Game: Turbo Taxi

Thread: Why only for 4?

Randougall — 2008-04-27T20:29:57+00:00

My brother bought this game yesterday from the FLGS. Why? He said it looked funny and it would appeal to him.

Not my choice of game, but oh well....

My mini-rant here is why would they only package enough tiles for 4 players? The box is small, but deep enough to store many tiles - many more than what come with the game. Each player only requires 12 unique tiles, and I believe they are smaller than the tiles in Carcassone.

The rules suggest if you want to play with more than 4 players to buy a second copy. Now, I guess I can sort of understand the logic here. Why sell one copy of the game when you can sell two?

But really, is there anyone out there that has bought two copies of Turbo Taxi for those occasions when you have more than 4 players? The game is an OK puzzle filler, but I certainly am not bowled over so much that I'm buying my own copy too.

If I was a bit more industrious I guess I could create additional copies of the tiles, but why should I? Just bugs me that the makers of the game couldn't have included a few more tiles to accommodate more than 4 players.

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felo — 2008-04-12T08:29:10+00:00

..but are only nine pieces!

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Mortiis — 2008-02-19T12:41:55+00:00

My modified Flickwerk with a box ans a not foldable game board

Thread: TOPHERR: Friese puzzle filler is nifty solitaire (6 of 10)

topherr — 2007-08-19T18:02:00+00:00

Turbo Taxi is a 2000 real-time puzzle filler game from Friedemann Friese (Fearsome Floors, Fresh Fish, Funny Friends, and the oddly non-alliterative Power Grid). It plays 2-4 (and can play up to 9 if you have 2 copies!).

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(courtesy Rabid)

Here is how Turbo Taxi stacks up using the criteria from my geeklist 10 Things That Make a Great 15-20 Minute Filler http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/23734 (a full game review checklist can be found later).

Speed Woot!

Just Enough Challenge (But Won't Make Your Head Hurt) Aspirin, please....

No Analysis Paralysis Real time, dude, real time.

Relaxation As relaxing as a triple-shot of espresso (not a bad thing, for some).

Discrete Satisfying Rounds ~Yowza~

Scalability (1-9, with 2 sets)

Spectator Sports

Wide Range of Audiences Beware frustration and low morale.

Easy Set Up

Replayability Not bad for a puzzle game.

RULES
Each player has an identical set of 12 tiles typical to train games such as Streetcar, Age of Steam and even 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons - straightaways, curves, T's, etc. - and one dead end.

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(courtesy RPardoe)

There is also a 5th set of 12 tiles and 2 matching sets of 1 taxi/1 house. Each turn a new player places the 2 taxis and 2 houses more or less as they wish around the edge of the 3x3 board, then takes a random tile from the 5th set and places it in the middle square of a 3x3 board.

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(courtesy Angus Bull)

Each players places a matching tile (from their stash) into the center of their play area (oriented the same way as the one on the 3x3 board), then
scurries to build a complete network - using exactly 8 other tiles - that will taking each taxi to its house, using typical train track rules - all track off one tile must lead into a track on another tile (except for 4 tracks leading to taxis and houses outside your 3x3 grid. Once a player says "Friese rocks!" (or some other chosen phrase), the other players check to see if the route is correct. If so, that player gets the tile (a VP). If not, the other players race again to make the first correct solution.

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(courtesy fizzix)

Play until you've finished all 12 tiles, or till you're ready for a longer game.

GAME REVIEW CHECKLIST:

1. DEPTH/COMPLEXITY 8 of 10
"How many and how compelling are the decisions you make per minute?"
Placing the taxis/houses in new positions each time makes every puzzle different (and yet somehow the same... ). I don't as a rule love puzzlers, but these definitely hold my attention span. The rules are amazingly simple. And each round lasts only 1-2 minutes on average. So while there's no real strategy per se, it's a lot of depth for 60-120 seconds.

- Analysis Paralysis/Downtime?
As you can imagine with a real-time game, there is no downtime.

2. MECHANICS 7 of 10
"How intuitive, elegant and flowing are the moves that bring your tactics to life?"
The toughest part is not getting the taxis to their houses, but rather to stop yourself from building lots of "roads to nowhere" off the map and into other non-conforming tiles.

My only real complaint is that it's confusing (for me) to not my own 3x3 board with taxis/houses. This is because I have to keep checking the orientation of my route compared to the master 3x3 grid. This frustration goes away quickly, however.

