In Season...

An apple a day...

What is In Season?

In Season is a 2-4 player game aimed at teaching players all about the growing patterns of fruits and vegetables in Ontario. The game is educational and as such, is more straight-forward and less action-packed than most games but it most certainly a quick and easy way to learn all about the seasonal patterns of fruits and vegetables in Ontario.

The gameplay is simple and engaging, encouraging inter-player activity and discussion about the various fruits and vegetables found on the many cards provided with the game. Quite simple to pick up and play, ‘In Season’ is a prototype which finds the joy in learning.

  

Game Time

A typical game of ‘In Season’ can take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour or even longer.

Contents

The game comes with 50 cards each of which present the player with a vegetable and the season it is known to grow/flourish in. Since ‘In Season’ is made to be a playing card game, this is all you will need to play…of course don’t forget to bring your friends along!

Set-up

The deck of cards must be shuffled thoroughly and placed in a pile face down on the table.

Rules

·        Each player begins with 4 cards.

·        A random player is chosen to go first.

·        Steps in a turn:

o   The player must draw a card from the deck.

o   Now, the player must check to see if he/she has a complete set (5 cards from the same month).

o   If the player has a set, they must place this down in front of them for everyone to see. The set is considered complete.

o   Once a set is complete the player must pick up another 4 cards and pass play to the next player on their left.

o   If the player has not achieved a full set after drawing a card on his/her turn, he/she must pick a random card from another player's deck.

o   The player must now swap this card for another in their hand, giving the swapped out card to the other player.

o   Once again, if a set is made, it is the responsibility of the player to play that set and draw an additional 4 cards from the deck once more.

o   If no set is made, play passes on to the next player on the left.

                       

                               

Game Overview

A typical run-through of ‘In Season’ sees players swapping cards and creating sets out of pure luck. Admittedly, there isn’t much strategy involved in the gameplay except for that involved in the decision to give up a certain card to another player. The goal of the game is to collect as many different sets of fruits and vegetables as possible, thus making the game a growing-cycle based collection game.

Each month of the year has a specific group of fruits and vegetables which make up a set. Fruits and vegetables may even belong to more than one set as certain plants grow through multiple time periods during the year. This is meant to mirror the seasonal growth patterns of fruits and vegetables in Ontario.

A month’s set is considered complete when a player holds the necessary fruits and vegetables for that month. This means that if a player collects 5 fruits and vegetables (including repeats) of a certain month, they have, in essence, gained a set which adds to their successful completion of the game. The player with the most sets by the end of the game, then, wins.

Any fruits and vegetables that may be part of a month’s set correspond to the seasonal growing patterns of that fruit or vegetable.

Creative Process

When mulling through ideas for a game that teaches people about seasonal growth patterns in Ontario, none of us could imagine a fun game to be made out of such a boring topic. No university student really cares about when fruits and vegetables grow throughout the year. As long as they appear in supermarkets, their growth patterns are of least concern. So how then were we to take a topic that appeals to a different demographic and adapt it into a game to appeal to people of all ages?

Well, what’s a game that is simple enough to pick up and play by any one and can be explained in less than 2 minutes? We went with GO-FISH for that answer and based our gameplay mechanics primarily around the core concepts of this simple game that is well known all over the world and played by men and women of all ages. We thoroughly researched which fruits and vegetables grew around which time of year and made sure that we represented their growth patterns accurately within our game.

Since the idea of the game was to teach people about fruits and vegetables within Ontario and when they grow, we dumbed down our game and stripped it to its bare essentials to make it as simple and entertaining as possible. We came up with a clever name and created some fun cards to peak players’ interests.

We had played around with the idea of a fruit and vegetable based game of Solitaire where each fruit and vegetable would be placed in its own column based on the month in which it grows. We decided to avoid this idea due to the possible complexity and varying card types.

  

Conclusion

The purpose of our game was to teach people about the seasonal patterns of fruits and vegetables in Ontario in an engaging manner. Though, I admit, that our game might not be as entertaining, it does what it sets out to do and is simple enough to be marketed to a wider demographic.

Chaiyya Chaiyya Dance Game...

What is Dance Dance Simon?

Dance Dance Simon is an social tool soon to be utilized in houses all over the world as a means of breaking the proverbial ice. It is a dance game based off of the popular Bollywood dance number “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the movie Dil Se. The game’s rules are simple and it is quite adaptable should players feel the need to change the theme of the game or alter the rules entirely. There are a few main concepts the game is based on, primarily follow the leader. The game is fun and exciting and is a great way of getting to know people better at a party or at any kind of social gathering where strangers might need to introduce themselves to the rest of the crowd.

