Wellington Mind Games 2026

James Macdiarmid delivered a stunning performance in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, clocking a New Zealand national record single of 17.53 seconds before securing top honours with a 20.14 single in the final round. That remarkable feat set the tone for Wellington Mind Games 2026, an event entirely dedicated to the sport's most mentally demanding disciplines. Hosted at the Karori Arts & Crafts Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, on January 31, 2026, the single-day gathering gathered 10 specialist solvers to tackle five distinct challenges across six rounds of elite head-to-head play.

The specialised lineup meant traditional events were replaced by memory tests and analytical thinking, shifting the focus away from standard Rubik's Cube speed rounds toward extreme cognitive stamina. The compact field featured dedicated practitioners who embraced every challenge on offer. With national pride and personal breakthroughs at stake, competitors navigated blindfolded solves, multi-cube memory feats, and meticulous move-count challenges in a uniquely intensive cubing competition setting.

Macdiarmid continued his mastery of memory in the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event, completing an astonishing 49 out of 58 puzzles within the full one-hour time limit. His 49/58 in 1:00:00 earned him first place ahead of Jack McDougall, who secured second position by successfully solving 23 out of 25 cubes in 54:01. James Moore rounded out the podium in third, managing a flawless 17 out of 17 cubes in 56:35, demonstrating remarkable accuracy over extensive memorisation time.

While Macdiarmid ruled the multi-cube discipline, Tom Nelson took commanding victories across three separate events during the competition. Nelson claimed first place in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with a winning average of 23.00 moves and a best single solve of 21 moves. McDougall followed closely behind in second place with an average of 25.33 moves, while William Jackson clinched the third podium spot with an average of 33.33 moves in the deliberate, hour-long analytical contest.

Nelson then extended his dominance to the larger blindfolded categories, capturing the 4x4x4 Blindfolded title with a decisive single solve of 1:37.54. In that event, Dylan Himmelfarb claimed second place with a time of 3:35.67, and James Moore took third place with a time of 4:34.97. Nelson was not done, going on to capture the 5x5x5 Blindfolded victory with a 4:07.65 single, finishing ahead of Moore, who secured second place with a time of 16:42.00 in a round where five other solvers recorded a DNF.

The 3x3x3 Blindfolded event offered deep drama across two rounds of play, where 3x3 results hinged on absolute focus under the blindfold. Following his national record in the earlier round, Macdiarmid won the event outright with his 20.14 single. McDougall took second place on the podium with a single of 26.45, having also logged a 22.61 single and a 25.93 average during the rounds, while Nelson earned third place with a 27.89 mark.

Beyond the podium battles, under-the-radar competitors achieved significant personal milestones across demanding schedules. Luke Steele entered 3 events and achieved a career-best weekend finish of fourth place in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves. Liam Wadek, also competing across 3 events, took on his first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Blindfolded to finish fourth with a time of 16:11.00, alongside setting personal bests of 1:48.30 in 3x3x3 Blindfolded and a perfect 5/5 in 38:20 in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind.

With 19 podium places claimed by local contenders across the five disciplines, Wellington Mind Games 2026 proved to be an outstanding showcase of New Zealand speed cubing talent in niche events. The rare concentration of multi-blind, fewest moves, and big blindfolded categories offered solvers a rigorous platform to test their limits. As the WCA competition schedule heads toward the next season, the memory specialists of Wellington have established a high benchmark for mental discipline and technical excellence in speedcubing.