Edge-port path tiles
Trace a token through connected tile ports and predict exits before committing.
Shape & spatial thinking
- Players
- 2 players
- Time
- 15–20 minutes
- Materials
- 5×5 board, eighteen square tiles (six each of three pairings), two tokens.
Prepare
Each tile has one port at the middle of each side N,E,S,W. Type 1 joins N–E and S–W; type 2 N–W and S–E; type 3 N–S and E–W. Make six of each. Shuffle face down, deal three each. White starts entering A1 from its south edge; black enters E5 from its north edge. These are facing entry ports, not occupied cell centres.
Play
On your turn place one hand tile in the empty cell your token is about to enter, choosing any rotation. It must stay within that cell. Trace both tokens through any newly connected route, following paired ports into adjacent cells. Stop each token at the first empty-cell entry. Then draw one tile if available.
Worked example
A type 3 tile at A1 carries white entering from south out north, stopping at the south entry of A2. A type 1 tile at A1 instead sends south to west, off the board, so white is eliminated. Passing across another token is allowed; do not invent collisions.
Finish and check
A token exiting the outer board loses. If both exit on the same placement, draw. If a token returns to a previously visited port during that tracing step, its route loops forever: end the game as a draw. Last remaining token wins. If all tiles are used with both still safe, draw.
Adaptation and limits
Use string-like lines on large tiles and label ports. The two line pairs on a tile cross without connecting when type 3 is used. Do not physically rotate a tile already placed. This is our three-pairing paper game, with no claim to reproduce another product’s full deck or rules.
Purpose, observation and provenance
Within this activity: Trace a token through connected tile ports and predict exits before committing.
Follow the paired exit on every tile, not a straight line imagined across it.
Our rules, examples and printable diagrams are separately prepared. The earliest inventor of the broader mechanism is not established here.
Free alternative: Copy the supplied grids, labels and cards onto reused paper. No specialist product is needed. Adults may prepare pieces or act as a scribe.
Printable materials
Preview at 100% scale, with browser headers and footers off. Cut with suitable help. Keep host keys separate. This is a manual tabletop kit, not an online opponent, automatic judge or solver.
Player materials · Edge-port path tiles
Six copies each: type 1 N–E/S–W; type 2 N–W/S–E; type 3 N–S/E–W.
Token states: white A1/S; black E5/N. Draw pile 18 minus hands 6.
Cards / pieces · prepare before play
Player record · keep the host key separate
| Turn | Tile | Entry | Exit / new stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
Host key · separate from players
A1 type 3 sends S→N into A2/S. Type 1 sends S→W off-board. Type 3 crossing is not a junction.
Run the round
Each tile has one port at the middle of each side N,E,S,W. Type 1 joins N–E and S–W; type 2 N–W and S–E; type 3 N–S and E–W. Make six of each. Shuffle face down, deal three each. White starts entering A1 from its south edge; black enters E5 from its north edge. These are facing entry ports, not occupied cell centres.
On your turn place one hand tile in the empty cell your token is about to enter, choosing any rotation. It must stay within that cell. Trace both tokens through any newly connected route, following paired ports into adjacent cells. Stop each token at the first empty-cell entry. Then draw one tile if available.
A type 3 tile at A1 carries white entering from south out north, stopping at the south entry of A2. A type 1 tile at A1 instead sends south to west, off the board, so white is eliminated. Passing across another token is allowed; do not invent collisions.
A token exiting the outer board loses. If both exit on the same placement, draw. If a token returns to a previously visited port during that tracing step, its route loops forever: end the game as a draw. Last remaining token wins. If all tiles are used with both still safe, draw.
Use string-like lines on large tiles and label ports. The two line pairs on a tile cross without connecting when type 3 is used. Do not physically rotate a tile already placed. This is our three-pairing paper game, with no claim to reproduce another product’s full deck or rules.
Related activities
Activity library · Single-loop clue squares: rules and printable materials