Automatiles is a board game with built-in AI

The last few years have seen the rise of companion apps that present a computer-controller player to compete against when playing board games. Now, one company is taking that concept one step further with a tabletop title that comes with artificial intelligence integrated into the board game itself.

Move38’s Automatiles is made up of hexagonal pieces that stick together with magnets and can light up in a variety of colours. What makes the pieces ‘smart’ is that each component has a programmable microchip inside, based on the accessible Arduino platform.

This means that the tiles can be re-coded for a variety of different games, with Move38 suggesting that hidden movement, puzzle, flicking and dexterity-based, set-completing and even trading mechanics could be supported. The company says that it has almost 100 concepts itself, and has invited other designers to get in touch with their ideas.

You can watch a demo for one of the games, Fracture, below, and see the Automatiles in action.