Fantasy Flight Games

Ingenuity for All

Published 12 November 2012 | Ingenious

Ingenuity for All

Announcing a Mass Market Edition of Ingenious

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Ingenious (Mass Market Edition), a new version of the classic board game by Reiner Knizia!

In Ingenious, two to four players place colored tiles on a hexagonal board, scoring points, blocking opponents’ tile placement, and protecting themselves from being blocked. Its simple rules, quick playing time, and clever gameplay combine to form a subtly strategic and hopelessly addictive game.

With punchboard tiles, stands that are built into the board, and other component changes, this new mass market edition offers the Ingenious experience at a lower price point.

Why a new edition?

This new “mass market” edition of Ingenious offers virtually the same gameplay experience as the 2010 edition, but its lower price presents a value not previously available.

Do I need this edition if I own a previous one?

No. Aside from the price, the differences are cosmetic.

Will you still offer the current edition?

We have no current plans to discontinue the 2010 edition, and will offer both versions for the foreseeable future.

What is different about the mass market edition, compared to the 2010 edition?

Several changes contribute to this new edition’s lower price:

The tiles are made of punchboard rather than plastic.
There is no separate stand for the players’ tiles. Rather, the punchboard tiles in a player’s “hand” fit directly into slits built into the board.
The mass market edition comes in a 10”x10”x2” box (similar to Through the Desert or Lord of the Rings: The Board Game).

Additionally, the rulebook excludes both the team variant and the solo rules from the 2010 edition, resulting in a game appropriate for 2–4 players, rather than 1–4. Look for Ingenious (Mass Market Edition) on store shelves early next year!

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Still Ingenious!

Published 1 September 2010 | Ingenious

Still Ingenious!

A New Edition of Ingenious is Coming This Fall

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce a new edition of the hit board game Ingenious by renowned designer Reiner Knizia, coming this Fall.

Since its debut in 2004, Ingenious has been wildly successful with its easy-to-learn rules and subtle strategy, garnering critical praise and awards, and giving birth to the spinoff games Travel Ingenious and Ingenious Challenges. In this new edition of Ingenious, we have kept the same great game but have modified the components for a better game play experience. The most significant change is that we have replaced the original scoreboards and wooden blocks with scoring pegs that fit snugly into new scoreboards. Now you won't have to worry about accidentally losing your score if the blocks move around.

Ingenious is a fun and fast-playing family board game for 1 to 4 players, with an average game time of about 45 minutes, that will have you playing several sessions in a row, each time striving to become even more ingenious!

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Rule of Three

Published 27 July 2010 | Ingenious

Rule of Three

The rules for Ingenious Challenges are now available

The rules for Ingenious Challenges (pdf, 1.8 MB) are now available on our support page!

Created by popular game designer Reiner Knizia, Ingenious Challenges provides three unique games for 2-4 players that each focus on matching symbols while varying the types of matches made.

Test your wits in the Card Challenge by strategically playing cards from your hand to match the symbols of cards on the table. Each card has two symbols on it and each player keeps a faceup card in front of him. This way, the current player can match the symbols on the card he just played to any card on the table. Manage your hand and keep a close eye on your neighbor’s card during this challenge.

In the Dice Challenge, tempt fate by deducing when to keep your best roll. You only get three rolls, so knowing when to keep your result or to gamble for a better one is the difference between victory and defeat. Each face of the dice features a unique symbol that can be matched to any other player’s dice. Will you accept two matches or will you try for three?

The Tile Challenge will make you risk it all for additional points. If your tile matches, you can take the points right away or toss caution into the wind and draw an additional tile. If the new one doesn’t match, you score no points that turn. If it does match, you get points for both matches!

Check out the rules for Ingenious Challenges, and look for it on store shelves soon!

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Three New Ways to Train Your Brain

Published 7 May 2010 | Ingenious

Three New Ways to Train Your Brain

Announcing Ingenious Challenges

Are you one of the few to have mastered Ingenious? Ready for a new challenge? How about three new challenges? Look no further...

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the newest addition to the Ingenious family, Ingenious Challenges! Created by renowned game designer Reiner Knizia, Ingenious Challenges is a board game of mental dexterity for 2-4 players. Retaining the spirit of its predecessor, Ingenious Challenges is made up of three unique games that each focus on matching symbols while varying the types of matches made.

With three new ways to test your mental mettle there is no better time than now to stand up and shout “Ingenious!”

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Canadians Have Big Brains

Published 2 July 2009 | Ingenious

Canadians Have Big Brains

Announcing the winner of last week's Ingenious Solo Challenge

Last week, we presented the first-ever Ingenious Solo Challenge, and asked our readers to put their puzzle-solving skills to the test. The response was outstanding!

Of the dozens who participated, only a select few achieved the optimum tile placement: a grand total of 58 points. And, of course, only one such entry could arrive first, thereby claiming for its sender the title of “Most Amazing Brain.”