3. INTERACTION 3 of 10
"To what degree does it facilitate a rich social experience?"
Why so low? Not only is it solitaire, but it's real-time solitaire! Think on these things....

4. ORIGINALITY 7 of 10
"How fresh and unique are the strategy, mechanics and theme?"
The game is actually a reworking of the identical Flickwerk by FF, which used computer connections instead of taxi routes. I like the taxis

- What's the freshest part of the game?
I really like using one small mechanic from much heavier rail games - the laying of track - and distilling into a mini-puzzle game.

5. AMBIENCE 6 of 10
"How much do the theme, aesthetics and bits add the overall experience?" See my complaint above about not getting your own board/taxis/houses. Otherwise the bits are fine and theme is actually fun for what it is.

6. AUDIENCE
"Who would love this game?"
Puzzle-lovers. And maybe people who are waiting to play their 18xx game or Railroad Tycoon. The game has a similar feel to Ricochet Robots, but you get your own tiles to play with. In Ricochet Robots, it's easy to feel sometimes like you're not really playing the game, just kibbitzing someone else's game (admittedly, this can also be seen as a strength of RR).

Who won't like this game?
Anyone who expects even minimal interaction from a filler. They're better off with Pickomino, Loopin' Louie, Liar's Dice, or No Thanks!, for example. Another weakness of the game is that there's a short, steep, definite learning curve, which can make it hard for newbies to compete - and once the best player solves the puzzle, the others don't even get a chance to finish the puzzle themselves. This could be especially frustrating for children, enough to turn them off of playing altogether, I think. This can be fixed, I believe, with....

Suggested house rules
If any player wants to finish a puzzle, even after the round is "over," let them! Also, if any player is ahead by 2 or more tiles on a given round, that player must play without a randomly selected tile. Yes, this may make it impossible for him or her to finish the puzzle. No, that's not a problem

- Does it hit a sweet spot? Which one?
Sure. It's a warm-up that be ended after any round without much problem. There are few games that are challenging and yet can be dropped for a meatier game on 90 seconds notice.

- Luck (& Chaos) : Player Control
Very little luck. If you're bad at puzzles like me, this can be a problem

SUMMARY 6 of 10
For some, this is an 8, and I see why. This is a great puzzle game, just as you would expect from a designer of Friese's caliber.

But for a quick filler, it's too much of a brain burn, not particularly relaxing.

Plus, I'm just not much of a puzzle guy. I get together with friends to play games so that I can play with them. I prefer games that have more in-game interaction (or any,
really ), and facilitate a more social experience.

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(courtesy Fantomius)

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Thread: Review by SOS (from 2000)

sos1 — 2007-02-26T23:53:44+00:00

What Is It?

Flickwerk is a quick little puzzle-solving game for 2-4 players. Everyone starts with identical components and is given a puzzle to solve with them. The first one to solve the puzzle correctly scores a point. There are twelve rounds (hence twelve possible points), and whoever has scored the most points at the end of the 12th round wins the game. The game takes about 20 minutes to play.

The theme is computer networks: a nine-cubicle office needs two pairs of computers networked together, with no extraneous wires when you're done. How quickly can you figure out the best path for the cables?

What Do You Get?

The game is very inexpensive - I paid US$7 for my copy. It comes with a cardstock board, five sets of twelve tiles each, also in heavy cardstock, and four wooden disks (two each of two different colors) to represent computer servers. The board and tiles contain deliberately vague, pixel-large images of various office equipment: desks, chairs, phones, filing cabinets, printers, etc.

In addition, the tiles contain cables, which stand out against the slightly out-of-focus background quite clearly. There are six different types of cable layout on the tiles: * three tiles have a straight cable, running from one edge to an opposite edge;

* three have an elbow arrangement, with cable running from one edge to an adjacent edge;

* three have a "tee" connection, with cable running off three different edges;

* one has two straight cables crossing each other at right angles (these are not spliced together!);

* one has two elbow arrangements on the same tile, also not spliced together;

* one has a plug: cable runs from one edge to a plug in the center of the tile and does not exit the tile from any other edge. Unfortunately, all the backs of all of the sets are identical. It would be nice to have each set of twelve tiles printed with a different back, as the game comes in a ziplock bag, and they get all mixed up between games. So you have to start each game by sorting the sets. I've simply written a letter on the backs: one set has all As, one all Os, etc., leaving the fifth and master set with blank backs.

The board resembles a tic-tac-toe board: 9 squares in a 3x3 pattern.

How Does it Work?

