Ingenious is an abstract tile-placement game in which the players take turns placing tiles in the shape of two connected hexagons onto a hexagonal grid on the board. The game includes 120 domino-style tiles, each consisting of two hexagons connected along one side. Each hexagon has one of six coloured symbols in it, with most tiles having two different coloured symbols and some having two of the same coloured symbol. Each player has a rack with six tiles on it. During his or her turn, each player places one tile from his or her rack onto two empty hexagonal spaces on the game board. For each of the two hexagons composing this tile, the player scores one point in the hexagon’s colour for each already-placed hexagon of the same colour that radiates outward in a straight line from one of the placed hexagon’s five sides. If a player’s score in a colour reaches 18, he or she immediately takes another turn. At the end of the turn, the player refills his or her rack to six tiles.
When no more tiles can be placed on the game board or when one player scores 18 in each colour, the game ends. Players then compare their lowest scores, and whoever has the highest low score wins.
Ingenious includes rules for solitaire and team play. This highly awarded, international bestseller is fun for the whole family.