The 4X4 Cube is the next level up in the Rubik’s Cube series. It is also known as Rubik’s Revenge. Though it might seem quite more complex than the classic 3×3 Cube, solving the 4×4 Rubik’s Revenge is quite similar with only a few additional algorithms and notations to learn.
The 4×4 Rubik’s Revenge has a different mechanism than the classic 3×3 Rubik’s Cube. There is no single centrepiece. Instead, it has four centrepieces per colour and is not fixed in their positions.
This means that the centrepieces can move around the cube and exchange pieces with each other, unlike the 3×3 Cube wherein a yellow centrepiece will always stay opposite to the white centrepiece. Therefore, the colour scheme of the Cube cannot be determined from the centrepieces of each colour.
Four centrepieces that are solved together are called a centre block.
There are two edge pieces of every type in the 4×4 Cube. Two identical edge pieces paired-up together are called an edge block.
Notations
| Front face (the side facing you) | F |
| Inner front face | f |
| Back face (the side away from you) | B |
| Inner back face | b |
| Left face | L |
| Inner left face | l |
| Right face | R |
| Inner right face | r |
| Up face | U |
| Inner up face | u |
| Down face | D |
| Inner down face | d |
Algorithms you need to know.
There are essentially three steps to solve the 4×4 Rubik’s Revenge – solving the centrepieces, Edge paring and parity errors. There are only four important algorithms that you need to remember. These are the two parities and two algorithms from the edge pairing.
Paring up the edges
The second step in solving the 4×4 Rubik’s Revenge is pairing up the edge pieces and then moving them to the top and bottom faces. You need to look for two identical edge pieces and then execute an important algorithm.
| d R U R’ d’ | 1. Rotate the inner down face clockwise
2. Rotate the right face clockwise 3. Rotate the up face clockwise 4. Rotate the right face counterclockwise 5. Rotate the inner downface counterclockwise |
With this method, you can quickly pair-up and move the first four edge pieces to the top or bottom face. Solving the remaining four edge pieces is quite tricky. You should ideally have the twin edge pieces to be with the same colour on the same face. To solve both the edge pairs simultaneously while leaving the other centrepieces untouched.
| d R F’ U R’ F d’ | 1. Rotate the inner down face clockwise
2. Rotate the right face clockwise 3. Rotate the front face counterclockwise 4. Rotate the up face clockwise 5. Rotate the right face counterclockwise 6. Rotate the front face clockwise 7. Rotate the inner down face counterclockwise |
This is an important algorithm that you should memorize. Invest some time to get it right and learn it by heart if you want to solve the 4×4 cube like a pro.
The Parities
There are a few parities that can occur when you solve the 4×4 cube. Parities occur when you find yourself in situations that cannot happen in the 3×3 cube. These are the possible causes that can happen.
OLL parity exists when exactly one edge block is not aligned correctly. Such a case cannot occur in the classic 3x3cube. Therefore, It is important to perform the OLL parity algorithm.
| r U2 x r U2 r U2 r’ U2 l U2 r’ U2 r U2 r’ U2 r’ | 1. Rotate the inner right face clockwise
2. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 3. Rotate the inner right face clockwise 4. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 5. Rotate the inner left face clockwise 6. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 7. Rotate the inner right face counterclockwise 8. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 9. Rotate the inner right face clockwise 10. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 11. Rotate the inner right face counterclockwise 12. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 13. Rotate the inner right face counterclockwise |
PLL parity occurs only when two edge pieces remain unsolved while the rest of the cube is fully solved. This case cannot occur on a 3×3 cube but can be fixed with the PLL algorithm. The parity algorithm does not touch the solved pieces but instead switches the edge pieces.
| R2 U2 R2 u2 R2 U2 | 1. Rotate the right face clockwise twice
2. Rotate the up face clockwise twice 3. Rotate the right face clockwise twice 4. Rotate the inner up face clockwise twice 5. Rotate the right face clockwise twice 6. Rotate the up face clockwise twice |
Conclusion
That’s all! Now you just need to keep practising until you can solve the 4×4 cube intuitively and without any guide. You need to memorize only 4 important algorithms that we have discussed above to solve the 4×4 like a pro! Happy Cubing!