The game operates similarly to the game “Simon” where a computer plays a pattern based on four buttons (Red, blue, green, yellow).  It is the player’s job to return that same pattern. Successfully repeating the computer’s pattern adds one button to the list of patterns, scaling up the difficulty.  It is a single player memory game.

Our game, on the other hand, twists this idea to turn it into a multiplayer dancing game! 

Game Time

Anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or more…time flies right on by when you’re chaiyya chaiyya-ing.

Contents

Playing the game in its original version would require the player having a copy of the program which simulates the behavior of the leader in the game.

Set Up

All players stand facing the leader.

The “Leader” may be: a person, a video, a drawing, or any other representation of dance moves.

We have provided a program that randomizes dance moves based on clips from the actual Chaiyya Chaiyya dance scene.

Rules

The leader starts by demonstrating one dance move.

All players must repeat the same move. 

If any player fails to do so, they are out

The leader repeats the first dance move, then adds a new one

All players must repeat this dance move sequence

Any player who fails to repeat the move is out

The leader repeats the previous dance sequence, and adds a new move

All players must repeat this dance sequence

Any player who fails to repeat the move is out

The game continues until there is one person left. This person is declared the winner

Game Overview

A typical runthrough of Dance Dance Simon results in a lot of people being embarrassed. Whether the moves are too complex or hard to remember, there’s something to get everyone out of their shell. The game works best when played with good friends and the kind of people who don’t mind getting out of their comfort zone to have a little fun. Admittedly, Dance Dance Simon would make a great drinking game for those in the mood to dance during a good buzz. The creativity of the game comes from the unique dance sequences that aren’t typically found in Hollywood or choreographed in the Western World. The enthusiasm of the dancers in the videos and the over-the-top acting is the reason the game can become quite comical, quite quickly.

People who enjoy the colourful personalities found in typical Bollywood movies will really enjoy this game and find it hard to stop laughing amongst all the dancing. The game works well when played with groups of 2 – 8 people and may be adapted to your own theme/mood. The basic concept of the game remains the same while players can model their own Dance Dance Simon for every occasion!

Creative Process

The idea first came to us when thinking about how to create a cool dancing game that people would enjoy while sticking to the theme of over-the-top Bollywood acting. Well, the truth hit us like a tonne of bricks as we realized that the only way to make an enjoyable Bollywood game would be to make it as uncool as possible. What kind of games tend to be uncool but fun to play at the same time? Icebreakers! Of course! So we modelled our game behind the game that’s been breaking ice for decades.

We hadn’t initially thought about programming the game, instead we had entertained the idea of creating a board on the floor where 2 people go up against each other to see who can most accurately imitate the entire dance sequence. We looked at the amount of work on our plate towards this time of the year and ultimately decided to code the entire thing. With the amount of exposure to programming we weren’t worried about making the game and had it done in the span of an hour or so. The game was easy to implement once we had the solid foundation to build up on. We simply delegated the responsibilities for every aspect and came together to make a rather embarrassing dancing icebreaker with something for the whole family.

Conclusion

With a simple idea and a fun way to implement it, I feel we were quite successful in creating a dance game based on the hit Bollywood sequence Chaiyya Chaiyya. Our game truly shines in bringing out the funniest from people as it manages to utilize the social side of games prominently in exploring the interaction between social beings when placed in awkward situations.

Storytelling in games...

Interview with a character

ARCHER TURNBOLT

What is your name? Gender? Race? Religion? Age?

Hey, first of all! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Archer, 19-years-old and a Caucasian male. I don’t really follow a religion but I like to think that there’s got to be someone up there figuring things out for me. There’s no way I would’ve made it out of the situations I’ve been in if there wasn’t (chuckles).

Where were you born? What about your parents? Where are they, and are they alive? When you were growing up, did you struggle, and if so, in what way?

Woah! That’s a lot of questions at the same time. Let me see if I can answer all of them in order. I was born on the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Joseph and Carrie Turnbolt. I’ve had a pretty great childhood, well both me and my older sister, Isabelle. Our parents have always been more than parents, they’ve been my friends and I’ve always confided in them for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Vancouver was easy living and my parents have always tried to make our lives easier than theirs ever were. At the same time, my mum and dad have always encouraged me to be my own man and make a name for myself. So, to answer your question, I can’t remember a time when we’ve had to struggle growing up. Probably because my parents were so great at working through their difficulties without letting it show.

