Which puzzles and solving methods does CubeDB support?

Updated

CubeDB (cubedb.net) is a browser-based cube trainer and visualizer. It supports ten puzzle types and lets you highlight specific solving steps for several major methods, including CFOP, Roux, and COLL. If you are learning a method and want to see which pieces a step affects, or you want an automated critique of a CFOP solve, CubeDB covers that without installing anything.

Supported puzzles

The puzzle selector lists these types:

  • 3x3
  • 2x2
  • 4x4
  • 5x5
  • 6x6
  • 7x7
  • Square-1
  • Pyraminx
  • Skewb
  • Clock

Big cubes (4x4 through 7x7) and the non-cubic puzzles use their own face layouts, so the available highlighting options differ from 3x3.

Solving methods and step highlighting

On 3x3, the highlighting menu covers the main speedsolving methods:

Highlight set Method / use
Cross, F2L, OLL, PLL CFOP
COLL Corner-oriented last layer (used within CFOP or as a ZZ-style last layer)
F2B, CMLL Roux (first two blocks, corners of last layer)
Centers, Edges Big-cube and reduction-style steps
Roux Blocks Roux block building

You can toggle highlighting on and off per step, which is the practical way to check whether a scramble or a solution actually produces the case you expect. For example, if you are drilling F2L, turn on Cross and F2L and watch which slots the algorithm fills.

Color and face controls

  • Color: White, Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, Orange — set the cross color and the block colors (Blue/Green, Red/Orange, Yellow/White) to match your own orientation.
  • Faces: U, D, F, B, L, R views, each with its own reset. This lets you inspect a specific face instead of rotating the whole puzzle mentally.
  • Back faces: toggle rear-face visibility when you need to see hidden pieces.

Move notation and analysis tools

  • Metrics: HTM, QTM, STM, ETM move counts, so you can compare algorithms by the counting system you actually use.
  • Moves and Algorithm fields: enter a scramble or algorithm, then use Playback to step through it.
  • Random: generate a scramble.
  • Rotate(x/y/z), Mirror(M/S), Dual, Invert, Remove Comments: transform or reverse an algorithm — useful for generating the inverse of a case or mirroring a left-hand algorithm.
  • Automated Solve Critique (CFOP): analyzes a CFOP solve and reports on it.
  • Old notation (r = 2R): a toggle for older wide-move notation, so algorithms written in the older style still parse correctly.

Who this fits

CubeDB is a good fit if you want to visualize method steps, verify scrambles and algorithms, or get a CFOP critique in the browser. It is less suited if you need a guided course structure — the site presents itself as an educational resource for documentaries, courses, books, reference material, or self-learning, but the tool itself is a trainer and visualizer rather than a step-by-step curriculum.