Everyone starts the game with a complete set of 12 tiles, described above. The master set is shuffled and turned facedown in a pile, while everyone else arranges their tiles so they can easily and quickly grab a given type. The board is placed in the center of the table, and one player is chosen as boss (which is no great honor).

First the boss arranges the computer markers adjacent to the board edges, on the table itself. My set came with two green markers and two orange markers. You can put the markers adjacent to any edge square you wish - corner cubicles can have two markers, if desired, one on each edge. Make sure it's clear which cubicles have the computer markers, and then the boss turns the top master tile over and places it in the center of the board.

At this point, it's a race. Each player must find the same type of tile and place it on the table in front of them, in the same orientation as the master tile the boss just randomly drew and placed. Then, working on the table, not the board (which remains blank except for the one tile in the center), each player tries to solve the puzzle.

You must build a nine-tile network connection in a 3x3 square, just like the board. (Yes, this means you'll have three unused tiles once you've solved the puzzle.) The center tile must be of the same type as the master tile drawn, and with the same orientation. One orange computer server must have cable running to the other orange marker, and the two green markers must be similarly connected. (They can all be merged into one network if desired, but that's optional.)

In addition, you can't have cable leaving the 3x3 space except where the computer markers are. Likewise, you can't have cable running to another tile unless that tile also contains cable leading to that edge.

The first one to complete the puzzle calls "DONE!" and the other players look at it. If there's an error, the player who called done is out of the round, and the others go back to finishing their networks. If there's no error - all cables connect to other cables and the servers are correctly networked - the round ends, and the player who called "done" collects the master tile as a victory point.

That player then becomes the new boss: they adjust the computer markers as they see fit, and when everyone is ready, draws the next master tile and places it in the center of the board. Continue until all 12 master tiles have been collected, and the player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

That's basically it. In some ways it reminds me of Take It Easy in that everyone has the same components and is trying to assemble them into an optimum whole. The difference is in what is optimum: in Take It Easy it's maximized points. In Flickwerk it's quickest accurate connections.

You could easily get two sets, by the way, to play with more than four players. In this case, I'd award a victory point each to the first two players to successfully complete their networks.

Why Wouldn't You Like This Game?

You might not like simultaneous action games where the winner is the fastest.

You might not like puzzle-solving games that rely heavily on the left brain. In fact, some people are simply slower at such puzzles than other people, and you really have to play with people of roughly the same abilities or the game is very boring - see below for a possible fix.

You might not like inexpensive games with flimsier components than most German games have.

Handicapping Variant

The more I play this, the better I get. This becomes a problem when I teach the game to new players, as it takes a few games to get really quick at seeing the network solutions. So I've come up with a handicap mechanism to help me teach others the game without having to "let" them win:

The better player simply closes his/her eyes for certain length of time when the new tile is turned over. Only after counting softly out loud for a set number of seconds do they open their eyes and begin work on the puzzle. How long? You'll have to experiment. Start with 10 or 15 seconds, and adjust it up or down depending on their level. The ideal handicap will make for a close race once the more experienced player opens his/her eyes.

Summing Up

This is a quick, fairly light game (yet one which requires thinking) that will appeal to those with the type of mind that can solve connection- and maze-types of puzzles. It'll probably frustrate the heck out of folk who don't do well at those types of puzzles - be warned. On the other hand, it's a good trade-off game: "I'll play your word game if you'll play my network game when we're done ..." It's short enough for this to work, so everybody can play the type of game they like in the same evening.

I consider it a fine little inexpensive brain-teaser of a game that only lasts about 20 minutes. For my tastes, that's a perfect amount of time - I wouldn't want to play this type of game any longer. But I do enjoy it for 20 minutes, so it was a good design call. Given the low price, and the fact that I'll pull it out at least once a month as a quick filler, that means it'll cost me about 55 cents per month for the first year ... a bargain!

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hoojii — 2007-02-02T23:29:33+00:00

Close up of the pieces

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paw — 2007-01-01T16:23:03+00:00

One of puzzles to solve

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LordT — 2006-11-02T13:10:59+00:00

Back box Dutch/French/Italian/German version (Queen Games)

Thread: Turbo Taxi: A puzzle game FF style

tikimadman — 2006-07-25T21:40:52+00:00

I snagged this because Friedemann Friese games always seem to go over well with the game group. I thought the idea of a completive puzzle game was cool, and the fact that it is under $20.00 which in gamer terms is practically free.

