SkimmIQ Help

Long Story Short (For Impatient Minds)

First launch: the puzzle starts in its solved state. Tap Scramble to mix it and begin your first challenge.
The goal: return the puzzle from its scrambled state to a valid solved state.
Solved state: every sticker on each face must be the same color, and the correct colors must be opposite each other. The camera angle and which required pair occupies the Front/Back axis do not matter.
Required opposite pairs: Easy uses matching Red-Red and White-White pairs (see Easy below); Moderate has Red-Red, Green-Green, and White-White; Classic has Red-Magenta, Blue-Green, and White-Yellow.
Rewards: reaching a valid solved state during an eligible active Scramble triggers the reward result and can unlock a Leaderboard submission. Only one reward can be granted per Scramble session.
SkimmIQ is Rubik-inspired, but you move color tapes around the cube instead of rotating faces.
There are no fixed centers, edges, or corners. Stickers can travel in ways classic cube intuition does not expect.
Move a tape: swipe on a sticker.
Rotate the camera: drag outside the cube.
Zoom: pinch in or out.
Roll view: two-finger twist.
Peek inside: long-press a sticker to see deeper into the cube.
Forgot the target? Long-press outside the cube to preview the solved arrangement.
Need help? Use IDEA, Solver, Path, Undo, or Redo. Some help tools use Premium Pool points.
SkimmIQ Lab: use the LAB handle on the left side of the scene to import, replay, record, and share puzzle states and move sequences.
Pattern Studio: open Lab and tap Pattern to build your own valid puzzle state on an interactive 3D layout, then apply it to the game for solving, recording, and sharing.
6 layouts: 3x3x3, 1x3x3, 2x2x2, 1x2x2, 1x1x3, 1x1x2.
3 color sets: Classic Rubik, Red+Green+White, and Red+White.
Reward eligibility: playing without Scramble, using Path, changing layout or difficulty, using Lab or Pattern Studio, or continuing after a reward switches the game to free play until the next Scramble.
Settings: use the top-right icon in the Menu to toggle Sound, Haptic feedback, Expansion, Solver, and Lab tools.

Controls & Gestures

Make a move: swipe across a sticker to slide a color tape.
Rotate the camera: drag your finger on the background outside the cube.
Zoom: pinch with two fingers.
Roll the camera: twist with two fingers.
Peek inside: long-press a sticker to temporarily hide that face and see deeper into the cube.
Show solved target: long-press outside the cube for about one second to preview the target arrangement. This is useful if you forgot what you are trying to rebuild. Keep holding and move your finger to rotate the preview.
Expanded view: when enabled, the cube opens small visual gaps between stickers, making hidden sides easier to read.

Difficulty Levels (Colors)

Choose the color difficulty in the Menu:

Easy: 2 colors, Red and White. Best for learning movement logic.
Moderate: 3 colors, Red, Green, and White. A stronger spatial challenge.
Classic: 6 colors. The full SkimmIQ experience.

Difficulty affects not only how the cube looks, but also how demanding Scramble levels can become.

Geometry Layouts

SkimmIQ has 6 layouts with different tape geometry:

1x1x2: the simplest entry point.
1x1x3.
1x2x2.
2x2x2.
3x3x3: the largest and most demanding layout.
1x3x3.

To change layout or color difficulty, open Menu, choose the new options, then tap Apply. Changing layout or difficulty resets the current reward session; start a new Scramble to play for rewards again.

What Counts as Solved?

A solved state is defined by the sticker colors, not by the camera angle or one fixed Front face.

