<P> Rubik's Magic, like Rubik's Cube, is a mechanical puzzle invented by Ernő Rubik and first manufactured by Matchbox in the mid-1980s . </P> <P> The puzzle consists of eight black square tiles (changed to red squares with goldish rings in 1997) arranged in a 2 × 4 rectangle; diagonal grooves on the tiles hold wires that connect them, allowing them to be folded onto each other and unfolded again in two perpendicular directions (assuming that no other connections restrict the movement) in a manner similar to a Jacob's Ladder toy . The front side of the puzzle shows, in the initial state, three separate, rainbow - coloured rings; the back side consists of a scrambled picture of three interconnected rings . The goal of the game is to fold the puzzle into a heart - like shape and unscramble the picture on the back side, thus interconnecting the rings . </P> <P> Numerous ways to accomplish this exist, and experienced players can transform the puzzle from its initial into the solved state in less than 2 seconds . Other challenges for Rubik's Magic include reproducing given shapes (which are often three - dimensional), sometimes with certain tiles required to be in certain positions and / or orientations . </P> <P> Rubik's Magic was first manufactured by Matchbox in 1986 . Professor Rubik holds both a Hungarian patent (HU 1211 / 85, issued 19 March 1985) and a US patent (US 4,685,680, issued 11 August 1987) on the mechanism of Rubik's Magic . </P>

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