TIC-TAC-TAG TEAM

DESCRIPTION:

Have you ever found yourself with a group of people but had absolutely nothing to do? Tired of all those boring and standard party games that you've played over and over? Now you can play all those same games, but with a new twist! Featuring this new and innovative game by a college student near you, the absolutely amazing TIC-TAC-TAG TEAM! This game is a 4 player reimagining of the classic game of Tic-Tac-Toe but includes the features of 4 boards which rotates each turn for 4 individual games to be played at once, and challenges, where players engage in mini games in order to steal spots from each other (we are not responsible for any friendships that may be broken in the process). Win the most games of tic-tac-toe and win the game!

Here are some pictures of the game in action! (I apologize for the poor picture quality)


 Layout for the 3x3 game board w/ challenge board in middle
The challenge square is divided into two rows
of heads and tails (two coin flips)

Layout for the 5x5 game board w/ challenge board in middle
  

Play testing 3x3 game against my Mom
(Darkened squares are won challenges or "dead" spaces)



Play testing 3x3 against my Dog (Dog is OP)

Play testing 3x3 game against my Mom and Dog
(note that I lack the right amount players to actually play correctly)

INSTRUCTIONS/ RULES:


Tic –Tac- Tag Team: A tic-tac-tac-toe revision                                                          

General Info:

o   Objective: To win the most games of tic-tac-toe to win overall game

§  Short Version (3x3 grid): Connect 3 in a row to win (all directions).

§  Long Version (5x5 grid): connect 4 in a row to win (all directions).

·         Recommend 3x3 for classic gameplay that’s fast,  5x5 for longer, more strategic gameplay

o   Player count: 4 (2 players per team)

o   Equipment:

§  pencil (something erasable)

§  paper

§  coin (to pick challenge)

§  phone or device that can act as a stop watch (for specific challenges)

o   board layout:

§  game board:

·         4 “3x3” (short version) or “5x5” (long version) grids in a “+” shape.

§  challenge board:

·         1 “2x2” grid chart marked with the letter “H” and “T” on the sides. (This can be drawn in the middle square between the boards and marked "H/H" for a coin flip of heads and heads or "T/H" for a flip of tails and then heads and so on)

·         Rules:

o   *note: there are certain rules that are essential in the game to follow in order for it to work, while other rules can vary depending on whether playing the long or short version (e.g. size of boards) or according to the consensus of the players (e.g. penalty for losing challenge or # of challenges each player/team has).

o   Mandatory Rules:

§  Core game (tic-tac-toe) Rules:

·         Teams of two are stationed around the board with each team member sitting across from each other (alternate team members).

·         Each player makes a move on their respective board, once everyone makes a move, the board rotates (clockwise or counterclockwise, can be decided), allowing for 4 games of tic-tac-toe to be played simultaneously.

·         All boards are connected, so a row can be made between two different games which will count as an extra bonus point (e.g. diagonally)

·         Teams are allowed to challenge other team for a spot on board that is already occupied:

o   See Challenge Rules Section for more detail

·         Once a game (one of the four) is won, challenges can’t be made on that game (game is dead).

·         Team with the most points/wins (tic-tac-toe) at the end of game wins game

§  Challenge Rules:

·         Pick any of the 4 standard Challenge games to choose from to put into the challenge board

o   Short version: Pick 2 out of the 4

o   Long version: All of them are chosen

§   Placement of challenges on challenge board decided by players before game

·         If a spot is occupied by an opposing team’s mark, teams can decide to challenge opposing team for the spot.

·         If a spot that is challenged for is won by the challenger (the one who initiated the challenge), the spot is taken over and becomes dead (can’t re-challenge for the spot); aka “dead space” rule. Spots that are "dead" are darkened (mark and the space surrounding it).

