How to Use the Pyraminx Solver
- Hold the Pyraminx with yellow on the bottom and green facing you. On a scrambled puzzle the faces are mixed, so use the corners: each corner has three small triangles around its tip, and they never leave that corner. Put the corner with no yellow next to its tip on top. Then turn the puzzle so the corner with no green next to its tip is at the back.
- Enter the colors. Pick a color, then click every sticker of that color on the net. The front face is in the middle, the left and right faces are beside it, and the bottom face is underneath. Each color appears exactly 9 times, and the counts show how many are left. On a phone, you paint one face at a time on a large triangle: tap a face on the net (or use Next face) to choose it.
- Press Solve. The solver checks that your Pyraminx is possible, then finds the shortest solution.
- Follow the moves. Keep holding the puzzle the same way. Each move is described under the net, and the stickers that turn are highlighted. Use ◀ and ▶ to step, or press Play.
No puzzle in your hand? Press Random scramble, or type a scramble like U L' R B' u r' under Or type a scramble. A link to your colors is kept in the address bar, so you can share it.
Pyraminx Notation: U, L, R, B and the Tips
A Pyraminx has four corners: U (top), L (front-left), R (front-right) and B (back). A capital letter turns the tip and the layer under it, a third of a turn. A letter on its own means clockwise, as you look straight at that corner. An apostrophe (') means counterclockwise. A lowercase letter (u, l, r, b) turns only the tiny tip, in the same direction.
| Move | Corner | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| U | Top | The front side moves onto the left face (U': onto the right face) |
| L | Front-left | The front side moves down onto the bottom (L': onto the left face) |
| R | Front-right | The front side moves onto the right face (R': down onto the bottom) |
| B | Back | The left side moves down onto the bottom (B': onto the right face) |
There is no U2 on a Pyraminx: two turns one way equal one turn the other way. The 3x3 cube uses some of the same letters with different meanings. See notation for the cube.
Why These Solutions Are the Shortest Possible
Without the tips, a Pyraminx has 933,120 positions. Soon after the page opens, the solver lists every one of them and how many moves each is from solved, in a table built in your browser. Our test checks that table against the one published by Jaap Scherphuis. To solve your puzzle, the solver walks down that table one move at a time, so the result can't be any shorter.
No position needs more than 11 moves, not counting tips. If every position were equally likely, about 51% would need exactly 8 moves, and only 32 positions out of 933,120 need all 11.
The tips are separate. Each one can sit three ways, so there are 81 tip combinations and 75,582,720 positions in all. A tip turns without disturbing anything else, and a corner turn moves a tip together with the layer under it. So each tip that doesn't match its corner needs exactly one tip turn, and never more. That's at most 4 tip turns, added at the end. You can do them first if you like. The result is the same.
Our tests replay hundreds of random solutions and check every position up to 6 turns away, tips included, to confirm that none can be solved in fewer moves.
Everything runs in your browser. Your colors are never sent anywhere.
"This Pyraminx Can't Be Solved": What It Means
A Pyraminx that was only ever turned can always be solved. If the solver says yours can't be, a color was probably entered wrong, or a piece was taken out and put back. The message says which:
- Wrong color count. A color appears more or less than 9 times. The message names the colors.
- Impossible tip or center. Every corner's tip and center have fixed colors. The top corner's are always green, red and blue. A wrong color, or the right colors in a mirrored order, means a sticker was entered wrong. The piece is highlighted.
- Impossible edge. An edge shows one color twice, or two edges show the same pair. Each pair of colors is on exactly one of the 6 edges.
- Two edges swapped, or one edge flipped. Turning can never swap just two edges or flip just one. The edge was probably reassembled the wrong way, or two stickers were entered the wrong way round.
- Held a different way. If all the colors are right but the corners don't match, the puzzle is turned in your hand. Use the corner rule in step 1.
Pyraminx Solver FAQ
Is the Pyraminx solver free?
Yes. There's no app, no account and no limit.
Why doesn't it undo my scramble?
The solver only sees the colors, not the moves that mixed them up. It finds the shortest way back to solved, which is never longer than the scramble and can be much shorter.
Which colors does it use?
Green front, red left, blue right and yellow bottom, the same default colors as TNoodle, the program that makes official WCA competition scrambles. If your puzzle has other colors, pick one color for each of those four faces and paint with it consistently.
Does it solve the 3x3 cube too?
This page is for the Pyraminx. For the 3x3, use our Rubik's Cube solver. To learn the Pyraminx yourself, see Pyraminx algorithms.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. On a phone, you tap a face on the net and paint it on a large triangle.