The Rubik's Cube has been around for decades. I've toyed with the cube, probably in the very late '80s or early '90s, but never even imagined being able to solve one; from entirely shuffled, to perfectly ordered. But wouldn't it be satisfying if I could? Fortunately, the internet makes solving what was originally an architecture puzzle, doable for most of us. The world record for solving a cube has plummeted since 2000 from 20 seconds to under five, as pros and enthusiasts synthesized high-speed solutions and turn combinations (called algorithms) and shared them with the world.

In-person competition is a no-go in many disciplines amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but speed cubers will be still able to battle opponents remotely in the Rubik's Cube World Cup. Rubik's has revealed the Connected Cube, which links to your phone or tablet and tracks your solve times and progress in real-time. It's more of a traditional cube than GoCube, which is largely a STEM-focused toy. Both use the same platform and can connect to the Rubik's Arena community, which has almost 47,000 players. As such, amateur and professional cubers can take part in this year's World Cup without having to travel, as long as they have a Connected Cube or GoCube. Qualifiers start August 15th and run through October 10th.