the curved paths, where the colors connect adjacent sides. Rotating the tile by 90 degrees yields six possible orientations: Straight side: Curved side: By mutual agreement, the players select a colour for their path, with the player selecting the white path making the first move. The first tile to be played is either (curved tile with white running top–left and red running bottom–right) or (cross tile with white running top–bottom and red running left–right). Each successive move is made adjacent to a tile in play; the colours of the track on the newly-played tile must link to the track on the adjacent tile in play. For example, the following sequence is a legal series: The objective is to get a loop or line of your colour while attempting to stop your opponent from completing a loop in their colour. TRAX includes a forced-play rule. If a tile played in any turn forms an adjacent space or spaces into which same coloured track enters from two edges, that same player must play an additional tile into each such space so as to join up the same coloured track, be it white or red, as part of that turn. A forced play may itself require further forced plays to be made. A turn is not complete until the only remaining spaces are either single edged spaces or two edged spaces entered by tracks of both colours. In the three-move example above, note that the White path player created a forced move with the third tile played and the fourth tile extended the path of the Red player. An illegal move is one that creates an adjacent space into which the same coloured track enters from more than two edges. The entire turn must be replayed from the initial tile. Winning conditions A player wins when they form a loop, which is a continuous closed path of the player's chosen color, or when they form a line, which is a continuous path of the player's chosen color that extends for at least eight rows or columns of tiles. Examples of each condition are given below. If the result of a single turn (including forced moves) is that both players meet the winning criteria simultaneously, the player whose turn it was is declared the winner. Notation The turns in a game may be recorded in text format as a three-character code according to the