What year is it now?

Ummm…I believe today is the 20^th of March, 2012, if that’s what you were asking.

How would someone stereotype you at a glance?

People would probably think I’m a typical teenager, unsure about life and what I want out of it; just another kid trying to grow up and discover life. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

I’m pretty certain about where I want to go and who I want to be in life. My dad’s a detective; I don’t think I mentioned that. When I was young I never wanted to be like him – unreal hours and little time for his family. As I grew older, I learned to accept his lifestyle and I also realized that the sacrifices he made were ultimately for us. I began to further understand his work and it intrigued me. I grew to admire my father as I got older and once I became old enough to understand what his job encompassed, I was hooked. I was fascinated with what he did on a daily basis and quiz him non-stop trying to learn more and more about his job until I finally decided that I would go to university to become a police officer, working my way up to the ranks of a detective. My parents want me to pursue my dream without their help, which is proving to be harder than I had initially anticipated. So, I had to get a job as a bike messenger and you don’t hear me complaining. I love it! I get to travel through the city delivering packages, and the exercise isn’t bad either. It’s a great job and it’s also getting me closer to my goal. Wow, I got way off track there, sorry about that, I get really carried away when talking about my goals in life.

Do you have a romantic partner? If so, whom?

Hahaha! Well that’s pretty direct, don’t you think? I do have a major crush on Laura, the girl next door who’s been my neighbour for sixteen years. Unfortunately, I still haven’t mustered up enough courage to ask her out. I do realize that it can’t be anything serious if I plan on pursuing a career in criminal justice. But, I mean, I’m entitled to have a little fun while I’m young, right?

Who is your best friend and what is he/she/it like? How would your friend describe you?

Well, you could ask him to describe me for yourself, but he’s locked outside. Weird, huh? Let me explain. Ever since I’ve been old enough to walk, I’ve been riding. Schwinn was a gift from my sister on my 15^th birthday. Ever since he’s been my faithful companion getting me out of some tight situations, fast. Over the years I’ve made a few modifications here and there but Schwinn’s been the same old loyal friend for the past 4 years. He gets me to where I need to be, when I need to be there. He’s reliable, comfortable and durable and I wouldn’t rather have any other bike in the world.

I’m sure he’d have a whole lot of mean things to say about the times I ride him through dirt roads and in rain, as well as those times I leave mud caked on his wheels for weeks on end. But I know he loves it when I wash him down and scrub him real good, making the tough trips worth it.

What is your economic situation? What have you done for work?

Well, like I explained briefly earlier, I’m trying to make enough money to pay my way through university and use my degree in criminal justice to make detective one day.

My dad is good friends with Laurence Jones, the owner of Vancouver Parcel Service and managed to get me a job delivering packages all over the city. The hours vary quite a bit but I do quite enjoy what I do, especially because I get to travel all over the city learning new routes and paths just to get a package from point A to point B. My boss is a great guy and never fails to challenge me because he knows I’m capable of a whole lot more.

Would you steal? How do you feel about lying? Can you be trusted by your friends? Do you have any other vices?

Wow, you’re really uncovering the deep dark secrets, huh? When I was a kid, I once borrowed money from my sister’s dresser, figuring since I didn’t earn money it would be alright to do so. I wasted it all on Bubble Gum and Candy and got busted that evening. Having to face the disappointment in my parents’ eyes was probably the most disheartening feeling in the world. I was hoping with all my heart that the floor would open up and swallow me whole. Sufficed to say, I’ve never even entertained the idea of stealing ever since.

Lying, on the other hand, well, I lie all the time. There are two types of people in the world, those that lie and those who don’t admit it. A little white lie here and there can often prevent you hurting someone’s feelings. Sometimes I do this funny thing where I don’t lie but I don’t exactly reveal all the information I have. I alter the phrasing of a statement to make sure I tell the person what they want to hear without giving them the whole story, you know? It’s got me out of a lot of trouble throughout my life.

I like to think I’m a pretty morale guy. I mean, I have a certain set of values and a code that conducts the way I live my life. I mean without that kind of moral structure, I could fall to the wayside. My parents taught me a lot when it comes to trust and being a reliable friend. My closest friends have been with me since kindergarten and I must be doing something right for them to want to stick around for so long. When I receive responsibility, I take care to make sure I allow the person to place their trust in my abilities.