Your winner is Andrew H., from Burlington, Ontario, Canada! Andrew sent in the following placements:

E32F28, I38J33, K40L39, C42D36, A22B19, G4H3

with the following individual scores:

red-13, green-10, blue-14, orange-7, yellow-9, purple-5

...for a total of 58 points! What all of the highest entries had in common was that they placed their tiles in an order that allowed them to maximize their points by scoring off of each other. In Ingenious, this strategy is invaluable.

The following participants deserve honorable mentions. They had equally impressive scores, but submitted their responses slightly later than Andrew:

Shawn R. from Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaChristian B. from Broomfield, Colorado, USARomain R. from Toulouse, FranceAlexander B. from Moscow, Russia

Thanks again to all who participated! And if you see someone with an amazing-looking brain on the streets of Burlington, Ontario, say hello! It may be Andrew!

Ingenious is a strategy puzzle game, in which you must match up colors/shapes in order to put the most together. Keep an eye on how your scores are advancing, as the player with the highest scoring bottom score wins!

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How Amazing is Your Brain?

Published 24 June 2009 | Ingenious

How Amazing is Your Brain?

Announcing the Ingenious Solo Challenge

Are you ingenious? Prove it, and have your ingenuity proclaimed online for all to see! Fantasy Flight Games is excited to announce The Ingenious Solo Challenge!

The rules for Reiner Knizia’s “amazing game for 1 to 4 brains!” are simple, but this simplicity masks a wealth of strategic depth. If you’ve already played it, go ahead and skip the brief rules overview in the next three paragraphs. But if you haven’t, glance over them; you’ll quickly see why The Games Journal called Ingenious “Knizia’s most elegant game.”

The Rules

Ingenious is played on a grid of connected white hexagons. Players take turns placing tiles, which consist of two attached black hexagons with colored symbols, in an attempt to match up the tiles with like colors. Think dominoes, but with colors and shapes! The difference is that in Ingenious, you score your placement based on lines (or more accurately, rays) of like colors that connect to the tile you placed.

In this excerpt from the rules (which can be downloaded here), you can get a clear idea of how scoring works. From each tile that you lay, count the like colors that appear in straight lines connected to your tile. It’s important to remember that each hex on a tile (there are two per tile) has only five open sides, since a tile always blocks itself in one direction. This is true even if a tile has the same color twice (see the example in the lower right corner of the diagram to the right).

That’s it! The key to Ingenious, you’ll find, is maximizing your score with any given tile placement. In the board game, you have to keep the score for each individual color more-or-less even. For this challenge, we’ll simplify things a bit.

The Challenge

Below you’ll find a standard Ingenious board suitable for a four-player game (meaning that the entire board is used). Most of the board is filled, but there’s more that can be done.

You’ll be given six tiles. It’s your job to place them in whatever order you think is best to maximize your score. As you can see, the blank spaces on the board are numbered; likewise, your six tiles are labeled with letters... so if you wanted to indicate the placement of a tile, simply match up the letters (tiles) to the numbers (spaces). For example, to place your first tile in the far upper-right corner, you might write “A3B4,” or “A4B3,” depending on which direction you wanted to flip that tile.

So here’s the deal: Figure out where each of these tiles should go, and the order in which they should be placed (order will matter, as you’ll be able to score off of your previously placed tiles!). In an email to ingenious@fantasyflightgames.com, list your placements (as in the format seen above) in order. Additionally, include the following: Your individual scores for red, green, blue, orange, yellow, and purple, as well as your total score: the sum of all the colors you’ve listed. Finally, include your first name and location. We’ll only be double-checking the highest claims, so be sure your point count is accurate.

The winner of this challenge will be judged by the best total score (the sum of all points from individual colors). The contest will end (meaning no more entries will be received) on Wednesday, July 1st at 6pm CST. If any of the above information is missing, your entry will not be accepted. Any ties will be broken based on the order of entry. Soon thereafter, we’ll announce the owner of the most amazing brain right here, on our website!

Good luck!

Your tiles and the board appear below:

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That's Ingenious!

Published 19 November 2008 | Ingenious

That's Ingenious!

An Overview of Ingenious

Ingenious! Combining the ease of play and the quick to learn stylings of dominoes, Ingenious provides a richer, and deeper, play experience.Players1-4, solo play is available for the puzzle-minded.GameplayAt the start of the game players draw six tiles from the bag. Each turn players play one tile, taking care to match as many symbols together. Each matching symbol provides one point in that symbol. Any player who maxes out on points in any one symbol must shout Ingenious!, and may then take another turn. Once either all the tiles have been placed, or neither player may make another move, the game is over. VictoryEach player compares their lowest stat. The player with the highest low total (that made sense, right?) wins!

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