General

All variants of the game require the corners of any newly-placed tile to match the corners of adjacent tile(s) that are already on the board, consistent with the placement rule of triominoes. For the competitive variants, the winner is the first to place all their tiles on the board.^[5]

Original

Original competitive variant board (1970)

The original competitive version of the game published in 1970 used an irregular seven-sided board shaped like a truncated triangle with several marked spaces that require an additional action when a tile is played in that space:^[6]

• A5 = Pay 5 to the bank ("Payez 5 a la banque")
• B1 = Lose a turn ("Prison pour 1 tour")
• C5 = Receive 5 from the bank ("Recevez 5 de la banque")
• D2 = Receive 2 from the following player ("Recevez 2 de la suivant")
• E2 = Pay 2 to each player ("Payez 2 a chaque joueur")
• F5 = Pay 5 to the following player ("Payez 5 au suivant")

Sid Sackson's holographic notes omit the F5 space.^[6] This version uses the full 25-tile set^[6] along with red and black "coin" pieces, with the red coins worth 5 and the black coins worth 2.

Rapid

"Rapid" variant board

The rapid version of the game is intended for two, three, or four players, with each player receiving the following equipment prior to starting:

The players draw from the full 25-tile set; red coins are worth 5 points and the black coins are worth 2. Each player hides their triangular tiles. The remaining tiles and coins are held for common use in the bank.^[7]

The rapid variant board is an irregular ten-sided shape, taking the form of an irregular hexagon with two indented corners; similar to the original (1970) version, certain spaces are marked with additional actions that are taken when a tile is played in them:^[7]

• A2/A5 = Pay 2 (or 5) to the bank ("Payez 2 [5] a la banque")
• B1 = Lose a turn ("Prison pour un tour")
• C2/C5 = Receive 2 (or 5) from the bank ("Prenez 2 [5] a la banque")
• E2 = Pay 2 to each player ("Payez 2 a chacun des joueurs")
• H1 = Take an additional turn immediately ("Rejouez tout de suite")
• J1 = Give one coin to the bank ("Donnez une de vos pieces a la banque")

Play starts with the player holding the triple-three ('333') tile; that player places that tile in the "GO" spot, and the next turn proceeds to the player on their left (clockwise). If the '333' tile is not held, the player holding the tile with the largest sum of pips (e.g., '332' = 8; '331' or '322' = 7; etc.) uses that tile to start instead.^[7]

The next player must play a tile from their hand that can be placed legally adjacent to the starting tile. If a player does not have a tile that can be placed legally, they must draw one of the remaining tiles from the bank, then either play the drawn tile or pass their turn. When there are no free tiles left in the bank, players must pass instead.^[7]

Even-Odd

"Even-Odd" variant board

The even-odd version is an advanced variant intended for two players that uses a 24-tile subset, omitting the "joker" piece. One player takes the 12 "even" pieces, while the other player takes the 12 "odd" pieces. Throughout the game, each player's pieces are kept face-up so the opposing player knows which pieces are remaining.^[7] Comic characters from Spirou were assigned to each piece in the version of the game reprinted in that magazine.^[8][9]

Pair-Impair setup

	Pair (Even)			Impair (Odd)
Triples
	000 Bobo	222 Kroston		111 Sibylline	333 Schtroumpf
Doubles
	001 Marc Lebut	002 Foufi		003 Sophie
	110 Sandy			112 Vieux Nick	113 Oncle Paul
	220 Patate	223 Benoît Brisefer		221 Timour
	332 Gil Jourdan			330 César	331 Attila
Singles
	012 Tif	132 Bill		021 Tondu	123 Boule
	230 Johan	310 Fantasio		203 Pirlouit	301 Spirou

The board has 73 triangular cells arranged in an irregular hexagon. Advanced players may choose to reduce this to a 52-cell board by mutual agreement to avoid the shaded cells, which increases the difficulty.^[7]

One of the two players flips a coin, which determines whether they will play the "even" (by flipping tails) or "odd" (heads) side. The even player places the first piece in the center of the board; they may choose any piece they hold, aside from the two triples ('000' or '222'),^[7] as that would unfairly limit the opening move for the odd player. The players take turns placing tiles adjacent to placed tiles, observing the corner-matching rules.^[7]

When a player completes a hexagon by adding a sixth tile using a legal placement, that player takes another turn immediately. This also applies if two hexagons are completed by a single tile, in which case that player is awarded two more turns.^[7]

A player may choose to block their opponent by making it impossible to place one of their remaining pieces legally, which is facilitated by both players keeping the pieces face-up. If there are no legal moves for a player, that player is forced to pass their turn. However, if a player passes and their opponent notices they have a legal move available, the passing player is obligated to place that tile.^[7]

The winner is the first player to place their last tile. If there are no legal moves for both players, the winner is the player with fewer tiles remaining; if both players have the same number of tiles, the game is a draw and should be replayed, switching the even and odd roles.^[7]

Simple

In Surprenants triangles (1976), Odier proposes several simple game variants, including single, double, and triple linear paths starting from the triple-three tile.^[10]

Puzzles

The puzzle variant is intended for solo players to fill a shape while observing corner-matching rules for adjacent tiles. There are many possible shapes, and at least one book has been published with additional shapes beyond those contained in the rulebook.^[5]