Connections (2012)

Overview

Kreuz & Quer is a Take it Easy-like puzzle game with players laying down tiles on a individual player grid to connect everything as well as they can.

Each player starts the game with an identical set of different tiles showing various combinations of thick and thin pipe and a 5x5 player board that has a "plus" connection of pipes in the center square and numbered "exit" pipes on most of the edges. One player shuffles her tiles face down and will be the caller for the game.

The caller draws a tile, names the object on it (so that other players may locate the same tile), then each player places the tile on her own player board. A tile must be placed next to the midfield or to other tiles, and pipes must connect only to pipes of the appropriate width; exit pipes are considered to be both widths. Pipes can't connect to empty edges, and if you can't lay a tile (or don't want to), you can place it on the board face-down with the spiral back showing.

After 24 tiles have been placed, players score points: 1 point for each spiral tile showing, and 1-3 points for each exit pipe not connected to the grid. The player with the fewest points wins!