The game plays 2-4 players with the goal being to be the first to complete the puzzle using their own set of 12 tiles.

The components:

5 different sets of 12 road tiles with different backs on each set.

A small center board with 3x3 squares, sourounded by smaller board spaces that are used for house and taxi placement.

Two taxis, one yellow, one black

Two houses, one yellow and one black.

Players take the colored stack of 12 tiles of their choice then shuffle the set of 12 tiles with the turbo taxi medal on the backs placing them face down onto the center of the board. One player is designated as the customer and then places the houses and taxi cabs on the edge squares surrounding the 3X3 board. The only requirement being that at least two playing peaces must be places on the green corner spaces. The position of the cars and houses determine the starting and ending points of the two routes, so the player must construct a road layout so that the playing pieces of the same color are joined together. Once the pieces are placed the player then flips over the top tile of the stack on the center of the board. Your center piece of your puzzle must be the same as this piece and in the same orientation as this piece. Once this is done, the player then race to complete the puzzle using their supply of tiles. The layout must be 3X3 in size, every road must continue on the connecting tile, the roads must lead to the edge spaces where the wooden playing pieces are, the roads can not lead to edge spaces where there are no playing pieces, and the two pieces of the same color must be linked.

The player who completes the puzzle first yells “STOP!” and halts the game. The players then check his puzzle making sure it complies with the rules and if it does the player wins the round and takes the center gold metal chip and places it before him metal side up. If the players layout is not completed correctly he has to sit out the rest of the round until someone succeeds in putting together the layout correctly. The winner of the round becomes the customer in the next round and places the houses and taxis again. Then turns over the new center tile. This continues until all twelve center tiles have been gone through and the player with the most metals at the end of the game is the winner.

This is a good light puzzle game. The puzzles are actually challenging especially while trying to solve them as fast as you can. In my experience some puzzles end up being wrong due to one player rushing faster because his opponent looks to be nearing the completion of his puzzle. There isn't a lot of interaction in this game, just a direct race between you and your opponents. It is a nice get the brain juices working kind of filler that would work well if played before a heavier game. I would also recommend this as a family game. The rules are simple to read and have pictorial examples of everything. I gave this game a 7 just on the basis it is a filler but it is fun. I think this would be a good game for kids since it does make them think but isn't overly deep.

Thread: Re: General Comment

chadmart — 2006-07-20T17:50:54+00:00

All 9 tiles have to be used is our understanding. It would make the puzzles too easy if you could only use 7 or 8 tiles.

Thread: Not for the Slow Gamer

chadmart — 2006-07-20T17:47:51+00:00

In our usual group we have one "slow" player... I am not saying that he is mentally challenged, just that he takes a very long time in making decisions, going over choices, strategies, etc... Upon reading the description of Turbo Taxi and seeing the decent rating here I decided that this was exactly the kind of game that would wreak havoc with our slow player, so I ordered it.

This particular night we had 5 gamers
-Chad (me)
-Jan
-David
-Doug
-Debbie

Since I knew the player count before-hand I spent a little time photocopying and cutting out an extra set of puzzle tiles so that we could all play.

This game is incredibly fast-paced, and it took a few rounds for everyone to get a good feel for the basics of finding the center piece and orienting the other tiles. After the second round Debbie broke out the "Bunco Bell" and the "ding" of the bell just added to the tension that the game caused. If I recall correctly Doug scored the first 2, and I scored the 3rd round. Doug kept his lead, but I bounced back in the end for a final medal count of Doug-5 and me-7. The other 3 players didn't score any medals. This doesn't mean too much, as Doug and I probably have slightly better pattern recognition and hand-eye coordination skills. With a few more games under the belt I'm sure the score distribution will even out.

The game had the desired effect on our slow player, and I'm sure we'll never bring the game to the table while that player is in attendance... but oh well, it was still worth the $16 just for the one night.

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Rabid — 2005-08-18T13:58:46+00:00

Turbo Taxi English Language Edition Box Cover Back

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Rabid — 2005-08-18T13:58:46+00:00

Turbo Taxi English Language Edition Box Cover

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fizzix — 2005-07-05T19:39:32+00:00

A typical puzzle.

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fizzix — 2005-07-05T19:39:27+00:00

A Solved Puzzle

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AngusBull — 2005-07-05T17:58:44+00:00

Thread: Turbo Taxi is a fast, light puzzle game.

fizzix — 2005-07-05T14:06:18+00:00

Turbo Taxi is a simultaneous puzzle solving game and is one of the first “small box” queen games to be carried by Rio Grande in the USA. The object of the game is to solve the most puzzles when the stack of puzzle tiles is exhausted.