Hmmm…vices? Well, I bite my nails when I’m nervous and I tend to push my limits when it comes to physical strain and I take a lot of risks because I’d rather regret what I’ve done than what I haven’t.

What makes you happy? What makes you sad?

A few things make me happy. When things go exactly according to plan or when I work really hard to an ultimatum that pays off, I get really happy and my faith in hard work is restored. I find it really tough to always work hard and that often makes me hate my situation and blame the world for my problems. But I always get back to working my butt off and gaining a lot of knowledge by doing so. There’s another thing! Whenever I learn a lesson after working really hard, or I learn something new by experimenting with an unfamiliar idea, I feel really proud of myself for taking the time to learn.

It makes me sad to think that one day I’m going to be moving out of my home and away from my parents and sister. I’m excited at the prospect of getting myself out there and travelling the world but I can’t bare to think about leaving my family and friends behind but I do realize that moving on is a natural part of life.

What is the one secret that no one must know about you?

Wow, well, if it’s a secret what makes you think I’ll tell you? Better yet, how would you know I’m not lying? Maybe I’ll tell you something most people don’t know about me.

I’m colorblind. Yea, surprise, surprise! I see the world in monotone. In fact, it makes me quite sad sometimes that I can’t appreciate the world on the same scale as most people. At the same time, however, my other senses are significantly stronger, especially my sense of smell.

Are you afraid to die?

Now THAT is an interesting question. Well, I’ve never really thought about it, but I suppose that I’m a firm believer in the idea that people die when it is their time to die. I say that because I haven’t really experienced the emotions associated with the death of someone close to you, but I hope that whenever it’s my time to go that I’ll go peacefully in my sleep or really fast with a fraction of pain. Weird, but that’s as far as I’ve thought about death. I think every person thinks about how they’d want to die at some point in their life, usually when writing their will I’m sure.

Do you have any phobias?

I have a bit of a fear of heights but it isn’t as bad as most people’s. I used to be afraid of the dark when I was younger, but I got over that when I was old enough to go camping with friends and family. I’m afraid of drowning because I can’t swim too well and don’t know how to tread water. I’m afraid of roller coasters, but I ride them anyways because of the rush I feel whenever I’m on them. I’m also afraid of injections which is why I try to remain healthy so I don’t have to visit the doctor and risk having to take a shot.

Are you quick tempered or patient?

I’m quick tempered whenever the topic lands on an idea I’m passionate about, let alone something I’m fiercely passionate about, but most of the time I’m quite patient with people. The only thing I’m not very patient with is people who stuff their beliefs down throats. I don’t agree with discrimination and prejudice judgement of minorities. My parents have always taught me to be inclusive of everybody and I’ve always believed in this strongly. 

Remixing Adjectivia...

What is Adjectivia?

When I had first designed Adjectivia, the premise was a game based on the creative and impromptu skill of the people playing. It was meant to test a person’s creativity and wit through a board game designed for 4-8 people. To me, it was the most unique race to the end board game that was simple and easy to pick up on the first run through.

The concept of the game lies in the exploitation of adjectives and how creatively they can be put to use as players sing, draw, act out and name movies related to the adjectives they draw up from the deck of cards. It's all about how witty players can be when pit against one another's ingenuity.   

So coming up with a modification for Adjectivia, I had to decide on which side of the game I wanted to adjust the focus to. Since there were both skill-based as well as luck-based components, I had to pick one of the two and run with it. I decided on adjusting the game to make it purely skill-based where the player’s creative skills are tested and luck plays no part in the mix.

The Modification

The game involves a die which is rolled to determine the number of spaces to move before picking up a card from the shuffled deck on the center of the board. Before a player is allowed to move they must perform the task associated to the suit and type of card presented to them. If they fail to perform the task adequately (this is judged by all other players), they must either remain where they are or challenge another player/team. A die is then rolled and depending on its face value, a luck-based challenge is initiated between the challenger and the challenged player. Should the challenged player win, he/she may move forward the associated number of spaces rolled by the challenger while the challenger must move back the same number of spaces.

When designing the game I had initially intended for the challenges to be all luck-based but with the Impromptu Mod, I have turned the challenges into a test of both players’ creative skills. The mod will be explained in the ruled below and just for clarity, I have included the rules of the original game and highlighted the modified rules using a different text color.

