Professor Puzzle | TYLE | Strategy Game | Ages 8+ | 2 to 4 Players

Quick to understand and play - Great fun.

This was brilliant for an after Christmas lunch hour or so's playing - not too complicated, not too viscious, but still with an edge to it. I think it will become a fixture!

I have a huge boardgame collection and love adding to it. I bought this on the recommendation of a friend but was less than impressed. The mechanic just doesn't quite seem to work effectively, especially if only playing with 2 or 3 players. Its not a terrible game but there are so many better games out there

Great fun. Easy to understand. Larger pieces than I was expecting, so definitely needs floor space or kitchen table. But pieces good size for little hands.

It's original! Easy to set up. Colourful. User friendly!

Tyle is a grid-based game of tiles (oddly enough) without a board (use any flat surface) that comes in an attractive, somewhat oddly-shaped box. It’s quite compact and is nicely presented overall. Having a premium, grown-up appearance. It is suitable for 2-4 players an ages 8 upwards.Contained within a cloth draw-string bag in the aforementioned box you get 4 coloured counters (blue, red black, green - one for each player), and 96 tiles (or ‘tyles’) with various designs in various colours. The tile colours are incidental and just there to make it look nice, (which they do) whereas the different line designs on them are your route across to the other side, and are all-important. There are also different designs on the reverse of each tile. There are spare tiles when you lay out a grid and so there should be some randomness to what gets used for each game.Having set out an 8x8 grid of tiles the players each remove two tiles (an alternative option uses a 6x6 grid, removing 1 tile each) - the intention being to impede your opponents progress across the grid. The corner tiles must remain in place and in addition these must be tiles with two points of access/exit. The aim of the game is to move your counter using the various line designs on the tiles to get to the diagonally opposite corner, with the game ending when the first player reaches their destination. Each player gets three moves per turn in which they can move across tiles (if the lines line up to enable them to do so), rotate a tile (90 degrees counts as one move), slide a tile, or flip it over (where the alternative design/route element is shown). You can also, should you so wish, use one of your moves to move a tile in your opponent’s path to frustrate their progress.You cannot move the corner tiles, move to a tile that a player is already on, or move your counter onto a tile already occupied by an opponent.The tiles themselves are a mixture of crosses, t-junctions, lines, part circles etc. that you need to line up, or be made to line up in order to make your way across the grid. As setting out the grid is supposed to be random (taking tiles out of the bag and placing them without paying too much attention as to where), there is quite an element of luck as to the availability (without moving them) of an easy route across the tiles. In some ways the gameplay is not unlike Labyrinth, though much quicker generally and with more freedom of movement. A departure from Labyrinth is that while in that game a player’s destination across the tiles should only be known to themselves, in Tyle your opponent knows exactly where you are headed and so can use their moves to try and thwart you.Most of our Tyle playing has been as a 2-player game. Unfortunately, this is not its strong suit as the games can become very one-sided and over very quickly. It has been the case for us that completing a 2-player game has taken not much longer than setting up the grid of tiles! Things are a bit better when playing with 3 or 4 players as progress across the grid is slower for all as the middle area becomes more congested and hard fought-over and play becomes a bit less rapid and a bit more tactical. Even so, games are completed fairly rapidly, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the circumstances.Pros:Attractively presented in its quirky boxFairly reasonably priced - though have seen it for lessPortable and could be played wherever there’s a large enough flat surfaceBright and colourful tilesThe option of flipping the tiles is a good one to haveRules are simple and it is easy to get startedClear instructionsGood for quick game playing when time is shortCons:Games can be a bit one-sided and over too soon - especially in 2-player formatThe tiles are only made of card and while quite stiff, some of ours are just beginning to show signs of wear at the edgesSetting up the grid takes a little while relative the time taken to play the gameThey suggest leaving a small gap between tiles, but even then flipping them, or picking up a tile to rotate it can be a pain as they are very slim and not so easy to get hold ofGameplay becomes a bit samey quite quicklyOverall this is a decent game at a good price. It looks good and is presently nicely, but as a family we find that the novelty of playing it wears off quite quickly, and we tend to leave long-isn gaps in-between games. Unlike some other games it doesn’t encourage repeated, binge playing. It is a bit like Labyrinth with a twist (and minus that game’s fantasy element), but the outcome seems somehow more predictable than with Labyrinth, and it is less enjoyable overall to play as a result. It is though fairly portable and playing it does engage your brain and would make a good choice for a game to take on holiday for rainy days stuck in a tent, caravan or cottage.

Great family fun game, bright, colourful, competitive and nail biting!!