This version of QiYi’s Mirror Cube 3x3 has a black body and fluorescent stickers that look vivid in daylight and glow in low light. It’s a shape mod (a puzzle that keeps the mechanism of a well-known one but changes the shape of its pieces) based on the 3x3: all the faces have the same finish, and what sets each piece apart is its size.

• BrandQiYi
• TypeMirror Cube 3x3
• BodyBlack
• FinishFluorescent glow-in-the-dark stickers

How it works

Inside it’s a 3x3, but each layer has a different thickness. When scrambled, the cube loses its shape and becomes an irregular block of steps. Solving it means restoring its cube silhouette, paying attention to the height and volume of each piece rather than to colours. Anyone who can solve a 3x3 can apply their methods, but has to learn to read the shapes.

Design

The stickers absorb light and give it back when the lights go off: they charge with sunlight or room lighting, and even better with ultraviolet light. The effect can be recharged as many times as you like. As well as being solved, it’s often used as a decorative desk piece because of how it looks when scrambled.