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| Team Play |
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If you have four players, you
can play as partners rather than as individuals. Two players
team up to play against the other two. Have the teammates
sit across from each other. Players take their turns individually,
placing the switch tile and moving a runner of their own
color as in the regular game. The first team to get both
sets of their runners across to the finish, wins the game!
Teammates can freely discuss how to play each other’s
moves in order to benefit both teammates. |
|
| Solitaires |
| Here are some suggestions for
ways that you can enjoy Octiles when no opponent is available. |
| Connection Solitaire |
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Place as many runners of as
many colors as you like on stops and circles anywhere
on the board. Try making paths to connect all the runners
of each color together, without connecting runners of
different colors. |
| Sequence Solitaire |
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 Number
the stop squares from 1 to 16 in any order. [see diagram]
Try to connect the squares in numerical order. Place as
many tiles as you can without making out-of-sequence connections.
For experts, try to avoid double connections as much as
possible. That is, try to have only one path connect successive
squares. |
| Pattern Solitaire |
| |
Create your own point values
for special shapes, loops, routes, or groups of paths.
You can also assign points for attributes such as degree
or type of symmetry, number of identical copies, path
lengths, etc. Keep a record of your best scores and of
the patterns that you make. |
|
| OCTILES PUZZLES |
- How many times can the same path cross the same
tile?
- How long is the longest possible path?
- Can every path have mirror symmetry?
|
|
| TEAM UP |
| The OCTILES STRATEGY game |
| |
| Number of Players: |
2 - 4 |
| Age: |
12 and up |
| Duration: |
30 – 120+ minutes |
|
| |
"Team Up" is an alternative
game for players already familiar with the basic Octiles
game. The goal of Team Up is to connect all your runners
with uninterrupted paths. |
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To determine if your runners
are connected, start at one runner and see if you can
trace a continuous path to each of your other runners
without passing an empty stop square, an opponent's runner,
or a space without a tile. |
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As in the basic game, don't
worry about path crossings on a tile. Crossing paths continue
over and under each other and are not interruptions. |
| |
 The
minimum set of paths needed to connect your 5 runners
will form one of three primary shapes: a chain, a star,
or a "Y" configuration. [see diagram] Additional
connections are allowed. For example, you may have a star
pattern where two or more of your runners at end points
are connected to each other as well as connected to the
runner in the center of the star. |
| Setup |
| |
 Put
the 5 runners of your color on every fourth starting circle
around the board, as shown by the black dots in the diagram.
[see diagram] Ignore the color of the starting circles,
as they are not relevant in this game. For a faster game,
everyone may use four runners instead of five. |
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Place the tiles face up in a
pool around the outside of the board. |
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Choose who goes first. |
| Game Play |
| |
On your turn, select a tile
from the pool. Place the tile either directly into an
empty space on the board or exchange it for a tile already
played. To finish your turn, move one of your runners
along a path to an empty stop square, or to an empty circle
at the edge of the board. As in the basic game, the path
must be continuous, and the runner must stop at the first
resting place (stop square or circle) it reaches. The
runner is allowed to follow a path that loops back to
the same location where it began the turn. |
| |
However, unlike the basic game,
you do not need to move your runner across the tile that
you just placed. You may move any one of your runners
to complete your turn. Also, runners can move to or from
any circle at the edge of the board. Apart from these
exceptions, the movement of runners is the same as in
the basic Octiles game. |
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After your move, check which
paths connect pairs of your runners. These paths belong
to you and can't be altered by an opponent. Only you are
allowed to change their shape. |
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If you are going to exchange
the new tile for one already in play, first place the
new tile directly over the one already on the board. Let
everyone check that the new tile does not change any paths
that already connect their runners. When all the players
agree that you are not changing the paths that belong
to them, remove the tile from underneath and return it
to the tile pool. |
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When other players want to replace
a tile containing one of your paths, make sure they do
not change the shape of your path. Other players may change
the shape of one of their own paths, and can change whether
one of your paths goes over or under other paths, but
they cannot change the fundamental shape of any of your
established connecting paths. The switch tile's path(s)
must match other player's path(s) on the tile to be removed.
|
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If you cannot find a move when
it's your turn, the other players may decide how you must
move. If everyone agrees that you don't have a permissible
move, or no one wants to find a move for you, then your
whole turn is skipped and you may not place a tile. |
| |
You cannot take a partial turn
unless you can win immediately by just placing a tile,
or you have a win when your turn begins. These are the
only cases in which you don't have to move a runner. |
| Winning the Game |
| |
You win if all your runners
are connected with paths during your turn. You don't have
to take a complete turn if you reach a winning position.
Placing a tile may be all you need to do to achieve a
win. It's even possible that a tile played by one of your
opponents results in all your runners being connected,
and you can declare a win at the beginning of your turn
without even placing a tile. |
| Exceptional Situations |
| |
Failure
to recognize the end of the game: Occasionally
you might not realize that you have a winning position
during your turn. In a friendly game, other players may
be good sports in this situation and point out your win.
If you notice that your runners are all connected during
another player's turn, you must wait until it's your turn
to claim your win. |
| |
Impasse:
If everyone passes because no one can find a legal move,
the players should recheck the board and pool tile(s)
carefully for a playable move. Though it's possible, such
an impasse is rare. If it does happen, the last player
to make a valid move is the winner. |
| |
Resignation
of a player: If a player resigns, perhaps after
allowing a runner to be trapped on a starting circle,
the other players may decide to continue the game. If
so, they should leave the resigned player's runners on
the board and honor all the connected paths as if that
player was still in the game. |
| Scoring Variation |
| |
Joint winners.