Inside the box

There isn’t much to this game in terms of components. You get two wooden taxis (yellow & black) and two wooden houses (also yellow & black). There is a small, square board which will display the current puzzle to be solved. Around this board are 9 locations for the taxis and houses to be placed. Every player receives a set of 12 linen-finish tiles depicting various road intersections (4-way, 3-way, 90-degree turn, ect…). There is also a set of tiles that have intersections on one side and gold medals on the other. This is the puzzle stack and they are placed face down in the center of the puzzle board.

Playing the game

One person places each taxi and house in one of the locations around the outside of the board. The rule seems to be that at least two pieces must be on corner spaces and no more than one piece per space, although the translation is a bit sketchy as to whether it really means three pieces must go on corners. The same player then turns over the top tile of puzzle stack and the puzzle begins.

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The object is for each player to use their pieces to create a road network so that the yellow house & taxi are connected and the black house and taxi are connected. The puzzle tile shown on the board must be in the center of each player’s network and in the same orientation as shown on the puzzle board. As the tiles are placed, roads are not allowed to lead off the board, except to a house or taxi. Also, roads may not be “cut-off” by another tile.

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As soon as a player is finished, they announce it, and then other players may compare the finished puzzle to the situation on the game board. If the player’s solution works they earn the puzzle piece, flipping it over to show a medal. If there is a mistake, then that player is “out” until the puzzle is correctly solved by someone else. The winner of the puzzle designs the next one and play continues until all of the medals are awarded.

There is a possibility of an unsolvable combination but the probability is low. If this happens, the puzzle tile gets placed at the bottom of the stack and a new puzzle tile is drawn.

Impressions

This is an exercise in vision, hand eye co-ordination, and logic as you must quickly find, orient, and place your pieces to solve the puzzle. The puzzles aren’t very hard, usually they can be solved in a minute or less. All of this leads to a very frantic pace with little player interaction. But that is what puzzle games tend to be and Ricochet Robots comes to mind as another example of this. What I like about this over Ricochet Robots is that you have the ability to manipulate your own set of tiles instead of doing it all in your head. This leads to a faster game and you will finish this game, even with rule explanations, in less than 30 minutes.

So, as a filler, Turbo Taxi is a nice way to get your brain going for a night of games. But if you don’t like to think and move fast I would stay away from this.

Thread: turbo taxi summary at Kulkmann's Gamebox

skeletodoc — 2005-05-28T23:21:54+00:00

http://www.solicitor.de/gamebox/reviews/turbtaxi.htm

Thread: Session Report

loiosh13 — 2004-06-17T03:09:24+00:00

We played this as a filler while the other three finished up their game of Neuen Entdecker.

While I enjoy this game as an occasional filler, and it is interesting, in a "Ricochet Robots" puzzle / make your head a-splode sort of way, I don't think I'd want to be playing this on a regular basis (mainly because it makes my head hurt).

I'm actually better at this than I am at Ricochet Robots, so the spatial skills, while similar, must not be exactly the same . . .

An enjoyable filler, good for bringing to the table a couple of times a year.

Thread: Session Report

yudp — 2003-01-03T13:59:00+00:00

Matt 7 Dale 3

OK – I just don’t get this one. Maybe I don’t have the prerequisite spatial relationship skills needed to succeed. The game itself is quite simple. Each player gets an identical set of 12 squares – each of them has computer cables on them in varying patterns. There is a central board where one of the players places colored cubes which represent computers. Your job is to use your squares to construct a board that has will have cables connecting all of the areas represented by the cubes. When complete, there can be no extra cables lying around – they must all either end in a computer edge or be connected to another cable. (There is one tile which has an electric plug in it that serves to validly end a cable). Further constraints are placed on you because one tile is placed in the middle of the central board – and each player must use this same tile in the same orientation when constructing his network. Whomever finishes their network first wins.

The game got off to a great start as Matt proceeded to win the first 3 boards handily – usually being done before I had even managed to get 5 or 6 tiles together to start my own board. I just couldn’t see how to get the cables together without having stray loose ends. In the next board, though, I got some time reprieve as Matt thought he was finished, but actually a cable without an end on it. We were playing the friendly version, so you didn’t lose automatically when you said you were finished but really weren’t – you just had to redo until you had it right. In the confusion, I finished up and got on the board. The next few went back and forth – but then Matt pulled it out in the end.