Rules

• When the game begins each player/team will roll the die – the player/team with the highest roll will go first.

• In order to move the number of spaces rolled, the player/team must first pick up a card from the deck and perform the associated task as indicated on the game board. (NOTE: Name it refers to the naming of 3 movies). 

• Upon completion of the task, all other players/teams will judge whether the attempt was successful or not. In the case of a tie vote, the player/team progresses.

• If the player/team fails to complete the task successfully, they have two choices – either remain where they stand or challenge another team of their choosing.

• In the case of a team, one player from both teams is chosen to compete.

• Depending on the suit of the card the challenger has picked up, both players must perform the action stated using the adjective (on the bottom of the board) that is the same color as the space the challenger is standing on.

• When the color corresponds to more than one adjective, the challenger gets to choose which adjective to perform the action with.

• If the color landed on is not among the colors of the adjectives on the bottom of the board, the challenger is free to pick and adjective they like.

• Should the challenger win the challenge, they are allowed to move the previously determined number of spaces.

• On the other hand, should the challenged player/team win they may progress the pre-determined number of spaces while the challenger retreats the same number of spaces (if the player/team is at the start, they will remain here).

• At the end of a turn the player/team places their card on the space labelled “DISCARD” and the dice is passed to their left.

Game Overview

Using this mod, the game tends to be more skill-based as I have managed to eliminate all luck-based elements from its design. The die now simply judges what creative task is to be performed by the player and doesn’t center the risk associated luck with being unable to improvise and put on a show for everyone else.

The foundation of the game remains the same where we’ve all got to learn to laugh at ourselves and that no one should be embarrassed to put themselves out there. However, the game is now entirely based on one’s skill to act/entertain making this simple game lean in favour of those who are used to public speaking and getting themselves out there as a pose to those who are more introverted and keep to themselves.

The game admittedly still fails to cater to every audience, but most skill-based games work in a similar capacity.

Creative Process & Playtesting

When I had initially created Adjectivia, I remember regretting certain decisions I had made and wanting to change various game elements around to make the game more fun. So when I had been given the task of remixing one of my old games, I immediately turned to my first prototype and put work into adjusting the rules to incorporate more skill-based gameplay mechanics.

I immediately looked over what I had initially wanted to alter/change about my game after I had created it by re-reading the blog post I had written (specifically concerning the Creative Process). One of my ideas was a Veto square where players/teams could simply decide on the progression of the current player/team (in addition to their own) by vetoing the collective decision on the performance. This could benefit the team itself while hindering every other team. It seemed unfair to implement a space which gave complete power to a single player/team and furthermore, this took away from my main focus by focusing the game on more primarily luck-based mechanics. As a result, I steered away from implementing this element within my mod and went on to thinking about eliminating all luck-based elements.

The prominent luck-based element in Adjectivia is the challenge mechanic where one of several luck-based challenges may allow the player a second chance or afford him/her an offset of several spaces thereby hindering his /her progression. So what if I implemented more improvisation for the challenges. I had also thought of incorporating the colored adjectives at the bottom the board in some way or another, so why not bring it into the challenges.

During the presentation of my game board, I was questioned on the color scheme of the squares navigating the player from one end of the path to the other and whether or not these were significant to a gameplay mechanic. At the time, they were not, but noticing that the colored adjectives and the spaces (which were initially simple decorations) were matching, I decided to incorporate both in the adjustment of one gameplay element, the challenge mode.

Playtesting proved positive as most of the luck was stripped from the game. There were, however, times when players would get simpler adjectives to work with or when player were allowed to choose their own adjectives on challenges. This usually resulted in an easier turn out for the challenger depending on their creative strength. However, the adjustment the mod brought definitely aided the skill-based focus of the game and made it further catered to creative and witty entertainers as well as players who were more outgoing than usual.

Conclusion

After modifying the game I found that it was more focused on skill and creativity than on luck. Since this is what I was going for, I feel like I succeeded. The fact that luck was taken out of the equation did not necessarily make my game any more fun. I did, however, manage to adjust the focus of Adjectivia and center it more prominently on its main theme.

Remixing Tic-Tac-Toe...

 
                

What is Tic-Tac-Toe?

