Hattori - Hexagonal Puzzle game

prusaprinters

Hattori - Hexagonal Puzzle gameMade as part of a project, that used simple geometries and shapes as a way to make the STEM fields more approachable by incorporating creativity and self expression into the learning experience.The Name of the gameThe tiles of the game played a big part in the naming process, the shape of the tiles were chosen as such, because the hexagons are one of the regular tiling types of the plane, however putting down hexagons next to each other is not really a game, so the edges had to be differentiated somehow. The choice came down to a few different types, but the semi circles came out on top. When the tiles fit together correctly those semi circles become full. With all these, the name game came from “Hat” (-the Hungarian word for six) + “tori” (-the Latin word for multiple torus/ring). “Hat"+"tori”="Hattori"(Six toruses).Parts of HattoriWith Mathematics being kept in mind and six different edges of a tile being questioned, the answer to this is permutation. The edges' order in this case is very important, because that gives up the amount of different tiles needed for the game. Its 5!, I mean 120. But that's only because of the double sided nature of the tiles, with that symmetry plane eliminated, the minimum amount comes down to 60 tiles (this is the single coloured version of this game).Just the possible amount of packaging is mind blowing, with the tiles being fixed around a similar sized edge, that amount comes to 120!*2^120, which is approximately a lot and I know the last few digits are 0, because the ERROR number on my calculator doesn't help.But there are still mathematical questions I can't answer, if given an infinite amount of tiles, can they tile the plane infinitely, and if so what's the lowest amount to do so. This is not a homework, I'm genuinely curious.The rules of HattoriAs someone who has tested this game for many hours and versions, I can honestly say that the rules are more like guides, that show a way to play, but not the only definitive way. Similarly this can be a way for the player to be a bit creative and create a balanced gameplay environment. However I will still show some basic game rules:As a PuzzleThis is one of the most basic gameplays that can be imagined, but that does not mean that it is easy. The rules are simple, no bad connections can be made, which means that the neighbouring edges have to have the same sized semi circle, sounds easy right? You can build in whichever direction you want, and don't have to fill in every edge, but as a more difficult version of this, it is really challenging to keep the shape compact.With that being said the 1 Radius ring is easy, the 2 Radius ring is harder, but is the 3 Radius even possible, or 4 and so on?Could be a daily challenge to build a 1R puzzle, maybe. As a competitive GameA bit of competition in games are not always a bad thing, with at least 2 players it is possible to create a point system, which can determine who is the better “Hattorier?”. The basic rules that can be used as guides (seriously not written in stone, you can make it up):The tiles can be placed anywhere, no restriction on it being a mismatched edge, since the game is point based some positions could me more worthwhile this way.The tiles are chosen randomly, then the player tries to find the best possible position.The points are awarded after a tile is placed, after every single player, and only the connections made count. Matching edges result in 2 points, while the mismatch means -1 point. The sum of all these connections can vary (from -6, to +12), but its really simple to keep in mind. On the right can be seen a game situation, where the potential point values of the empty spaces are shown.The points are adding up to a score for each player. Tallied on a paper, or something, either after a given playtime or a target score, the player with the most points or the first to reach the score wins. The table below shows the games length with a score to reach of 50.With different coloured sides, two teams can be created, where each team can only place their own coloured tiles, thus shortening the game time a little, while the two teams are trying to reach the score. You can even try to play it with a chess clock, just to give some time pressure.Number of players23456Average game length (minutes)1225405580The Printing of HattoriAll the pieces are flat, which means they do not require supports. Have been tested, with FFF and SLA printers too. The 2mm thick tiles are not that long of a print, with the 80mm diameter, more than one can be printed at the same time. The Print Files contain all of the parts of the game, and on each part there is a little arrow, that shows the top of the model, so there is no mix-up in the printing, that would result in incorrectly printed tiles. The link takes you to a checklist excel file, that can help with the cataloguing of the printed files. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19PcFjlf-Ae2xgwLlJdnwXos3_3Eu12LD?usp=sharingThe printing of the holder should be the last step of the process, since no manufacturing is perfect, that's why before printing the middle part, the whole stack of tiles should be measured at least twice, so the ideal holder can be printed. This requires the middle part to be scaled to the desired length, while the rest of the dimensions stay the same. The holder requires no support to print, however some gluing is necessary before use.Thank you!Any feedback is appreciated, and I do hope you enjoy playing it as much as I do. Have fun!And if any issues arise, I'm more than happy to help. Note: It came to my attention that the scale is off by a factor of 10 in every direction on the models of the tiles. The original tile is 2mm thick and has a diameter of 80mm.