2x2x2 cube facts and solving instructions

2×2×2 - one of the variations of the Rubik's cube. It consists of eight pieces, all of which are corners.

In March 1970, Larry D. Nichols invented the "2×2×2 Puzzle with elements rotating in groups" and filed a patent application for it in Canada. Nichols' cube was held together by magnets. Nichols obtained the US patent 3655201 on April 11, 1972, two years before Ernő Rubik invented his cube.

Nichols transferred his patent to his employer, Moleculon Research Corp., which filed a lawsuit against Ideal Toys in 1982. In 1984, Ideal Toys lost the lawsuit for patent infringement and filed an appeal. In 1986, the appellate court confirmed the decision that Rubik's pocket cube 2×2×2 violated Nichols' patent, but overturned the decision regarding the Rubik's cube 3×3×3.

The world record for the average time of solving 5 solutions (excluding the fastest and slowest) is 1.02 seconds, achieved by Zayn Hanani from the USA on February 12, 2022, at Cape Fear 2022 in Wilmington, USA, with times of 1.11 0.71 1.04 0.90 1.21 seconds.