Flying Kites - Einstein Tile Game

Einstein Tiles

This shape was discovered quite recently. It's the first shape that we've found that will tile forever while ONLY creating a pattern that never starts over. 

A shape that has this property is called an “Einstein” tile, which is a German pun, since “ein Stein” means “one stone” in German.

This particular shape is fondly referred to as a “hat” because it looks like a little hat. 

These tiles are made up of segments of a hexagon called “kites”, because they look like kites you'd fly!

Who knew math could be so adorable?!?!

In this model, I've highlighted the kites that make up the tiles. That way when you tile with them you can see the hexagons that form.

Flying Kites Game

I'm currently playtesting a game involving these tiles. So far, the rules are:

1. Each player (2+) will take turns placing tiles.
2. If you place a tile and have a completely surrounded hole in the board, you can fill the hole with your own kites.
3. Each kite you are able to lay down gives you one point.
4. Each tile you place must be touching other tiles on two of its own edges.
5. Each tile you place must align with the hexagonal grid of the other tiles.

By the end of the game you will have created a beautiful sky, with kites flying all around!

You should print some full tiles representing the sky pieces. I printed two colored tiles, one side with sky blue and the other side with white. That way they end result will look like a sky with clouds. 

You should also print some individual kite pieces in different colors that will be given to each player. E.g. player one has red kites, player two has green kites, etc.

I'm still figuring out how many game pieces you'll need, and how many points you should go to before you win.

If anyone does happen to play this game, please let me know! I'd love any feedback, and I'd especially love to hear any rules that you came up with to make the game more fun.
 

More Info

For more information check out:

• The original paper introducing the tile
• My TikTok series about the development of the game