·         The number of challenges per game vary depending on the version of the game you are playing: (recommended #s)

o   *note: Obviously, challenges never have to be made, but that makes the game really fast, especially short version (challenging is HIGHLY recommended, plus it’s more fun!)

o   Short version: each team gets 2 challenges (default)

o   Long version: each team gets 3 challenges (default)

o   Players can only make a challenge for their current board (e.g. players can’t make a challenge on other players’ board)

·         Players can’t take back their move once they write it down on their board (once a mark is made, that is your move)

·         If both members of a team want to challenge on their respective games, they must pick one board to challenge; 1 challenge per team per round

·         If one member each from opposite teams (Team A and B) want to make a challenge, the one who challenges is decided by rock-paper-scissors the first time, after that it alternates

o   **This only applies to variants where the number of challenges are unlimited

§  E.g. If both want to make a challenge, rock-paper-scissors. If, for example, team A wins, they get to challenge, but the next time both sides challenge Team B gets to challenge and then alternates

o   If there is a limit to the number of challenges per team (e.g. 3) in a single game, then each team can challenge once in a round (2 challenges per round max.)

o   Optional Rules:

§  Penalties are optional, but can be integrated into regular/custom games for added game dynamics (and possible frustration); Penalties agreed upon prior to match.

§  Game Variations/ Custom games: These are just some possibilities and can be modified as desired.

·         Infinite Challenges: “Challenge till you drop”; unlimited challenges

o   Cannot challenge dead spaces (as stated above)

o   If challenge is lost, challenger must suffer penalty to compensate for infinite challenges

§  Penalties can vary from more orthodox ones such as skipping your next turn to more unconventional penalties such as doing pushups (recommended for out of shape gamers).

·         Connections:

o   Play on the larger 5x5 grid

o   Goal of game is make the most 4 in a row in all of the boards overall, the team with the most wins.

§  (there can be multiple rows made as long as its 4 in a row and no more than 1 space is used in the row)

·         Winner Takes All:

o   must occupy all spots in order to win

§  only version to bypass the “dead space” challenge rule

§  only recommended for the most dedicated players who have no lives outside of games

·         No-Tie Zone:

o   If a game ends in a draw (which we hate), players agree upon a ultimate challenge to decide the winner of the match (e.g. rock-paper-scissors, lol)

o   Challenges that normally have ties favoring the non-challenging team play out for a final round(s) to determine winner.

·         New challenge:

o   “new” challenge games to integrate into game

o   Players can substitute games of their liking into game to fit circumstances (lack of players (e.g. 2)) or for more variety

·         Challenge Game Types: *game modes are “inspired” by pre-existing ones (no copyright please!)

o   There are 4 standard challenge games to choose from (+ one optional):

§  Each team gets one round in a challenge, tie goes to non-challengers (may be changed to two rounds if non-challengers win the majority of the time or at player consensus).

§  1. Action!- requires: stop watch/clock

·         Basically the game of Charades

o   Challenger (one who called the challenge) must perform the phrase or word given to them by the opposing team while their partner tries to guess the word/phrase

§  Challengers cannot verbally communicate/coach each other; only use motions.

§  Words/phrases chosen must be well-known and cannot be specific franchise characters (sorry Jon Snow) and must be agreed upon by the one acting to keep it fair (only in cases where the word/phrase is unreasonable, e.g. Dopey dwarf from snow white for instance).

o   Categories to choose from are:

·         Movies (titles)

o   Make a movie projector motion

·         T.V. shows (titles)

o   Make a T.V. screen

·         Books (titles)

o    Opening book motion

·         Songs (titles)

o   Singing motion

·         Quotes

o   “Air quotes” motion

o   Time Limit: 1 min

§  2. Sketch it- requires: pencil, paper and stop watch

·         Drawing version of charades

o   Same rules for Charades, except:

§  Time limit: 30 secs instead of a minute

§  Can state what category they are drawing

§  Cannot right words or numbers to give advantage

o   Categories to choose from:

§  Object/animal

§  Action/activity

§  Person/ character (well-known/ popular)

·         If it’s a person, time extended to 45 sec (maybe a minute depending on player consensus)

§  3. Identity Crisis- requires: paper, pencil, and stop watch (optional)

·         Basically the “name game”

o   Players write a name of someone famous (can be real or fictional) on a card and places it on their forehead to guess who they are.

§  Opposing team will pick the name and place it on one of the other team’s player’s forehead.

§  The one with the note then asks their teammate a series of questions in order to find out their identity, the other partner answers “yes” or “no” and cannot give any detailed responses.

o   Time Limit- 1 min

§  Or limit it to 20 questions (guesses don’t count)

§  4. Starts with…- requires: N/A

·         Game of “Concentration 64” hand game (without the hands)

o   Challenger 1 decides a category, Non-Challenger chooses a letter to start with, Challenger 2 begins round followed by Non-Challenger 2 and it alternates between players from each team (A,B,A,B, etc.)

