TipOver from ThinkFun

TipOver is an awesome path finding puzzle.  The object of the game is to create a path from the start point to the end point (red crate) that the "Tipper" (red figure) can follow.

Here's what comes in the box:

1. A handy carrying bag
2. Box of 40 challenge cards with instructions
3. The Tipper
4. 1 red crate
5. 10 yellow crates (height=2)
6. 4 green crates (height=3)
7. 2 blue crates (height=4)

To play TipOver, pick a challenge card from the pack.  (Note: I think it's best to start with the easiest and work your way up to the harder ones.  This gives you a chance to develop some solving strategies on the easiest levels that you will find useful on the harder levels!)  Place the crate towers as shown on the card.  The tower with a red outline on top indicates the start position of the Tipper and the red crate is your goal.

Each tower tips over into the next consecutive spaces.  So a green tower of height 3 can tip into any 3 adjacent spaces.  Similarly, a yellow tower with height 2 can tip into any 2 adjacent spaces, etc.  You can only tip the towers up, down, left or right.  The only way for the Tipper to move around the board is from one adjacent tower to another.  That means there are NO diagonal jumps allowed!  You also cannot jump across gaps.

Here's a picture of the above puzzle solved.  You'll notice that not all the towers were tipped, but they may have been used to move from place to place.

Tip and Hints for TipOver:

1. If you get stuck, check your challenge card and make sure you placed all the towers correctly.  I missed a yellow tower on one challenge, which left me scratching my head for quite a while!
2. A blue tower in any of the 4 center squares will not be able to tip over in any direction.  This only came up in one challenge, but it is useful to examine how each tower can fall, based on its relation to the edges of the game.
3. If you can't quite see what to do from the start position, look at the end position instead.  Try to figure out which tower needs to fall next to the red crate in order for the Tipper to reach it.  In the earliest levels, there often is only one crate that can tip to reach the red crate and that makes it a good point to work backwards from!

As always, ThinkFun makes really nice products.  This is a very well built game.  The crate towers are surprising pleasing to tip over! 

You can find 10 extra Tipover challenges at ThinkFun's website!