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The Rubik’s Slide is finally a version of a Rubik’s cube that both adults and children can finally have some real success with! I had an original Rubik’s cube growing up, and I’m not proud to admit I wasn’t very successful, but I don’t think I was the only one peeling the stickers off and rearranging them to look like I solved it. The past few weeks  I have not been able to put my Rubik’s Slide down at home because it’s a quick way to entertain yourself even if you literally only have one minute!

This is a game that requires a lot of hands on, trial and error learning. I feel like no matter how I describe it, you need to really play to understand it – but I’ll give it my best shot.  There are three levels: easy, medium and hard. When the game starts – one square, or any combination of colored squares will light up. After you touch the check button at the top. it will rearrange the lights into a different pattern to show you the puzzle. It’s your job tomaneuver the squares by  pushing the top of the Rubik’s device to the left, right, up, down, or rotating it to the right or left, to move your squares to the correct location to solve the puzzle. When you get it right, the blocks will blink and make a cool sound. There is also a timed setting to see if you can quickly solve 10 puzzles in a lighting round fashion.

With all of the toys I review, I try to use them with different children to gain their perspective. It was a big hit amongst a few young elementary school aged boys. Keep in mind that as parents you know your children best; this game appealed more to those types of children who are puzzle wizards and love a good brain challenge. The only downfall to the Rubik’s Slide, was there is initially a little bit of a learning curve, but once they figured it out, they were hooked! Though it is marketed for children 8 and up, and each child is different, I did have quick success using it with children first grade (6 years old) and up. This was a very motivating game for kids with limited hand strength to build the endurance of the small muscles in the hand.  I also thought it was a great tool to help children learn the concept of right and left while learning the game.  One quick hint: I do wish their was a tutorial level, so young children could really practice a fair amount of easy ones before progressing to more challenging ones.  However, I would often stop and re-start the device a few times until they got the concept.  It also took me a few days to figure out that there is an adjustable volume setting, so the sound can be turned off for quiet play at home or during travel.

Rubik’s Slide is available online and in stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Toys “R” Us, K-Mart and JCPenney.  Technosource provided this Rubik’s Slide free for review.  All opinions expressed in this post are purely the bloggers own.