§  Players who repeat a word or hesitate (pause equivalent in length to a brief “ah”) lose (default rule)

·         It can be changed to single player loses = whole team loses, but that is up to all the players to decide.

§  The last player left wins the match for the team.

§  Categories to choose from:

·         Animals

·         Names (proper names)

·         Famous people

·         Movies

·         Anything really (as long as all players agree to it)

§  5. Tall-tale (Optional challenge)- requires: pencil and paper

·         Similar to “Word Sneak” game from Jimmy Fallon’s late night show and with elements from the Spy Fall mobile game

·         **challenge may take a while depending on the skill of players; recommended time limit is around a 1-2 minutes

o    One player from each team writes a list of 5 words to be used in an everyday conversation starting with “You know what happened today?”

o   The goal of the game is to use all the words on the list without the other person in the conversation guessing the words on the list or finishing the list before the other

§  Guessing a word correctly once causes the team who were found out to be eliminated

§  Conversation immersion/flow cannot be broken (laughing is allowed however); must flow as naturally as possible 

·         No abrupt change of topic to force a word

·       Guessing must also flow naturally with the conversation and fit with it

o     This can be allowed if all players agree to it, as abruptly changing topics can indicate to the opponent a word on the list, but its more challenging otherwise

o   The players who wrote the list then switch sides and gives the list to the remaining member of the opposing team for them to use in the conversation

·         E.g. Challenger 1 and Non-Challenger 1 write the list words, they switch sides, Challenger 1 gives word list to Non-Challenger 2 to use in the game, repeat for Non-Challenger 1 and Challenger 2.  

·         The player who wrote the list switch sides to make sure all words are used on the list

o   Conversations are presented in a question-answer basis (one asks a question, the other replies, then the roles switch per “round”. 

§  Each exchange of a question-answer is a “round”

·         This is to prevent one player from talking over the other to gain an advantage.

 REFLECTION:

Due to a lack of people to test my game for long periods of time, I cannot say that it completely works properly and that there is more than likely many things that need to be addressed before finalizing the game. With that said and done, for the limited time that it was played, people seemed to think that the idea was good and that the interaction between people via the rotating board and mini games (challenges) added a social dynamic to the game that made it more engaging. Overall I would categorize it as entertaining but imperfect and in need of improvement. If given more time to work on this game, one aspect among others that I would try to improve upon is the challenge aspect of the game. I had initially made it that each team would have 3 challenges and 5 challenges at their disposal for the short and long versions respectively, but some felt that might prolong the game for too long, so I then shortened it to 2 or 3. Another thing is that the 5^th challenge Tell-Tale is still very much a work in progress as there are still many aspects of the challenge that still need work (such as the intended length of the challenge), this being the main reason why it is an optional challenge as opposed to the others. However, despite these changes I am still not sure if the number of challenge opportunities is the right amount, as the challenge aspect is an important factor to my game. I want there to be many opportunities for teams to engage in them, but also not too many that it drags the game on for too long. Another aspect of the game is the fact that it relies on 4 players exactly to play, a task which I figured out with firsthand experience is a difficult undergoing, especially when it came to play testing. Although this game can be played with only two people, in which case both players would have either one board or two, that configuration as it stands with the current games rules and challenges detracts from the intended experience. As such, I would have liked to have devised a version which would accommodate 2 players (or even 3) as well, which would have included not only changing the format of the board which in actuality is an easy fix (just make it 2 games instead of 4) but also make it so the challenges are fun and engaging as well for two people (more difficult in my opinion) as playing with one other person is more convenient than having to have 3 others to play. Overall, I wish I had more time to test out my game and make changes accordingly, as there are still many things that are in need of tweaking and adjustments. Since the game is 4 players specific, this game is best suited for people with 3 other friends (sorry to all who are lacking in this department). This would include families with siblings as this can be a game that is suited well for small families or a small group of friends. There isn’t particularly a set age range, but I feel that the game isn’t too difficult that small children wouldn’t be able to play and I have the game formatted in a way that can allow users to accommodate smaller children if need be (short version of the game for example). What I hope that this game helps teaches others is the ability to use teamwork to coordinate moves along with improving inquisition and communication skills, as the challenges focus on trying to communicate with others outside of ordinary means or asking questions in order to get the desired results.