Uniform faces: every sticker on each individual face must be the same color.
Correct opposite pairs: the two uniform colors on every pair of opposite faces must match the rules for the selected difficulty.
Easy: opposite faces must have the same color. Most layouts use one Red-Red pair and two White-White pairs. Updated apps balance the colors in C (8 white and 8 red stickers) and F (18 white and 12 red): F has one White-White pair and two Red-Red pairs; C also allows the colors to be swapped. During the update transition, older apps and old C/F replays keep the previous color sets, and new scenes created in the web Lab still use those previous sets.
Moderate: the three opposite pairs are Red-Red, Green-Green, and White-White.
Classic: the three opposite pairs are Red-Magenta, Blue-Green, and White-Yellow.
Orientation is flexible: the required pairs may occupy any of the three opposite-face axes, and either color in a two-color pair may be on either side. Rotating the whole puzzle does not change whether it is solved.
Preview the target: long-press outside the puzzle to display a solved arrangement for the current layout and difficulty.

Reward moment: reaching this valid solved state is what completes an eligible active Scramble and triggers the reward result. Uniform faces with the wrong opposite pairings do not count as solved and do not trigger rewards.

Settings

Open the Menu and tap the Settings icon in the top-right corner.

Sound: turns game sounds on or off.
Haptic: turns vibration feedback on or off.
Expansion: enables or disables the expanded cube view with small gaps between stickers.
Solver: enables or disables solver-assisted features. When enabled, supported layouts can use solver tools, IDEA path improvements, and Path preview. The hardest supported modes use fast AI solvers.
Lab tools: shows or hides the LAB handle. Turning it off hides the tools but does not delete your imported state, replay, or recording draft.

SkimmIQ Lab

SkimmIQ Lab connects the app with puzzle states and move sequences shared through SkimmIQ links. Open it from the LAB handle on the left side of the scene.

Pattern Studio: turn the puzzle into a blank 3D canvas and create your own state directly in the app. Open SkimmIQ Lab and choose Pattern, select colors from the sticker stacks, then rotate the puzzle and tap the translucent sticker positions to place or remove colors. You can start from an empty layout or use Fill current state as your starting point. Once every sticker is placed and the color counts are correct, tap Apply & play to load the pattern into the main scene, where you can explore it, solve it, record a replay, or share it. Pattern Studio sessions are free play and do not award prizes or Leaderboard entries.

Import: paste a SkimmIQ share link or an SQ1 state. The app restores the puzzle layout, difficulty, state, and replay when present.
Every valid pattern is solvable: exact group proofs for all six layouts show that any arrangement with the required number of stickers of each color is reachable from solved - and can therefore be solved again.
Replay: a shared sequence starts once after a short pause. Use Play/Pause, Restart, Back, and Forward. You can rotate the whole scene while the replay is running.
Record and share: record your own moves, replay them, then Share, Copy link, or Open preview. You can also share the current state without recording.
Solver: importing a state without a replay can automatically prepare IDEA and Path when Solver is enabled and available.
Continue exploring: if you make your own tape move after an imported replay, SkimmIQ leaves replay mode and treats the resulting position as a fresh analysis state.
Build patterns: a recorded Solver Path can be shared as a solution or reversed to show how to build the pattern from solved.
Rewards: Lab sessions do not award prizes or Leaderboard entries. Start a new Scramble to return to reward play.

Importing, replaying, recording, and sharing are free. Manual Solver, Path playback, Copy path, and IDEA actions use their normal Premium Pool costs. Automatic Solver analysis after importing a state has no point charge, but for a Free user it runs only while the Premium Pool is not empty.

Explore SkimmIQ Lab

Scramble

Use Scramble to generate a puzzle challenge.

Scramble presets now start immediately when you tap an option.
Custom Scramble still opens a separate screen where you choose the number of moves and then press Start.
Each Scramble tile shows the actual number of moves for your current Layout and Difficulty.
The number of moves is not fixed globally anymore. The same Scramble level can be short on a smaller layout and much longer on 3x3x3 or 1x3x3.
Start is the lightest preset. Oblivion is the hardest preset. Custom lets you choose your own move count.
If Solver is enabled and available for the selected setup, the app may prepare solver assistance automatically after Scramble.
Every layout has solver support. SkimmIQ uses fast AI solvers where they are needed and deterministic solvers where they are sufficient.
When an eligible active Scramble first reaches a valid solved state, the app triggers the reward result and can unlock Leaderboard submission.
Playing without Scramble is allowed, but it is free play: no rewards, no Leaderboard entry.
For a Free user, Scramble currently costs 2 points whether Solver assistance is enabled or disabled.

