Tic-Tac-Mao: An Embarrassingly Interactive Tic-Tac-Toe Experience

Tic-Tac-Mao Abstract

Tic-Tac-Mao is a tic-tac-toe game with a humiliating twist. Join in the fun for a highly interactive tic-tac-toe experience. Get more comfortable or maybe a little too comfortable with your friends. Screw them over if you draw lucky. Witness the vast combinations of wild and zany rules that begin to add up quickly and begin to question your dignity. Anything is possible when you get to make your own rules for your opponent and you become rule overlord. Don’t forget to follow your rules though or you will make it harder and harder for you to win.

This game is designed to be played with 2 players

Materials you will need

•  A deck of standard playing cards
•   2 dice
•   2 card value note-sheets

Setup

•    Place cards face-up in a 3x3 pattern
•     If any aces or kings are present, replace them and shuffle them into the deck
•      Have the rest of the deck and your note sheets sitting off to the side

Figure 1. A standard setup of the board. The cards in front of players are rule cards drawn throughout the game. They are not initially there. Card value note-sheets not shown (See rules for values)

Rule

•     The objective of the game is the same as normal Tic-Tac-Toe. 3 in a row in a column, row or diagonal.
•     Determine the first player to go by rolling a die
•       Player will roll the two dice and add the total on their turn. Players are able to capture cards only when the summation of the two dice equals the value of the card. Players are granted one re-roll but the dice summation rule still stands. For the two face cards the values rolled must                  
•      Jack = 11 
•   Queen = 12 
•     A player that rolls a value present on the game board must capture that card. The first player to capture a card will turn over the card vertically. The opposing player will turn over the cards horizontally whenever they capture a card for the rest of the game
•       Players that fail to roll anything on the game board must take 1 rule card from the top of the deck. Rule cards are shown to both opponents and placed face up in front of both players. If you draw a multiple of a rule card that applies for the rest of the game, nothing happens. The rule cards are categorized by values

o    2 = You may cancel a rule card that applies with this card

o   3 = Shoot your opponent obvious dirty looks whenever they perform on a rule card

o   4 = Make up a new word that sounds like an expletive whenever a 4 is drawn  

o   5 = Slap your opponents hand whenever they go to draw a rule card

o   6 = Make a suggestive gesture (NSFW) whenever your opponent rolls the dice on their turn (excluding re-rolls)

o   7 = Affectionately touch your opponent’s face before they roll on their turn

o   8 = Rub your body sensually (SFW) in some way before you roll on your turn

o   9 = Dance a little bit whenever you capture a card. Go ahead and celebrate.

o   10 = Talk with an accent of your choice (other than your own) on your turn

o   Jack = Flip off your opponent each time they capture a card

o   Queen = Kiss your opponent’s hand like a queen each time they draw a rule card

o   King = Swap a rule card with your opponent. If you’re opponent has no cards to swap, force them to draw a rule card and you may swap any of your cards for the card they drew (even this king card)

o   Ace = Make up a rule for your opponent only. This rule cannot prevent your opponent from winning the game and must be confined within the room you are currently in. This rule can be a one-time occurrence or be prompted by doing something in the game or physically within the opponent’s control. This rule cannot apply at all times of the game and must be prompted by something.  

•      Players that are caught and called out on not following rules they have been assigned, lose a card they have captured. Lost cards will be replaced from the top of the deck with a single face up card. Kings and Aces must be shuffled back inside the deck. If an opponent has no cards captured nothing happens but your rule cards remain and become active when you have captured cards.
•     If a tie occurs, replay the game and shuffle back in King and Ace cards. All other rule cards remain. These rules remain through recurring games until a winner is determined
•     If a player wins, shuffle all cards back into the deck. The player that won goes second but may make a rule for their opponent following the same guidelines as drawing an ace rule card 

Figure 2. Player performing a rule 

Reflection

I feel like I have successfully made my game a more interactive and fun version of tic-tac-toe. After it’s first iteration I realized it was utterly broken and slightly uninspired. The idea of having dynamic rule sets forcing a player to make embarrassing or amusing actions was something that remained at the front of my mind but I did not know how to implement this. It needed new boundaries that directed my so called ‘make-a-rule’ system. Originally I had a 4x4 game board and 5x5 for more players but I realized that making a larger game board actually makes the game worse in that it is harder to win, and much easier to get 3 in a rows. I also ran into the problem of having rules be prompted by something. Making rules on tic-tac-toe itself didn’t allow for making rules on anything other than 3 in a rows or something outside the game board completely. I brought it back to a 3x3 and started playing around with cards and dice. I finally figured out that you could play tic-tac-toe by rolling for cards on the game board and having it be random enough there was potential to fail but not random enough to be impossible. A deck of cards also introduced something I desperately needed. A system based on card value allowed me to make 13 sets of rules for whatever you drew from the deck. Most of them are punishing as you did fail on your turn but there are enough cards in the deck that allow you to benefit (2, King, Ace). I wanted it so that it wasn’t all bad for you to draw rule cards and I had to implement a card (Ace) that allowed you to make a rule however annoying or weird it may be on your opponent. This card vastly increases option in the game and can be almost anything as long as it follows the guidelines in the rules. From playtesting, this is a vast improvement from my original prototype and is actually a lot of fun to play.