When thinking about how to gradually introduce the idea of the tiles, I began to wonder how the tiles would look with a less regular grid pattern. The above are two quick sketches of possible patterns.
One of the much larger tiles could be a good starting place for the player. The other tiles may be far enough away that they are not immediately visible. Once the player does find the edge to another tile, there would be enough smaller tiles nearby for them to get a better sense of how the world is constructed before seeing the birds-eye view of the world.
I think the irregular pattern offers better opportunities for expanding the number of tiles through the game-play. The tiles could be added on to the edges without "messing up" the edges of the square grid (since there isn't a true grid).
