Cube Net Puzzles
Fold a flat net into a cube in your head — a staple of 11+ non-verbal reasoning papers. Which face ends up opposite which? Which of these shapes is even a net at all? Which cube could this net have made? Sixty patterns across five question types, with the folding worked out after every attempt.
Also known as net of a cube, cube views and cube folding — all the same puzzle.
Which Flat Net Folds Into Which Cube
A cube net is a flat arrangement of six squares that folds into a cube. Given a net with marked faces, you work out which faces end up opposite each other — or which of four cubes the net actually builds. There are exactly eleven distinct nets; everything else will not fold.
How To Solve Cube Nets Puzzles
- Pick one marked face and treat it as the bottom.
- Fold its neighbours up mentally, one edge at a time.
- Faces separated by exactly one square end up opposite.
- Use the opposite-face rule to eliminate cubes fast.
- Check the handedness of the remaining faces before answering.
Opposite faces never share an edge. Any option that shows two edge-adjacent marks on opposite faces of the cube is out immediately.
| Family | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Opposite faces | Which face ends up on the far side of the cube — the single most common cube-net question. |
| Touching faces | Which faces meet along an edge once the net is folded, and which never do. |
| Which net folds | Four six-square shapes; only one of them closes into a cube. |
| Which net fails | The reverse: three fold and one overlaps itself. |
| Net to cube | A folded cube seen in three dimensions — which one could have come from this net? |
| By net shape | The same questions restricted to one of the four net shapes, so you learn each on sight. |
The Eleven Nets
Every net on this page is one of the eleven distinct cube nets, derived and folded by the same geometry the generator uses. Learn the eleven shapes and you will never fold a fake net — and never reject a real one.
Cube Nets Puzzles Frequently Asked Questions
How many nets does a cube have?
Exactly eleven, out of the 35 possible six-square shapes. Six are 1-4-1, three are 2-3-1, one is the 2-2-2 staircase and one is the 3-3 offset double row.
What are the 11 nets of a cube?
All eleven are drawn on this page, grouped by shape. Six are 1-4-1, a row of four with one square on either side. Three are 2-3-1, built around a run of three instead of a run of four. One is the 3-3, two rows of three offset by a square. One is the 2-2-2 staircase of three pairs.
What is the source for a cube having exactly 11 distinct nets?
It is a theorem you can verify rather than a figure to cite. Every cube net is a hexomino — six squares joined edge to edge — and there are exactly 35 hexominoes once rotations and reflections count as the same shape. Fold all 35 and exactly 11 close into a cube without overlapping. This page derives the eleven that way in code rather than copying them from a reference.
Which hexominoes fold into a cube?
Eleven of the 35 do. The 24 that fail all overlap themselves when folded, and the quickest way to spot most of them is that no net can contain a 2×2 block of squares — four squares in a square would have to fold onto one another.
Is there a quick way to rule a shape out?
Yes — if it contains a 2×2 block of squares it cannot be a net. Beyond that, roll a cube across it mentally; the moment two squares land on the same face, it fails.
Why can't a cube show two opposite faces at once?
Because the three faces you can see all meet at a single corner, and opposite faces point in exactly opposite directions. Any drawing showing both is impossible.
How many puzzles are there?
There is no fixed number. Each puzzle is rebuilt from the short seed in the page address, so the supply is effectively unlimited.
How do I work out which face is opposite which?
Roll a cube across the net in your head, one square at a time: the face touching the paper is the face that square becomes. On a straight run of squares, faces two apart are always opposite. Every face of a cube touches four others, so the only face it does not touch is its opposite.
Is it free and does it need an account?
It is completely free and there is no account. Nothing is uploaded; your score is kept only in your own browser.
What is a net of a cube?
A flat arrangement of six squares that folds up into a cube without any face overlapping another. Cut a cardboard box along enough edges to lay it flat and what you have is a net. Not every arrangement of six squares works, which is the whole puzzle — and there are exactly eleven that do, once rotations and reflections of the same shape are treated as one.