Tantrix.com - Forced Space Notation

What is Tantrix?

The Story so far

This Month's Ranking

Tournaments

Play Tantrix Now

FORCED SPACE NOTATION

	Forced Space Notation When reviewing Tantrix games online, more information on the status of a game is available in the reviewer window, than is visible in a game room during normal play. Most noticeably, additional information is given on the likelihood of forced spaces being filled during certain phases of the game. To condense all this information for reviewing purposes, a "forced space notation" is used. It displays numbers or groups of numbers in forced space areas. Read on to find out how to decrypt this notation.

	General Info The first number is always the most important one. It is the number of tiles that fit into the forced space "right now"! A coloured dot in the forced space denotes which player has a tile that fits. If a forced space is greyed out, none of the players have a tile that fits this space. The / sign separates before-the-endgame and during-the-endgame information. Think of any number (or pair of numbers) before the / sign, as the "tiles that fit before the endgame", and any number (or pair of numbers) following the / sign, as the "tiles that fit once the endgame has started". The - sign groups pairs of numbers (eg 4-1). The first number of each pair refers to the tiles that fit the relevant forced space. The second number refers to alternate placement options for those tiles. Think of any number before the - sign, as "tiles that fit", and any number after the - sign, as "tiles of those that fit that can also go someplace else".

What do the numbers mean?

The diagram below shows the different types of situations and the relevant forced space notations used. The possible notations are:

One number:

See forced space labelled 3 (bottom middle). 3 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space. None of those tiles are illegal to fill before the endgame. None of those tiles fit into any other existing forced space.

Two numbers, format X-Y:

See forced space labelled 4-1 (red dot). In the forced space bottom left, 4 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space. 1 of those tiles can fit into at least one other existing forced space. None of those tiles are illegal to fill before the endgame.

Two numbers, format X/Y:

See forced space labelled 2/3 (top). In the forced space middle top, 2 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space before the endgame. 3 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space once the endgame has started, ie one tile is illegal to fill before the endgame due to pair blocks. None of those tiles fit into any other existing forced spaces, neither before nor during the endgame.

Notational Display

Three numbers, format X/A-B:

See forced space labelled 2/3-1 (right). In the forced space middle right, 2 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space before the endgame.

3 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space once the endgame has started, ie one tile is illegal to fill before the endgame due to a pair block. 1 of those tiles can fit into at least one other existing forced space during the endgame.

Four numbers, format: X-Y/A-B:

See forced space labelled 3-1/3-2 (yellow dot). In the forced space middle left, 3 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space before the endgame.

1 of those tiles can fit into at least one other existing forced space before the endgame. 3 is the number of tiles left in the bag that fit into this forced space once the endgame has started. 2 of those tiles can fit into at least one other existing forced space during the endgame.

Back to previous page