On a cold day in November, hundreds of people flocked to an arena in Coventry, which has previously hosted gigs by Oasis, Rihanna, and Harry Styles, f

The retro hobby that can help boost your happiness (say scientists)

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2024-12-26 07:30:02

On a cold day in November, hundreds of people flocked to an arena in Coventry, which has previously hosted gigs by Oasis, Rihanna, and Harry Styles, for an event of a very different kind.

The 500 people who turned out - some from as far afield as Mongolia and Canada - were taking part in an activity less known for drawing in crowds: the Rubik's UK Championship in "speedcubing," or racing to solve puzzle cubes at terrific speed.

Rows of tables were laid out in the arena and 15 events took place over three days. Some involved solving the puzzle one-handed, others while blindfolded. Teenager James Alonso won the tournament's biggest event - solving the classic 3x3 cube at speed with an average of 6.3 seconds.

Speedcubing has been popular since the 1980s and the world record for a single solve in that event is currently held by Max Park from the US, with a time of just 3.13 seconds. It is a far cry from the initial speed of Ernő Rubik, an architecture professor, who invented the Rubik's Cube in 1974 and took around a month to solve it.

Flash forward to today and an estimated 412,000 people have taken part in speedcubing competitions worldwide. The popularity has increased too, with reported global sales of Rubik's Cube products recorded as $86.6m (£67m) in 2023, up 13.5% on 2022. (The brand was acquired by a Canadian multinational toy company Spin Master in 2021.)