WELCOME TO TACTICAL TRAINING!
Listen up you bunch of whining ninnies, this is Tic-Tac-Tactics, a
military puzzle game designed to toughen up the tactician in you. Move
your troops into formation and keep them out of enemy fire, or else! Will you
rise to the occasion, soldier!? Or should we call your mama and tell her to
start dinner for when you come crying home!?
THE RULES
The Mission:
Score 12 points first!
The How-to:
Score 12 points first!
· Each player will
take turns placing X’s or O’s of their color on the board. Flip a coin to
decide who goes first.
·
Each player draws
2 “formation” cards. Points are scored when a player places a piece onto the
board that results in one of their formation cards. They may then draw a new
card from the formation draw pile to consistently keep 2 in their hand.
·
Place the top card
from the formation draw pile face up next to it. This is the “free-for-all”
card. Either player may score with this card. Whoever places the last piece to complete
the formation gets the card. After the free-for-all formation is created, the
scoring player takes the card, adds it to their points, and places the next top
card from the formation draw pile face up. If there are no more cards left to
draw, players enter “sudden death” and must play until one reaches 12 points or
they score with their whole hand, meaning they have no formations left.
·
Formations and
scoring are independent of color, meaning that an opponent’s pieces may be used
to score. However, if you do use an opponent’s pieces to make a formation, you
must subtract 1 point from the score of that card. Only a formation of entirely
one color will get full points. Place your pieces wisely!
·
If 3 of the same
pieces, X’s or O’s, are placed in a row, column, or diagonal, independent of
color, then all of the pieces along that line are eliminated and returned to
their respective players. After a player eliminates a row, they get another
turn and may place a new piece down anywhere on the board.
Reflection: This game
has been received well in testing, especially by those who played earlier
versions. In the beginning, I was simply trying to match shapes on the board
with shapes on the cards, and it got boring very quickly. As I added more
rules, such as row elimination or the point system, things got more competitive
and players began to have fun sabotaging their opponent's plans. If I had more
time to develop this game, I would remake the cards and board to be easier to
pick up and play with, as well as redesigning the aesthetics to match with the
military theme. I think this game is best suited for ages 5 and up, since it
requires the player to strategize and use basic math to be able to play. One
somewhat positive social consequence is that you find out if your opponent is
the kind of person who likes to advance their own plans above all else, or waste
time sabotaging yours just to see your frustration. Overall, this was a very
enjoyable project and really made me think about what I find enjoyable in
games.
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