Strategy takes shape.
A deceptively simple tile game with rules a five-year-old can learn — and the strategic depth to challenge the brainiest of adults.
- Players
- 2+
- Ages
- 5 & up
- Play time
- 15–45 min
Funded on Kickstarter in 36 hours • 484 backers • Free to play online, no download required
Simple rules.
Serious strategy.
In Xago, you connect hexagonal tiles to build a beautiful pattern while scoring points and outmaneuvering your opponent. Every side of every tile is either blank or marked with a triangle — and that one distinction creates a surprising world of tactics.
It’s like chess without the weird rules or the carnage. Nothing is ever captured for good: surround a tile and it pops out — satisfying, magnetic pop included — and returns to its owner, ready to come back somewhere smarter.
And don’t let the friendly shapes fool you. Xago has a game-tree complexity of 1060 — mathematically deeper than Checkers — and advanced mode (10100) approaches the depth of Chess. There are more possible games than particles in the universe.
What’s in the box
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Two Xago tile decks
14 unique magnetic tiles per color — every combination of triangles and blanks.
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Rules sheet
Basic mode on one side, advanced mode and Party Xago on the other.
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No board needed
The tiles are the board. Play on any table — the pattern grows as you go.
Want more colors for Party Xago? Additional color sets are available separately.
Five rules.
That’s the whole game.
- 1
Take turns placing tiles
Each player has 14 unique tiles. Every side of a tile is either blank or has a triangle — triangles must touch triangles, and blanks must touch blanks.
- 2
Score by touching
Everywhere two of your triangles touch earns you a point. Build toward your own tiles while cutting off your opponent’s best spots.
- 3
Pop surrounded tiles
Completely surround a tile and it pops out — magnets make it easy and fun — and goes back to its owner. It loses its points, but lives to fight another turn.
- 4
Watch the gaps
New tiles can’t go into an enclosed space of any size. An empty pocket in the board can be worth more than the tiles around it.
- 5
Most points wins
The game ends when a player starts their turn with no tiles left. Count your touching triangles — whoever has the most points wins!
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Fastest way to learn?
Play online. It’s free, runs in your browser, and has an interactive tutorial — plus a Master AI to test yourself against once you think you’ve got it figured out.
Try it Free
One box. Three games.
Your first game in five minutes
Place tiles, match triangles, pop your opponent’s pieces. The basic rules fit on one side of a card, and a five-year-old can genuinely learn them.
Chess-like depth, one new rule
Once you’ve got the hang of it, use your turn to move a tile you’ve already played. A tile can travel one spot for each blank side it has — and suddenly every position is alive.
Any number of players
Grab a color set for each player and score for every triangle touching another triangle, regardless of color. With more than two players you’ll need allies, not just an algorithm.
“‘A minute to learn, a lifetime to master’ describes Xago too — but my lawyer won’t let me use it.”
— Akshay Patil, creator of Xago
Ready to shape
your strategy?
Get the magnetic tile game delivered to your door, or jump straight into a free online match.