Tile Hoard

Game Objective

Tile Hoard is a strategy game in which 2 or 3 players compete to capture the most territory on a board by forming closed loops around open space on the board. A loop is composed of an unbroken chain of the player's pieces and can include neutral board tiles (gray tiles).

Players take turns placing one of their pieces (made up of red, green, or blue tiles) on the board in unowned space (white tiles), attempting to create a loop and capture the enclosed territory.

A loop which encloses a SINGLE opponent piece will remove that piece from the board and return it to the opponent for later play, unless that piece already captured territory.

Territory which is captured by a player is owned by that player, and opponents may no longer play pieces in that space. Note that you cannot capture more than half of the board territory in a single turn.

If you can't play a piece, you must pass your turn. If a player's time runs out, the player will automatically pass all remaining turns.

The game ends when no player can play a piece on the board, or when all players pass on the same round of turns. At the end of the game, each player scores 1 point for each tile which they captured or which is occupied by their pieces. The player with the most points is the winner. The game can be tied.

To eliminate the advantage of having the first move of the game, each player has the option on their first move of swapping pieces with the previous player, including the piece that was just played on the board.

This game requires careful planning and strategic thinking, as players must anticipate their opponent's moves while also trying to advance their own territorial agenda. The game is easy to learn but offers a high level of complexity and depth.

Game Options

Games are played on hexagonal-tiled or square-tiled boards of various sizes. Some board variations have neutral tiles along the border, and some larger boards include an island of neutral tiles on the interior of the board.

Games can be played with different sets of pieces, creating different game dynamics and requiring different strategies.

In the standard game rules, a single opponent piece that is surrounded by a loop will be removed from the board. In an alternative set of rules, a loop can only capture territory that does not contain any opponent's pieces. Games are played on hexagonal-tiled or square-tiled boards of various sizes. Some board variations have neutral tiles along the border, and some larger boards include an island of neutral tiles on the interior of the board.

Games can be played with different sets of pieces, creating different game dynamics and requiring different strategies.

In the standard game rules, a single opponent piece that is surrounded by a loop will be removed from the board. In an alternative set of rules, a loop can only capture territory that does not contain any opponent's pieces.

Game Play

The game board is shown on the left side of the screen and the pieces of each player are shown on the right.

To quit the game without finishing, click the "Abort" button.

You can scroll any player's pieces up and down to see all of them, or click the arrow icons to quickly scroll the pieces all the way or down.

On your turn, you can play a piece by clicking or touching it and then dragging it onto the board. To rotate the piece while dragging it, use the arrow keys or touch the screen a second time. When a piece can be played at its current location on the board the board tiles will be highlighted in pink.

Alternatively, to pass your turn, to resign the game, or to swap pieces with the previous player, click the appropriate button in the top-right of the board area.

During an online game, you can chat with other game players and observers by typing a message and clicking the "Send" button. The game dialog is shown below the players area.

Application Usage

Games can be played online against other ranked players, or they can be played offline against another person or the computer.

To play a game, click on the PLAY tab and then click the appropriate button to play online or offline. You must register and login to play online.

Choose the game options including the number of players, board, pieces, rules, and time limit. Then click the button to "Play" an offline game or "Request" an online game.

Online game requests will be automatically matched with active requests from other players. Alternatively, you can see the list of online games requested by other players and click the "Join" button of a request to begin playing the requested game.

You can also observe a game that is actively being played online.

A history of your online games is available on the HISTORY tab. Click the "Replay" button to download and replay a game.

A list of the top-ranked players is available on the PLAYERS tab.

Initially every player is given a rating of 1600. After each completed game the player's rating is adjusted based on the outcome of the game, using the ELO rating system.

Contact

Comments, questions, and criticism are welcome at: tilehoard@gmail.com