Design Thinking with Cubes, Components, and Constructions

The photo above shows the design called Q50/plan01 disassembled into several components. The components are made from two or more cubes, and these components can be rearranged into new marble run constructions.

If you take a close look at the plan that comes with each 50-pack or at this plan from the Q-BA-MAZE website, you can see which cubes make each of the components shown in the top photo:

• Cubes 1-7 are the "base" (front middle in the photo)*
• Cubes 8-11 are a "4-cube scrambler" (back row, far right in photo)
• Cubes 12-22 are a "9-cube scrambler" with a "2-cube switch back" on top (back row, second from right in photo)
• Cubes 23-34 are a "double helix" (back row, third from right in photo)
• Cubes 35-36 are a "2-cube column" (back row, far left in photo)

* This "base" composed of cubes 1-7 is good stable starting point for any new construction.

The photo below shows Q50/plan01 on the left and a completely new construction on the right made from the same components just rearranged in a new order. Working with components like this is a faster way to design and build new constructions compared with building one cube at a time. An understanding of components will also assist your design thinking as you imagine your own new constructions.

Have fun inventing and building with Q-BA-MAZE!