Tsuro

Numbering convention for entry points

There are thirty-five possible permutations for a four-sided tile with two entry points per side and four paths linking the eight points.[2][3] In the table below, tiles are named according to the connected points. Points are numbered sequentially anti-clockwise from the left point on the bottom edge, so the bottom edge contains points 1 (left) and 2 (right), the right edge contains points 3 (lower) and 4 (upper), the top edge contains points 5 (right) and 6 (left), and the left edge contains points 7 (upper) and 8 (lower). The nomenclature AB-CD-EF-GH indicates that points A and B are connected, C and D are connected, E and F are connected, and G and H are connected. A single 90° rotation anti-clockwise will increment each number by 2 (modulo 8) to determine path connections when rotated.

McMurchie received a patent for the "Squiggle game" in 1979.[4] The 1979 patent described two different implementations; the first, commercialized largely intact as Tsuro, used the square tiles with two entry points per side and four paths, while the second used square tiles similarly with eight entry points and four paths per tile, but the entry points were changed to the middle of each side and at each corner instead. In both cases, the preferred board size was a 6×6 grid and what became the Dragon tile was initially called the NEXT card.[4] The patent also provided specific names for player actions:[4]

• SHORT CUTS: when a player is connected to a previously unused path, the player is required to advance their piece to the end of the newly-connected path.
• SUICIDE: an illegal move in which a player connects their own path to the edge of the board, unless no other legal move is possible).
• MEDDLING: a player's legal move which extends the path of another player; the other player is required to advance their piece to the end of the newly-connected path.
• COLLISIONS: connecting the paths of two players, forcing them both out of the game. In effect, the start of one player's path serves as the connection to the edge for the other player and vice versa.
• INHERITANCE: when a player's action results in another player (or players) being eliminated, the active player may exchange any number of cards in their own hand with the cards held by the eliminated player(s); the remaining cards from the eliminated player(s) are shuffled back into the draw pile.

Tsuro game near the end, with two players remaining

One of the patents cited by the examiner was US3309092A (1963) by Hardesty and Schenck, entitled "Competitive road building and travel game", which included a variety of square tiles, including what they called "tiles with two, three or four roads" similar in pattern to the Tsuro tiles.[5] Dawne and Jordan Weisman, the owners of Games and Gizmos in Redmond, Washington watched McMurchie playing Squiggles and asked him if he would be interested in publishing the game. The Weismans had founded the games publishing company WizKids and reworked Squiggles into Tsuro, switching the original 1950s theme to one that was Japanese-inspired.[6] The game was released in 2005.

WizKids was later acquired by Topps and then NECA, and the rights for the game reverted back to Tom McMurchie.[6] Ray Wehrs, who had been the director of sales for WizKids, purchased a license from McMurchie and founded Calliope Games in 2011 with Tsuro as its flagship product. In 2012, actor and blogger Wil Wheaton featured the game in one of his YouTube videos,[7] causing sales to spike.[6]

After Calliope Games began publishing Tsuro, different versions and spin-offs of the game were created. The game also has an app for mobile devices created by Thunderbox Entertainment.[8] The game also has been published in multiple languages including a German, a Greek and a multilingual version.

The German version of Tsuro was published in 2007 by KOSMOS.[9] In addition to the language translation, the game's individual player pieces were little tree figures instead of the dragon stones, and the board was made two-sided, with the other side being a 7×7 grid. The 35 unique tiles were expanded to a set of 64, with some duplication of paths, and players would randomly choose 35 (plus the Dragon/Next tile) for play on the 6×6 side of the board.[6] The KOSMOS-published variant was licensed by a Greek publisher, Kaissa, and released in that market.[6]

The first Tsuro spin-off created was a Star Wars-themed spin-off called Asteroid Escape. This version of Tsuro was published in 2011 by Abysse Corp,[10][11] exclusively in France.[6] Asteroid Escape has additional asteroid tiles, which remove any player that lands on them instantly. They are placed on the board randomly at the start of (and occasionally during) the game, and move randomly as the game progresses, consuming any tiles or players in their path. The board is also slightly larger, 7x7 instead of 6x6. In addition, the player's individual pieces are cardboard spaceships.[10]

In 2012, Calliope Games published Tsuro of the Seas, which included similar changes,[12] after receiving funding from Kickstarter.[13] The game's creators included the original creator of Tsuro, Tom McMurchie, and Jordan Weisman.[12] Tsuro of the Seas has a few changed gameplay aspects and visuals, including player pieces shaped like boats and daikaiju tiles, which are equivalent to the asteroid tiles.[14]

Tsuro of the Seas later received an expansion called Veterans of the Seas, published in 2013 by Calliope Games.[15] This expansion includes four new types of tiles that all do different things. There is the mystical portal tile that moves ships and daikaiju tiles to new paths on the board. The tsunami tile moves steadily across the board, giving players a new obstacle they must overcome by rolling a die. If the player does not roll high enough they are eliminated from the game. The whirlpool tile destroys all ships and daikaiju tiles it comes in contact with. The cannon tiles are a defensive card players can use to defend themselves from daikaiju.[15]

Tsuro: Phoenix Rising was initially funded by Kickstarter and released in 2019 by Calliope.[16] Like the original game, Phoenix Rising is played on a 6×6 board with 36 square tiles, each with four paths. However, the tiles in Phoenix are classified as either "center" tiles (total of 16 "center" tiles) or "edge" tiles (20 "edge" tiles). These tiles have additional entry points at the corners and the center tiles are pre-placed in the center of the board prior to starting play. Tiles are flipped or rotated during play, and the goal of the game is to create and collect seven stars by traversing paths.[17]

In 2022, Calliope Games announced that a "Luxury Limited Edition" of the original Tsuro would be released later that year; changes included upgraded materials, including carved stone tiles, satin tile storage bag, bamboo rules scroll, and wooden box, individually numbered. The limited edition set was priced at US$350.[18]