Pyraminx Solver
Any face toward you, one corner on top
That face is the Front. Keep the puzzle this way while you enter colors and follow the moves.
How the Pyraminx solver works
Cubzor reads the colors you enter, checks that the puzzle is possible, and finds the shortest way to solve it.
Enter the colors on a flat net
The four faces lie flat as one large triangle. Tap a sticker, then its color; when two stickers of a center or tip are known, the third fills in.
Hold it any way
The solver reads your color scheme from the centers, so any face can be toward you and any corner on top.
The shortest solution
The solver searches every position, so the corner and layer moves are as few as possible (at most 11), then it turns the tips.
Follow it in 3D
Each move turns on a 3D Pyraminx in WCA notation: U, L, R and B turn a corner and its layer, u, l, r and b only the tip.
Pyraminx solver guide
How to solve a Pyraminx with the online solver
A Pyraminx, the pyramid-shaped puzzle often called a triangle Rubik's cube, has only 36 stickers, and the solver fills in some of them for you. These notes explain how it reads your puzzle and what its moves mean.
Why you can hold it any way
The four centers of a Pyraminx, the three-colored pieces just below each tip, only twist in place; they never swap with each other. Their colors therefore show which face is which, however the puzzle is turned.
The solver reads your color scheme from the centers, so you can pick any face as the front and any corner as the top. Just keep the puzzle that way until the last move.
How to read the moves
Each letter names a corner: U is the top, L the bottom left, R the bottom right and B the back. An uppercase letter turns that corner and the layer below it by a third of a turn, clockwise as you look straight at the corner. A letter with an apostrophe (U') turns it counterclockwise.
A lowercase letter (u, l, r or b) turns only the small tip at that corner. Tips never block other pieces, so the solver turns them last.
Why the solver says a Pyraminx is impossible
Usually one sticker was entered wrong: a color then appears ten times, or an edge shows the same color twice. Compare the stickers the solver highlights with the puzzle in your hand.
If every sticker matches, a piece was probably taken out and put back the wrong way. A single flipped edge or two swapped edges can't happen by turning; fix the piece by hand and enter the colors again.
Before you solve
- Choose a face to be the front and a corner to be the top.
- Enter the front, left, right and bottom faces on the flat net.
- Check the four tips and tap any that are turned.
- Check that every color appears exactly nine times.
- Hold the puzzle the same way while you follow the moves.
Frequently asked questions
How many moves does a Pyraminx solution take?
At most 11 corner and layer moves, plus up to 4 tip turns. Ignoring the tips, a Pyraminx has 933,120 positions, and every one of them can be solved in 11 moves or fewer. The solver checks them all, so it always gives one of the shortest solutions.
What are the tips, and why are they filled in for me?
The tips are the four small pieces at the corners. Each one turns on its own and shows the same three colors as the center below it, sometimes turned. The solver starts each tip matching its center; if one is turned on your puzzle, tap it and pick the right color.
Can I scan my Pyraminx with the camera?
Not yet. The Pyraminx solver takes the colors by hand, and with the tips filled in for you that usually takes about a minute. Camera scanning works on the 3x3 solver.
What should I do if the solver says my Pyraminx is impossible?
Check the highlighted stickers first: usually one was entered as the wrong color. If every sticker matches, a piece was probably put back the wrong way after it popped out. Fix it by hand and enter the colors again.
Does the solver work for any Pyraminx?
It works for any standard Pyraminx with green, red, blue and yellow faces, held any way up, including speed and stickerless models. It doesn't solve the Master Pyraminx, the Pyramorphix or other shape mods.