Tantrix

Tantrix is an abstract tile-based game invented by Mike McManaway of New Zealand, built around a set of hexagonal tiles printed with colored curved lines that must be matched edge to edge as they are placed, so the connecting lines form continuous paths or loops across the growing pattern. It began in the early 1990s as a single puzzle, matching the tiles into a valid loop, before McManaway and others developed it into a family of related games and solitaire puzzles played with the same physical tile set, including a strategic path-building game for two or more players in which players compete to complete their own colored line while blocking opponents. Because the tiles can be recombined into many distinct games and puzzles from one physical component set, Tantrix is generally classed among modern hobby abstract games rather than a single fixed ruleset, and it has been marketed internationally in both a full boxed tile set and pocket puzzle formats.