Tantrix

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Tantrix
Players place hexagonal tiles to create the longest line or loop.
Players	1–4
Age range	8 +
Setup time	1 minute
Playing time	30 minutes
Random chance	Medium
Skills required	Strategic thought

Tantrix is a hexagonal tile-based abstract strategy game invented by Mike McManaway from New Zealand. Each of the 56 different Bakelite tiles in the set contains three lines, going from one edge of the tile to another. No two lines on a tile have the same colour. There are four colours in the set: red, yellow, blue, and green. No two tiles are identical, and each is individually numbered from 1 through 56.

1 Gameplay
2 History
3 Online play
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

In the multiplayer version of the game, each player chooses a colour, so you have between 2 and 4 players. Each draws 1 tile from the bag, and the person who draws the highest number goes first.

Each player then takes six tiles from the bag, and places them face up in front of them. The first person plays one tile, usually with their colour on it. Play then rotates clockwise. After playing a tile, each player takes a replacement tile from the bag, so that they always have six in front of them. Tiles played must match the colour of the edges adjoining it.

When three tiles surround an empty space, so that it is effectively half covered, this is called a forced space. If the person whose turn it is has a tile that fills that space, then they must play it. They repeat this process until there is no more forced spaces that they can fill; at which stage, they make a free move, where they can play any tile, as long as they don't breach the three restriction rules, which will be covered soon. Once they have had a free move, they must then fill any more forced spaces that they can.

The three restriction rules are:

You cannot create a forced space with the same colour leading into it three times
You cannot create a four sided forced space
You cannot play along an edge that, when forced spaces are filled, will create a four sided forced space.

Once there are no tiles left in the bag, the three restriction rules do not apply.

The aim of the game is to get the longest line or loop in your colour. Each tile in a line counts as one point, and in a loop is two points. Only the highest scoring line or loop counts.

[edit] History

The first version of Tantrix was created by Mike McManaway in 1987 and was called "Mind Game". It used 56 cardboard pieces with only two coloured lines — red and black. Owning a games shop, he sold the game and used customer feedback to improve the design. In 1991, the tiles were changed to plastic (eventually Bakelite) and two more colours were added, allowing for four-player games.

The tiles were hand-painted, featuring different colours to those now used, even pink. The early form of the game featured 8 "Triple Intersections", but these were found to slow the game play. They would only fit into three different forced spaces. In 1992, the Triple Intersections were removed from the game.

Along with the multi-player version of the game, McManaway created smaller solitaire puzzles using 10 or 12 tiles that required the player to put the tiles together to create loops of certain colours.

In 1996, the Playtantrix.com site was launched. It was a merger of the creator's own website and the InterNetivity's Tantrix applets, which allowed Tantrix to played in realtime online. The site was moved to Tantrix.com a year later when the domain became available.

Three tantrix sets are available:

10 Tile Discovery - Is the one player version, where players take on puzzles that take between 30 seconds and 45 minutes
Super 5 Puzzles - 5 Puzzles, ranked from Student through to Genius.
Tantrix Game Pack - Bag with all 56 tantrix tiles that allows players to play all forms of tantrix

[edit] Online play

Tantrix Java client applet

Although quiet and under-populated compared to the standards of Yahoo! Games and the like, playing Tantrix online has gained a dedicated following with many players from all over the world taking part in matches at any one time, both against each other or against computer robots. Players are rated in a system that gains a player points for winning (and subsequently losing points for losing), the highest score possible being 1000, and the aim of players is to get as close to that as possible. The goal of a regular Lobby player is to reach the score of 950 which is difficult to reach. Once this score has been attained the player must gain Tournament Rankings (ELO) to earn the player the title "Master". Masters can then play other ranked games, called master games, that have a different scoring system. Only a few players achieve master status, with a limit of 120 total recently imposed.

Serious players of Tantrix (most of whom are still only playing for fun) take part in a number of structured tournaments each year. Although the winners only play for bragging rights, and in the major tournaments a small trophy to keep for a year, these events are taken very seriously, and are the ultimate challenge for tantricists.

Tantrix tournaments begun in 1998, with the first tournament, the World Championship, which was not a structured tournament, but the prize awarded to the player who finished the year with the highest ranking. The next year structured tournaments begun.

Every year various regional and international tournaments are held online in the "lobby". Each region or country can hold has its own tournament:

The European Championship (Euro) — the major dedicated continental tournament, first run in 1999
The Pan-American Tantrix Championship (Pan-Am) — first held in 1999
The Swedish Tantrix Championship (STC) — first held in 2003
The Australian Tantrix Championship (ATC) — first held in 2001
The New Zealand Tantrix Championship (NZTC) — first held in 2000
The Hungarian Tantrix Championship — first held in 2002
The Hungarian Masters Tournament — first held in 2002
The Afro-Asian Championship — the African Championship was first held in 1999 once, then re-established in 2004, incorporating Asian competitors at the same time
The Pacific Championship — a regional tournament for players in Australia, New Zealand and the surrounding pacific region, it ran between 1999-2001, but is currently not held due to an apparent lack of demand

There are also five international tournaments each year:

The Blitz Championship (players play to a much tougher time limit) — first held in 2003
The World Team Tantrix Championship (WTTC) — involving teams of 5 from one country or region, first in held in 2002 (but not held in 2005)
The World Junior Tantrix Championship (WJTC) — a world championship for players under 16, first held in 2002
The World Tantrix Championship (WTC), and the major tournament of each year, the first ever tournament, started in 1998
The World Doubles Tantrix Championship (WDTC) — first played in 2005

The WTC begins every August, and takes nearly 4 months to complete. Only 47 competitors took place in the 2nd WTC in 1998, but that number had grown to 200 by 2006. The tournament starts in a qualifiying round, where the lower ranked players fight for spots in the main draw (128 player knockout).

In addition to these online tournaments, the number of offline tournaments is also growing. The first offline tournament was the British Open, played in 2002 in Cambridge, England. In 2005 offline events took place in France (first ran in 2005), Germany (2005), Sweden (2004), Britain (2002), Spain (2005), Hungary (2005) and New Zealand (2004). In 2006, Dutch Open was introduced and Australian Open is probably going to be held soon. More of these offline tournaments begin every year as the Tantrix player base widens. Tournaments in Europe are especially popular because of the accessibility for a large number of the playing population.