How to close a Shashibo and get the cube back

The one rule that matters

The official instructions put it simply: use the outer pattern from when it was closed as a cube as your guide. Your Shashibo has one outer design and three inner designs. When it is a cube, only the outer design shows on the outside. So the goal of closing is easy to state — get every piece of that outer design back on the outside, matching up.

Closing, step by step

1. Unfold back to a shape you know well, like the Star or the Crown. It is much easier to close from there.
2. Look at the faces and find the pieces that carry the outer design.
3. Turn those outer-design pieces so they face outward.
4. Bring the open corners back together so the outer pattern lines up like it did on the closed cube.
5. Let the pieces fold through gently until the magnets connect. A clean box means you are home.

Why the Crown helps

The Crown is just a cube with one corner opened. If you can get back to the Crown with the outer design mostly outside, closing is a matter of folding that one corner shut.

When the cube won't close

• Inner designs showing on the outside? A piece is turned the wrong way. Back up and flip it through.
• A gap at one corner? You are close. Wiggle that corner gently rather than squeezing the whole cube.
• Totally lost? Return to the Star, which is easy to recognize, and close from there.
• Never force it. If it doesn't flow, it doesn't go.

The brand's free app also has video help if you would like to watch the pieces come back together.