Most efficient cubifier
Lua, Score: 85.91 13.50 13.20 12.70 9.41 9.32 9.83 9.66 9.12 9.06 8.03 (Average)

-- Get input
local inp = io.read("*a")

local out = ""
local faces = { [5] = 45, [4] = 36, [3] = 27, [2] = 18, [1] = 9 }
local lastChar = nil

-- Mode the program is in
-- 2 = not set (needs :), 1 = just set (needs +), 0 = normal
local mode = 1;
for i = 1, inp:len() do
  -- Character value at current position
  local c = string.byte(inp, i)

  if c == lastChar then
    -- Repeat character
    out = out .. "6"
  elseif c % 9 == 0 and c &lt;= 45 then
    if #out == 0 then
      out = out .. "@"
    end
    out = out .. (c / 9)
  else
    local c2 = c

    -- Handle if difference from lastChar is divisible by 9
    if lastChar and (c - lastChar) % 9 == 0 then
      local difference = c - lastChar
      if difference &gt; 0 then
        out = out .. "+"
      else
        out = out .. "-"
        difference = difference * -1
      end

      for index = 5, 1, -1 do
        local face = faces[index]
        while difference &gt;= face do
          difference = difference - face
          out = out .. index
        end
      end
      c = 0
    end

    -- Handle anything not divisible by 9
    local extra = c % 9
    if extra &gt; 0 then
      -- Try to optimize by dividing by 9, if possible
      if lastChar and math.floor(lastChar / 9) == extra then
        out = out .. "/1"
        mode = 1
        extra = 0
      else
        while extra &gt; 0 do
          local n = extra &gt; 5 and 5 or extra

          if mode == 2 then
            out = out .. ":"
            mode = 1
          elseif mode == 1 then
            out = out .. "+"
            mode = 0
          end
          out = out .. n
          extra = extra - n
        end
        out = out .. "/1"
        mode = 1
      end

      c = c - (c % 9)
    end

    -- Handle anything divisible by 9
    for index = 5, 1, -1 do
      local face = faces[index]
      while c &gt;= face do
        if mode == 2 then
          out = out .. ":"
          mode = 1
        elseif mode == 1 then
          out = out .. "+"
          mode = 0
        end
        c = c - face
        out = out .. index
      end
    end

    out = out .. "@6"
    lastChar = c2
  end

  mode = 2
end
print(out)


Try it online!

Okay, I don't think I can optimize this anymore.

This version iterates through each character, adding c % 9 (where c is the character's decimal value) by doing :5+2/1, then adds the parts divisible by 9 by adding that face's value. For example: :2/1+551@ to print "e", where :2/1 adds 2, +551 adds 99 (9 * (5 + 5 + 1), or 9 * 11), and @ prints the output. Input is read with io.read().

Optimizations include directly adding/subtracting after printing if the difference between characters is a multiple of 9, dividing the current value if possible rather than setting c % 9 from scratch, and repeating characters by printing the current value again rather than recalculating it. Additionally, I've implemented Kamil's method of instantly printing any face that already contains the target value, and MD XF's suggestion to not use : at the beginning, but instead just start with a +.