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CHAOS TILES(TM) RULES (The Chaotile Art gallery) (Photos here. $500 Contest)

You may purchase Chaos Tiles now. Order Chaos .  See rules in Spanish.
Note:  The front of the box lists Mike Hirschhorn as the discoverer of the Kay tile.  He actually discovered the Vek tile.  Mike Hirschhorn discovered the Medalion of 18 veks in 1976.

Before checking the rules of this game, keep in mind that this game is a brain game and not just for fun. So it might take some patience to understand the game and be able to completely solve it. Once you understand this game, have a look for more games in online casinos, where you might even make money solving these kind of games with pure math. Some of them require advanced math and/or speculation about the cards of your opponents.  However, when you play roulette online or a game like it, the odds are fairly straightforward.  With the 36 numbers, plus zero and double-zero, the odds of any number are simply 1/38.

GENERAL RULES

1.  The larger tile is called a VEK (it's convex).  The smaller tile is called a KAY (it's concave).  There are 50 Veks and 40 Kays in the set of 90 Chaos Tiles.  At the start of a game, all of these tiles are face down (no color pips showing) in the BONEYARD.  For a smaller game, eliminate one or two colors.
2.  Each person starts a game drawing 'five' tiles from the boneyard.  This is the player's HAND.  The pieces are kept secret from the other players.  In terms of hand size only, a vek is considered one tile and a kay is considered half a tile.  A player could start with five veks, or ten kays, or four veks + two kays.  When a player finishes a turn, they redraw to 'five' tiles.  Less experienced players can hold more than five tiles in their hand, as a handicap.
3.  The youngest starts the game by first playing a random single piece from the boneyard (Move Zero), then taking a normal turn.  This is the start of the BLOB, which will grow each move. Play passes counterclockwise.
4.  A normal move consists of applicable free moves, then playing a single piece anywhere, then making more applicable free moves.  Pieces must be played with full side to side contact with another piece in the Blob.  They do not need to match color.  Holes in the blob are legal.  Unfillable regions (such as two adjacent 120 degree angles) are legal.  A play which makes a 20 degree angle is illegal.

5. A player may forfeit their turn in order to exchange any number of tiles from the boneyard.  When finished, they should have 'five' tiles in their hand (see rule 2).
7.  A CLUMP is a connected group of pips having the same color.
8.  The game ends when the Boneyard runs out of either Kays or Veks.
9.  FREE MOVE.  Three Sides Rule.  During their turn, a player may make an AUXILIARY move by playing a piece from their hand that will touch on three sides.  In the sample game below, all of the moves with an 'a' are auxiliary moves.  If the setup allows, a player may keep making auxilliary moves until their hand is empty.
10.  FREE MOVE.  Better Match Rule.  Some games allow a TRANSFER. To do this, a single tile may be moved to a position where it matches more colors.  Above, the move with the T is a transfer move.  In the following example, three transfers are done in a row.  In each transfer, the grey tile only matches one color -- it is moved to a position where it matches two colors.

GAME ONE -- CHAOS OMELET

On their turn, a player may add a single piece anywhere that touches the Blob.  A player may also make any number of Auxilliary Moves (see rule 9).  If any Clumps grow in size, the player gains a score equal to the size of product of those Clumps.  Thus, if player grows clumps of size 2, 3, and 5 during their turn, they would score 30 points.  Whoever has the highest total score at the end of the game, wins.

GAME TWO -- TILES TRANSFER
On their turn, a player may add a single piece anywhere that touches the Blob.  A player may also make any number of Auxilliary moves (see Rule 9) or Transfer Moves (see rule 10), if available.  During their turn, a player may also claim a color for the rest of the game.  No-one else may claim that color thereafter.  If only two people are playing, then each player may claim two colors.  Whoever has the biggest Clump of their color at the end of the game wins.  In the sample game above, the second player claims Yellow on turn 4.


Your opponent has just claimed the color red.  It is now your turn.  What is your best move? Click on image for answer.

GAME THREE -- SCORER'S SOLITAIRE

Play the game Tiles Transfer alone.  To win, every color must have a clump of size twelve or larger.

GAME FOUR -- GO ASUNDER

Make a figure with some number of the tiles, then play the game of Go on the tiles.

GAME FIVE -- CRUEL DUOS

If you ignore the dots and sides, there are 97 ways to put two tiles together (if you don't ignore them, there are 186 ways to put two tiles together).  Print out the list.  Play a Kay or Vek each turn, ignoring dots.  As you play any duos on the list, in any orientation, claim it with your initials.  When the tiles are exhausted, whoever has claimed the most duos wins.

GAME SIX -- MICROPENTAGONS

In this game, you receive a point each time you make a clump of five spots of any color.  Use the standard rules, with transfers and auxiliary moves.  Once a clump of five is made, no more points can be made from that particular clump.

Many puzzles can be made and solved with Chaos Tiles.  Though they each contain a slightly different flavor, they also contain aspects of both skill and luck of the draw.  Many games, such as Yahtzee or those found at a casino online also contain this blend of strategy and luck.  How many different convex shapes are possible?  How many of the 97 two tile combinations can be made simultaneously with the 90 tile set?  In the game Tiles Transfer, what is the maximum possible total score for all five players?  Can the pieces be put in the holding tray so that no colors match?  What is the hidden puzzle on this page?  What puzzles and games can you come up with?

 If you've pondered making your own game, some of the gorier details of my experience are here.