The humble Rubik's Cube is 40 years-old today, hence the reason Google made its own interactive virtual cube to play with as a Google doodle.

Ever since it was originally introduced to a global market in the 80s - after an initial release in Erno Rubik's homeland of Hungary - there has been a market for books and videos showing how to beat the frustrating but highly addictive 3x3x3 puzzle. However, many of them are unlicensed and complex in their presentation of the algorithms needed to correctly finish with six evenly coloured sides.

If you want to beat the Google doodle cube or have one of the actual Rubik's Cubes to hand, the best advice on how to beat it comes from the official site itself.

Rubiks.com has a downloadable leaflet with fully-illustrated steps and explanations. There is also a step-by-step tutorial video on YouTube that takes you through the most straight forward way to beat the cube and impress your friends. And we present that for you here too.

Each step is explained in its own clip, so you shouldn't get too bamboozled by having it all revealed to you in one hit.

Step 1 - Get to know your Rubik's Cube

Step 2 - Solve the white cross

Step 3 - Solve the white corners

Step 4 - Solve the middle layer

Step 5 - Solve the top layer

Step 6 - Position the yellow corners correctly

And there you have it. By the end of these steps you should have finished your Rubik's Cube, whether online, on an app or in the hand. Repeat these steps a few more times and you can even get to a point where you don't need the guide.

Good luck.