YJ Tick Cage

YJ Tick Cage

YJ Tick Cage isn't about solving a cube. It's a strategy game for 2-4 players: three-dimensional tic-tac-toe inside a rotating cage. You place coloured cubes into a black 3x3 cage, and the goal is simple: be the first to get three cubes of the same colour in a line. The catch is that the cage layers can be turned and the whole cage can be flipped over, so a single move by your opponent can rearrange the entire board.

How to play YJ Tick Cage

The set includes 24 cubes in six colours, 4 of each colour. The colours are divided between players depending on how many are playing:

• 2 players: each takes 3 colours (12 cubes),
• 3 players: each takes 2 colours (8 cubes),
• 4 players: each takes 1 colour, and the remaining colours are set aside.

On your turn, you take one of three actions: remove the top cover and place a cube in an empty slot, turn one layer of the cage by 90 degrees, or flip the whole cage upside down. Before flipping, the cover must be put back on. You also can't immediately undo the previous player's move. The first player to get three cubes of one colour in a row on a single face wins: vertically, horizontally or diagonally. A player who has run out of cubes can only turn layers or flip the cage. If no one has won after the last cube is placed, the game ends in a draw.

The instructions in the box are in Chinese, but the rules described above are all you need to play.

Who is it for?

Tick Cage is great at home, on a trip or at a cubing meetup, when you want to play something together instead of timing solves. Anyone can pick up the rules in a few minutes, so even people who have never solved a 3x3 cube can join in. A lot depends on predicting how a layer turn will shift the cubes, though, and that's what cubers will love about it. It's also an affordable, unusual gift for the family.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: YJ (YongJun)
• Type: strategy game / cage-type puzzle (3D tic-tac-toe)
• Number of players: 2-4
• Size: approx. 70 mm
• Weight: approx. 145 g
• Colours: black cage, stickerless bright cubes in 6 colours
• Contents: cage with covers, 24 coloured cubes (6 colours, 4 of each), instructions in Chinese