Control - Tic Tac Toe game

In this blog i will be outlining a new game where i was to take tic tac toe and alter it to make it more enjoyable to play for adults. I was also given the task of modifying an old game which could either be created by myself or another person in my 2012 game design class.

Control!

Concept

 Tic Tac Toe Control incorporates all of the original rules of the game as well as expanding on them to increase the need for strategy as well as the chance to have progressed hindered or sped up.

Original Game

Two players take turns placing x's and o's on a square 3x3 grid. The first person to make a line on the board is the winner.

Set Up

To begin a game two players take position on either side of the board and the deck of luck cards is shuffled. To determine who goes first a card is pulled from the deck by either player. The winner is the player with the best luck as indicated at the top of the card. The ordering for luck cards is (best) good luck, (middle) questionable luck, (worst) bad luck. If both players draw good luck cards the process is repeated until their is a decided victor.


Rules

Like original Tic Tac Toe players will take turns placing pieces on the 9x9 grid. Players cannot place pieces inside of the coloured squares unless a card indicates them to do so. If during a turn a player is able to complete a line or add to a line they will draw a luck card. These cards can be of three different types.

Bad Luck - Hinders the progress of a player who draws this card or helps the opponent to progress.

Questionable Luck - May help or hinder the progress of the player drawing the card.

Good Luck - helps the player who draws this card progress or hinders the opponent.

Players can only draw one card per turn no matter how many lines they complete or lines that they add on to. If a card is not able to be used at a given time it is placed back into the deck and the players turn is over.

Winning Conditions

The game is over when all of the white space on the board is filled. Similar to Tic Tac Toe players will count up how many pieces they have in the lines that they have created on the board and the player with the most pieces will be deemed the winner.

Castles (game redesigned)

Original Game

Castles is a game of deception where players attack enemy forces to try and gain position to assassinate another players king. Players will place pieces face down onto the board and build their defenses with a range of different types of forces. Players will also gain extra forces or abilities for winning battles. If a player is the last king standing on the board they are the winner! An entire outline of the rules is located in an earlier blog post titled "Castles - Territorial Aquisition Game".

Alterations to eliminate luck

To eliminate luck from the game it was very simple. In the game when players win battles they are given cards. These cards are extremely luck based as effects will vary from good or bad. By eliminating this function the game is purely a strategy game. It is all about how players place pieces and attack the other player rather than also relying on the card mechanic to produce luck in the game.

Final Thoughts

Tic Tac Toe seems like a primitive game and it is however it can be altered in many different ways to create interest. Also by playing with different aspects of luck and strategy games seem to have an entirely different feel than games where there is a balance of each. I also found it interesting to find that the modified game may be even more attractive than the original. All in all redesigning games is always an interesting experience.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!