Ring Tile 2026

Ring Tile is a tile game played with identical square tiles whose two sides have different colors (one side is black, other side is white). The goal is to form a ring (loop) or a territory (friendly tiles surrounding empty or partially occupied area) with your tiles while keeping your opponent from doing the same. Players take turns. Black moves first and places a tile on any flat surface (no board) and black side up. Then White moves and places second tile, white side up touching either corner-to-corner or edge-to-edge (or both) to another tile. An edge of the newly placed tile must be unoccupied by opponent’s tile (or it may not be placed in a position where all four edges would be occupied by opponent’s tiles). After that play alternates.

Tile placement is legal if newly placed tile shows moving player’s color, touches another tile, and if an edge of the tile is unoccupied by opponent’s tile which would disconnect it from open area. A tile’s connection to open area can either be direct (one edge is literally unoccupied) or indirect (the tile touches edge-to-edge to another friendly tile or group of them that has direct connection to open area).

Capture

If player plays edge-to-edge to all edges of opponent’s tile (or a group) you capture that tile by removing it from the tile field and win the game. For capture the newly placed capturing tile must always have an edge unoccupied by unfriendly tile (before, during, and after the capture). In other words, player may not play a tile into an illegal area in the hopes of capturing and opening an unoccupied edge for the capturing tile.

First player to make a territory (by surrounding an open area and/or by capture) with his tiles wins the game.

—description from the designer