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Nine Tiles Extreme

Nine Tiles was a simple pattern matching game published by Oink Games in 2015. It was a game where each player had identical sets of nine double-sided tiles and they moved and flipped their tiles in a race to be the first to match the 3 x 3 pattern displayed on target cards. Nine Tiles Extreme is essentially the same game, except that sometimes you will be required to match the pattern of symbols on the target card and sometimes the colours - which you have to go for is determined by the card on top of the draw pile. The first player to match a pattern claims the card; claim a card with an incorrectly matched pattern and you take a penalty.



It may seem like a trivial variant on the original but this design from Jean-Claude Pellin and Jens Merkl demands notably greater mental agility from the 2-4 players who are still racing to be the first to match the pattern. Whereas the original game required players to match exactly what was on the target card (ie: both colour and pattern), Nine Tiles Extreme requires players to disregard 50% of the information in front of them; and whether they are ignoring shapes or colours may vary from one round to the next. Players who suffer from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) may find this game mildly distressing - or maybe for some it will prove therapeutic... And obviously this is not a game for players who suffer from colour blindness.



Like Nine Tiles, Nine Tiles Extreme is won by the first player to claim four target cards but if a player takes two penalties for incorrect matches, they are out of the game. Game length varies with the number of players but this is a speed game so almost by definition the game plays quickly: even with four players you can expect to have a winner within 20 minutes. The game comes in one of Oink's 'trademark' small boxes, and the components fit comfortably back in the box once you've finished playing (not always the case with Oink games!) so this is a family game you can easily pack in your holiday suitcase.


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