Game Coasters - Tantrix
We've combined utility, fun and aesthetics all into 10 hexagonal coasters! Let's make some coasters that when flipped over turn into a game, or when connected together form a platter.
These coasters were modeled off of Tantrix's game. They gave us permission to make this video instructables so please check out their sight and show your support! We have the original game and its awesomely fun!
http://tantrix.com/
Printing Off the Hexagons
- Open the 5 hexagons image in a new tab
- Press control+p and print off 2 pages
We custom made the 5 hexagons in Inkscape (because who wants to go the easy way)
They measure to be 4 inches from corner to corner and 3 inches from side to side
Cutting the Hexagons Out of Plywood
- Cut a piece of 3/4" plywood that is at least 8" X 11" to fit the hexagons
- Apply adhesive spray to the back of the printed hexagons, flip them over and press them onto the plywood sheets
- Using a jigsaw, cut out each hexagon
When cutting out the hexagons make sure and be consistent with your cutting method. If you decide to cut on the outside of the line, then do that for every single hexagon. You want as little variation from piece to piece as possible.
Sanding the Pieces
- Leaving the paper hexagon on each piece, use the black lines of the hexagon to sand each side down to the same size
- Peal off the paper and sand every side
- Round off the corners of the top side of each block.
- After all the sanding is done, wipe the dust away
Painting the Background
- Use primer to coat just the top of the piece.
- Chose a background color and apply it on top of the dried primer
The original game used green as the background color, but you can do whatever color you like.
Printing Off and Outlining the Tile Templates
- Again we are going to open each image from above into a new tab
- Print off one copy of each image
- Cut out each hexagon
- Place one hexagon on each piece of cut out wood
- Then use an exacto knife to trace the outline of the patterns into the block
Painting the Design
- Refer to the schematics you printed out on the previous step to paint each design the right color.
- Each tile needs to be colored exactly how the schematic shows, otherwise you will not be able to play the game.
Finishing Off the Coasters
- Apply a Polyurethane coat to the coasters.
- Once the first coat has dried (oil based polyurethane takes up to 8 hours) Lightly sand the surface with 150 grit sand paper.
- Apply a second coat to make it really polished!
Be careful not to sand the surface of the coasters too much otherwise if will scuff the paintings.
How to Play (Rules)
This is a game made by Tantrix.
Your aim is to build loops of various shapes and sizes starting with just three tiles. Each new tile you add gives you a different and more challenging puzzle.
How to play:
- Turn all 10 tiles upside down so their numbers face upwards. Be careful not to confuse tiles 9. (dot at the bottom) and 6.
- Turn over tiles 1, 2 and 3 and make a yellow loop. A loop can be any closed shape, a perfect circle in this case. As you go along, the loops will have less regular shapes.
- Break up the tiles, add tile 4, and make a new loop. The colour of the number on the tile just added tells you what colour loop to make, so the 4-tile loop is red.
- Continue up to 10 tiles, adding one tile at a time. Each new loop must include all tiles picked up so far. All other touching colours must match as well. Remember that a loop can be any closed shape.
- With all 10 tiles, there are separate solutions for each colour: red, yellow and blue.
These rules are copied straight from the Tantrix website with the link below: