Game Rules
There is only one rule: all play must be to keep the puzzle in play.
…That being said, these are some general guidelines:

How long does it take to play?
As little as 3 minutes; an hour; a whole day; an entire month…In fact, it lasts as long as you can last.

How many players?
Any number of people can play. The minimum is one person who makes a piece and leaves it for others to play with, or to come back at a later time to play.

Okay. So what’s the idea?
TI is a collectively-created jigsaw puzzle. It can be played any time and anywhere. Even these “rules” themselves are open to hacking. Anyone can participate simply by contributing a piece, or moving existing pieces to “solve the puzzle”. The Scenarios section explores a number of example games, and everyone is invited to invent more.

At the most basic, the TI process is the following:
Take the New City Reader’s map or use your own city’s map, a blank paper, or any index card. The map provided with this newspaper can be colored, filled or outlined with the traces of a personal memory of a space, a desire, or an exterior romp through the urban realm. Use conventional cartographic techniques, icons, or other kinds of unconventional notations and draw them on the map. You can also cut the puzzle piece out in the shape suggested by your drawing, much like a jigsaw puzzle. Using the New City Reader’s map, you can use the grid lines to derive an outline.
There is no limit to how many puzzle pieces you can contribute. either drawn, or pasted. Icons can also be cut and pasted into the pieces if so desired. These are the basic blocks for different games. Then, using simple rules that players should agree on, the puzzle pieces can connect to others spatially or begin to define a new region. Get inspired and move further.

What should I be looking for?
Just as a starting point, the spaces of the founding myths of the city; the new musical sub-cultures; the personal knowledge and memories of urban spaces; the sensory aspects of space; the militarization of everyday life; the geology and hydrology underneath your feet; the air space; surveillance; neighborhood concentrations of interesting hairstyles; the metaphors of the city; the spaces of falling in love…

How do i play?
Most players might begin with simple diagrams or plan views of the city. Draw these in pen or pencil with simple lines and notes of any observed or remembered phenomena. As individuals or as teams, players might decide to venture into other artistic forms, such as found pieces of paper pasted onto the card as collage. Try other kinds of alternative mapping, such as incisions and folding, pasted historical photos, odd splotches of found plant materials, and so on.

Is it a competitive puzzle?
It can be, but doesn’t have to. Any variation of TI can be played competitively as a guessing game.

Some possibilities for competitions:
- One player creates pieces while other players have to guess how the pieces go together.
- Guessing and writing down what place is represented by a puzzle displayed.
- Choosing a winning piece by popular vote.

Remember that even if an individual or team “wins,” the map is not neccesarily complete, and you are encouraged to keep the puzzle in motion.