Thread: Session Report

MarkEJohnson — 2002-11-10T18:58:02+00:00

When Greg surprised himself by being the first arrival, I pulled out this little game which I thought was strictly for two players. Surprise, it's for 2-4. It's a speed-connection game. Each round the players start with the same 12 tiles, hurrying to build the correct 9-tile (3x3) layout. The tiles depict office furniture, as well as computer network cables. It's these cables that are the important part--they're what you need to connect. Each round begins when the source & destination for each network (there are two, red & green) are selected (by a player, though it's hard to determine any strategy here), and a random "starter" tile is placed in the center of the 3x3 layout.
Now everyone scrambles to build a layout that satisfies the constraints of that starter tile, and the cable terminations. Our only confusion was with the two networks--most of the time network "junctions" mean the red & green networks are connected, and you don't have to worry about that detail. Sometimes, though, a particular layout can only be solved by non-intersecting connections. I can see how this could be a bit of a brain burner for some, it's the speed part that makes it tough. I can foresee playing this at work a few times. Greg thought he'd do well at the game, and sure enough he won.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

If it's possible to win with fewer than 9 tiles, can a player use fewer? Or do the rules require that all 9 spaces in the office be filled?

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Players: Mick, Steve G, Garry

Torrential rain may have put a few people off coming tonight, but 3 of us braved the weather for our weekly gaming fix.

While passing the time to see if anyone else would turn up, I introduced Mick and Steve to this new game from Friedemann Friese. After cannibals last year, Friedemann has produced a neat little competitive puzzle game, similar in feel to Ricochet Robot.

Each player has an identical set of 12 tiles displaying part of a network of computer cables. A further set is shuffled and placed face down in the centre of a 3x3 grid, representing the nine rooms through which the cabling will flow. Four markers are placed around the edge of the grid and these represent the only points at which the cabling can leave the grid. The top card of the centre pile is turned over and players have to re-arrange their own tiles in front of them to form a valid network, using the same centre tile as displayed and connecting up the four “perimeter” markers. First one to complete a valid network wins the centre tile ( 1 VP ). He then rearranges the perimeter markers if he wishes and turns over the next card to be played for.

I sometimes regret bringing these types of game, because I am hopeless at them. Well, not hopeless but someone is always fractionally quicker than me at spotting the solution. Mick also seemed to suffer in this way allowing Steve to cruise to an unassailable lead.

Result: Steve G, Mick, Garry

Thread: Session Report

wavemotion — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

While waiting for the other tables to finish up, the Zapp Zerapp crew decided to try FlickWerk. We are all Ricochet Robot fans and we've been told it plays somewhat similar in that it's a puzzle to be solved quickly before any other player solves it. The components are fairly minimal - a center 9x9 grid "board" (made of flimsy paper) and lots of thin cardboard tiles which so different types of network connections. Some are connected straight across, some at a T-intersecion, some bending elbows, etc. Each player gets an identical set of 12 tiles and another matching set is shuffled and placed face down. Four "computers" (little colored blocks of wood - two red and two green) are placed along the outskirts of the 9x9 board and a single face down tile is flipped up and placed in the center of the board. The object is for the players to use their tiles to finish the puzzle - to connect the two red computers and the two green computers while not having any other dead ends and ensuring that the tiles fit together perfectly (that is, a network connection must run into a matching network connection on adjacent tiles). Each player must use the same central tile that was selected randomly - but otherwise can come up with whatever solution is legal and they must do it very quickly! I found the game thought process very much like Ricochet Robot and the time pressure keeps the game exciting. If you come up with a solution faster than your fellow players, you get the center tile as a trophy (victory point) and you move the computers and select another random tile for the center of the grid. We played 8 (out of 12 suggested) rounds and I think we all will be ready to try this one again soon. Jenn gave us some funny moments when she called out "got it!" with a killer solution to a difficult puzzle - but David noted that she had 13 tiles (not the regular 12) - as she had taken one of her prize tiles and turned it up and entered it into play! Admittedly it was by accident (so we decided to re-shuffle that tile back in and do it again). Even funnier was the fact that she did it again on a later turn! If it wasn't nailed down to the table, Jenn used it in the solution Anyway, David took three puzzles, Jenn took another three and I took two. A single Flickwerk set will play 4 players - getting another set would allow 8 or 9 players. Recommended for those that like multi-player puzzle solving games like Ricochet Robot.