Solvers & Path

The Solver is a help system that finds a legal path from the current cube state back to a valid solved state: uniform faces with the correct colors opposite each other. SkimmIQ combines deterministic solvers with fast AI solvers for the hardest supported modes.

After every Scramble, the app prepares a solver path. IDEA uses that path whenever it is shorter than, or equal to, the current IDEA route.
Use the side Solver handle to open solver tools.
Solve asks the solver to analyze the current state. IDEA is updated when the resulting path is at least as good as the current IDEA route; otherwise, the app keeps the current IDEA route.
Path plays the currently known solution path as an animation. You can choose Fast, Normal, or Slow playback.
During Path playback, the IDEA counter shows how many moves remain.
When the Path preview finishes, tap to return to your previous cube state.
Path is a full solution preview, so using it disables rewards and Leaderboard submission for the current scramble session.
You can still continue playing after Path and you will still see Solved again when you solve, but you need a new Scramble to play for rewards again.
Every layout has solver support. SkimmIQ uses fast AI solvers where they are needed and deterministic solvers where they are sufficient.
Both solver types are designed to be fast in normal play and always find a valid path from every valid state back to a valid solved state.

Rewards

The app evaluates a reward only when an eligible active Scramble reaches a valid solved state: every face is uniform and all opposite color pairs are correct.

Making every face uniform is not enough if the opposite colors are paired incorrectly.
The harder the challenge and the cleaner the solve, the better your chance.
Some rewards unlock Leaderboard submission.
Beware of the cat.

The exact reward is part of the surprise. The cat may have opinions.

Only one reward can be granted per scramble session. After a reward is granted, the session switches to free play until you start a new Scramble.

Using Path also switches the session to free play because it shows the solution.

Imported Lab sessions are free play and do not award prizes or Leaderboard entries.

Player Tools & Premium Pool

Non-Premium users have a Premium Pool with up to 20 points. Premium tools spend points from this pool.

The current balance is shown in the top status bar.
When the pool reaches 0, premium actions are limited until you refill the pool or activate Premium.
Non-Premium users can refill the pool by watching a rewarded ad.
Premium users get unlimited use of premium features and no ads.
Some premium features require an internet connection for pool sync, rewarded ads, purchases, or restore purchase.

Current costs for non-Premium users:

Undo: step backward through your moves. Cost: 1 point.
Redo: step forward through your moves. Cost: 1 point.
IDEA: shows the next suggested move. Cost: 2 points.
Scramble: generates a new challenge. Cost: 2 points, with or without Solver assistance.
Layout change: applies a new layout. Cost: 2 points. Changing layout and difficulty together is one layout change.
Difficulty change: applies a new difficulty without changing layout. Cost: 2 points.
Peek Inside: long-press a sticker to hide that face and see through the cube. Cost: 2 points.
Solve: asks the solver to find a useful path from the current state. Cost: 2 points when a solver path is accepted and used.
Path: previews the known solution path as an animation. Cost: 2 points when playback starts.
Copy path: copies the current state and complete validated Solver Path as a link. Cost: 2 points after successful validation.
Expanded view: no direct point cost per move, but for non-Premium users it is available only while the Premium Pool has points.

Re-applying the currently active layout and difficulty does not spend points.

Saving Progress

SkimmIQ automatically saves your current state: layout, difficulty, scramble settings, cube state, moves, timer, settings, and your current Lab import or recording draft.

When you reopen the app, you can continue where you left off.

If you want to play for rewards again after changing layout, using Path, or solving an already rewarded session, start a new Scramble.