Out on the Tiles: The Evolution and Use of Tiles in Board Games

It's fair to say that any gamer who has spent enough time exploring the plethora of board games has played at least one tile-placement game. By its very nature, tile placement is ubiquitous because of its inherent versatility.

- Justin Spicer

Keystones of Tile Placement

Elements of tile placement in board games can be traced as far back as the mid1960s. But it's likely that the most notable experience gamers have had with tile placement is 2000's Carcassonne. As it has been expanded and celebrated in various editions, this classic tile-placement game is the epitome of the genre: place tiles to connect roads, cities, and fields and use a limited number of meeples to claim domain over these areas to gain points.

Instinctively, Carcassonne is more of a puzzle to be solved than a game that involves intermittent or flippant placement of tiles. This is where much of tile placement has shifted in recent years. By creating these wonderfully diverse puzzles using such simple but adaptable principles, the world of tile placement now seems endless. With this in mind, let's explore the veritable ways in which tile placement has become a staple of board games in myriad designs.