, so you will always get there. Take it slowly: you are looking at the corner after every repeat, not memorising.
R U R' U' — repeat until the corner is in2. Make the top face one colour
With the first layer on the bottom, look at the top. Exactly one yellow sticker on top means you are in the Sune or Anti-Sune case. Do the algorithm that matches: for Sune, hold the cube so the single yellow-topped corner is at the front-left; for Anti-Sune, hold it at the back-right. If you see no yellow on top or two, do Sune once from any hold and look again: it changes the pattern, and you will reach the one-yellow case within a few tries. The intermediate page lists a shortcut algorithm for every case.
Repeat until the top is one colour. Both algorithms leave the first layer untouched.
R U R' U R U2 R' — Sune: yellow corner at front-leftR U2 R' U' R U' R' — Anti-Sune: yellow corner at back-right3. Swap the last corners
Now the top is one colour but the corners may be in the wrong places. Turn the top layer until you find two corners next to each other that are in the right place relative to the first layer. Hold them on the left and do the T-perm. It swaps the two corners on the right and does not twist anything.
If no corners match, do the T-perm once from any hold and look again. Using only the T-perm with top turns in between, at most two goes are needed for every possible arrangement. Finish by turning the top layer.
R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' — T-perm: swaps the front-right and back-right corners