The mindcub3r was one of the first projects we did as a family when we got the mindstorms kit. The model blew me away with it's ability. The Mindcub3r is a fantastic example of how Mindstorms somehow provides exactly the right tools to unleash massive amounts of creativity and innovation - in kids and adults. Building models like the cube solver is what makes you realise that so much is possible... and will give the confidence to come up with your own designs (like our screen tapper above), without any robotics experience or skill whatsoever.
Programming is surprisingly simple too. I would suggest skipping the graphical language altogether and go straight to EV3Basic.