Sometimes at the end of the game, players other than the
one who made the final move may also have all their runners
connected. If everyone agrees before starting the game,
a friendly method of scoring in this situation is to declare
everyone who has connected all their runners to be joint
winners. |
|
| Octiles Puzzle Challenges |
| Introduction |
| |
These activities are presented
as challenges because there is no single correct solution.
You can try them by yourself, or in cooperation with others.
You can continually try to improve your scores, or modify
your goals to make the challenges easier or harder. |
| |
As you play with the Octiles
set, you will find great pleasure in the wonderful and
varied patterns that flow across the tiles as they are
placed together. |
| |
In each of the following puzzles,
you will arrange 17 of the 18 tiles on the board in an
effort to satisfy the conditions, or to achieve as high
a score as possible. The leftover tile can be any one
you wish. Combine any of these puzzles with your own ideas
to make new challenges. Sometimes a slight modification
in the conditions can allow very different results. |
| Terminology |
| |
 There
are four basic types of path segments on the tiles. In
puzzles where points are involved, the following point
values are assigned to each type of segment: [see diagram]
Arc
= 3 Points
Bend
= 4 Points
Curve
= 5 Points
Diameter
= 6 Points |
| |
The following terms are used
to describe paths in the puzzles: |
| |
• Segments.
There are 4 on each tile.
•
Loops connect only to themselves.
•
Paths go directly between stop squares and/or circles.
• Routes are a series
of paths connected at the stop square.
•
Circuits are routes that return to the same location.
• Length can be calculated
in one of four ways: |
| |
1) |
Count tiles (each only once.) |
| |
2) |
Count all path segments. |
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3) |
Count the squares in a route. |
| |
4) |
Count points for each segment. |
| The Challenges |
| 1. |
Choose any two runner positions
on the board and find the shortest path between them.
(How many different position pairs are there?) |
| 2. |
How long a path or loop can
you make? |
| 3. |
How many loops can you make
at the same time? |
| 4. |
Find a loop that crosses every
tile exactly once. It may include some of the path segments
printed on the board. |
| 5. |
 How
many of the board segments can you include in a path that
crosses every tile? In the example shown, the path crosses
some tiles more than once. [see diagram] |
| 6. |
Make a path directly between
two circles. What is the longest such path you can find?
|
| 7. |
 Make
10 paths as in Challenge #6 at the same time. Try this
combined with other challenges. [see diagram] |
| 8. |
Connect all adjacent circles
(in 10 pairs). |
| 9. |
Connect circles on opposite
sides of the board. Four pairs may be the maximum. [see
diagram] Try different pairs. |
| 10. |
 Connect
circles in similar positions. That is, connect the rightmost
circle of one group with the rightmost circle of a different
group, the center circle of one group with the center
circle of another group, etc. [see diagram] |
| 11. |
Across how many tiles can you
make a path or loop travel twice? Three times? |
| 12. |
In how many places can you make
a path or loop cross itself? |
| 13. |
How many self-crossing paths
or loops can you make? How about paths that cross a tile
twice, but aren't self-crossing? |
| 14. |
How many times can you make
a pair of paths or loops cross each other? Or share tiles
instead of crossing each other? |
| 15. |
How many routes between circles
can you make at the same time that include the same number
of stop squares? (Try progressively, for 1, 2, 3 …) |
| 16. |
How many paths can you make
between locations that are opposite each other? (Consider
both circles and stop squares.) How many paths between
locations that are a quarter-turn of the board away? |
| 17. |
Make a group of paths that connect
a single stop square to a circle of each color. How many
independent groups like this can you make at the same
time? |
| 18. |
Make a group of paths with exactly
two stop squares so that the squares connect to each other,
to one circle of each color, and to nothing else. The
diagram shows the three possibilities: "A"
includes one corner square (with two paths), "B"
uses two edge squares (3 paths each), and both squares
in "C" are surrounded
by tiles. [see diagram] |
| |
 How
many of these can you make at the same time? Can you make
one of each type at the same time? |
| 19. |
 How
many paths can you make at the same time so that each
path contains only one kind of segment (Arcs, Bends, Curves,
or Diameters)? Don't consider the segments printed on
the board for this puzzle. A solution is shown in the
diagram. See if you can improve it by twisting a tile.
[see diagram] |
| 20. |
How many paths can you make
that have rotational symmetry (that is, can be mentally
turned around to match themselves)? How few other paths
can you leave? |
| 21. |
How many different shapes of
paths or loops can you make at the same time? |
| 22. |
How many identical paths, loops,
or routes can you make? |
| 23. |
 What
is the longest pair of identical paths, loops, or routes
that you can make? The example shown is for one-stop circuits,
and a longer pair is possible. [see diagram] |
| 24. |
 How
many paths can you make that exactly match another path
located a quarter- or half-turn of the board away? [see
diagram] For this challenge, it helps to first find all
the groups of 4 tiles that can be arranged to meet the
condition by themselves:
A tile group with 90 degree twist symmetry. |
| |
| For the following challenges,
try to make the whole board satisfy the condition. When
you succeed, try these in combination with the previous
puzzles. |
| 25. |
Every path has an identical
path like those in #24. |
| 26. |
 Every
path has mirror symmetry. [see diagram] |
| 27. |
 No
path connects one square to another that is only a tile
edge-length away. [see diagram] |
| 28. |
 No
path connects a pair of stop squares on opposite sides
of the same tile. [see diagram] |
| 29. |
Every circle and stop square
can be visited from any other circle and stop square,
through a series of routes like a subway system. |
| 30. |
Create your
own puzzle! If you feel particularly inspired by
your puzzle and solution, please send it to us for our
archives. |
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