boardspace.net


The Rules for Octiles ™

This is my interpretation of the official rules, which reflect the game as played at Boardspace.

The game is for two, three or four players.  
Equipment:: A special board with spaces for 17 Octagons and 16 raised squares (called stops), plus 20 start/finish circles.  5 colored runners.per player, 18 Octagons, each with a unique pattern of lines.
The object of the game is to move all your runners to the opposite side of the board.

 Starting Position is as shown, with all runners in a the starting space matching their color, and all 18 octagons stacked in random order, face up,  the supply well..   In three player games, one side is not used and the first two octagons are placed next to the unused wells.  In two player games two opposite sides are not used.  In a four player game, only four runners per color are used.


4 player start
3 player start
2 player start
Four player start
Three player start
Two player start

The Play:  turns rotate clockwise around the board starting with Blue.  On each turn, the player must do two things
  1. play the top tile from the stack of spares
  2. move one of his runners in a path that passes over the tile you just played, and ends at an empty stop or home circle.
If you cannot do both, then you must pass.  You can never just place a tile, or move a runner without placing a tile, or move a runner that does not use one of the paths on the new tile.  If you were playing with a real board and real tiles, determining that no moves are possible, and exactly which tile placements are legal, can be difficult.   One of the advantages of the computer is that it knows, and will show you what's legal, and won't let you make an illegal move.  Yah!

Special considerations for Tile placement:
  • You can place the new tile either on an empty space, or on top of an existing tile, provided that the placement and rotation permit at least one legal runner move.
  • The legal spaces are indicated by blue dots after you pick up the tile to place..
  • You can rotate the placed tile by clicking on the edge of the tile.
  • After a runner move is completed, if the tile placement covered another tile, the covered tile is removed and placed face up on the bottom of the spare tile stack.
Special considerations for Runner movement.
  • If all of your home circles are currently filled, you must make a move to vacate one of them if any such moves are possible. 
  • If no such moves are possible, you can make any move that is available.
  • Sometimes a path is available which starts and ends at the same stop.  This is a legal move as long as the path passes over the new tile.
  • There are eight extra paths drawn on the board, which can be used as part of any runner move. 
  • Once you leave a home circle, you may not re-enter it.  Once you enter a goal circle, you may not leave it.  You may not use any other player's home circles.

game in progress
game over
Game in progress.  Yellow to move. The blue dots indicate where the tile could be placed legally.
Game Over.  Blue wins.




The Octiles™  game is Copyright Dale Walton 1984 (and later) and presented on this site with his permission. Unauthorised commercial use is not allowed.


E-Mail: Go to BoardSpace.net home page