Now everyone knows about the classic game of Tic-Tac-Toe set up on a 3x3 grid and played by people of all ages. The goal of the game is to get 3 of the same symbol – this is whatever symbol is yours (X or O) – in a row, whether vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The game is fairly simple and was initially designed to aid young minds to practice reasoning and problem-solving on a smaller scale. Parents often encourage their children to play Tic-Tac-Toe with each other as a stepping stone to stimulate brain activity. As a result of the simplicity involved in the gameplay, Tic-Tac-Toe is often neglected by adults and not really seen as a fun pastime in their books. This tends to be due to the fact that a certain set of moves can guarantee a tie, or at most a win against an unskilled player. The more you play, the more the simplistic patterns emerge and soon the gameplay gets stagnant and boring. So, being given the task of re-mixing the gameplay of Tic-Tac-Toe to make it more chance-based as well as more skill-based was an interesting task.

The Modification

There are only so many variations of the classic gameplay that can be implemented into a more challenging game with incentive for adults to play. My modification is shaped on making the game more of a luck-based challenge through the introduction of a dice as well as skill-based elements while maintaining the basic game mechanics from the original Tic-Tac-Toe.

My mod is called the Territorial Mod and works on the basis of gaining the most territory on a 10x10 grid. The rules are to follow.

Set Up & Rules

• A 10x10 grid must be drawn out.

•  A dice is rolled to determine who will go first – player with the highest roll goes first.

• On each turn the player rolls the die and performs the corresponding action based on the table below.

Dice Roll	Action Performed
1	Block off an entire patch of the board (vertical or horizontal) to prevent your opponent from progressing.
2	Place 2 symbols vertically anywhere on the board.
3	Place 3 symbols horizontally anywhere on the board.
4	Place 4 symbols vertically anywhere on the board.
5	Place 5 symbols horizontally anywhere on the board.
6	Place 6 symbols diagonally anywhere on the board.

• If there isn’t sufficient space for you to move the required number of spaces, you must forfeit your turn.

• The symbol for a block is a 2-headed arrow placed across the spaces it is blocking.

•  A block may be as small as one space or as big as 10 spaces.

• A vertical block is skipped over when progressing horizontally and a horizontal block is skipped over when progressing vertically.

• When a block is being skipped over (refer to previous condition), the player must no place a symbol on the blocked space but on the empty space following the block in the same direction.

• On any given turn your symbols must form a straight line.

• The game ends when players reach a stale-mate (no dice roll will help either player progress) or when players decide to draw. This may happen when 5 or less spaces are randomly scattered throughout the board, or when 3 dice rolls in turn have yielded nothing for either player.

• The winner is the player with the majority of their symbols on the board.

Game Overview

A typical game of Tic-Tac-Toe with my Territorial Mod can take anywhere from 5 – 7 minutes, but no more than that. The game manages to make things more challenging and interactive as the majority of the game is now luck-based. If you roll the right numbers on the die, the game can end sooner than expected. The premise of the game is to cleverly block the other player’s progress by reducing the number of spaces they can occupy. This concept largely focuses on territorial acquisition which was the foundation of the modification that came out of hours of thinking the assignment through.

To roll 1 on the die is bittersweet. This stems from the fact that blocking your opponent’s progression in turn blocks your progression if not planned out right. To avoid this occurrence the player must be strategic about his placement of the block. Diagonal placement on the board can be very helpful in terms of obstructing the progress of your opponent as well as covering as much space as possible on the board at any given time. However, this comes with a cost. 6 diagonal spaces to move are hard to find once well into the game, in turn making the roll of a 6 on the die void.

The game ends considerably quick (much like traditional Tic-Tac-Toe) keeping things simple and interesting.

Creative Process & Playtesting

When trying to figure out how to put together a modification for Tic-Tac-Toe, I kept coming back to the same conclusion, it’s such a simple game, what more can you add to make it more fun for adults. I did some research and thought about why I don’t play Tic-Tac-Toe anymore either. The answer was one in the same – it just gets too easy after a certain age. It was said that one step up from Tic-Tac-Toe is Chess which encompasses far more than ordinary game mechanics. I mean the gameplay itself is simple; any child of 8 or older can pick up Chess relatively quickly. Each piece has certain rules and restrictions to movement while the board is the battlefield where it all takes place. The real challenge, then, comes from strategizing a takeover of territory; planning out moves with your pieces in such a manner that the opponent can’t comprehend your game plan which reveals the challenge from which stems the fun of playing a good old game of Chess.

So what I was looking to create was something along the lines between Tic-Tac-Toe and Chess - easy enough for kids to pick up, but strategic enough to challenge adults. The result comes from working with the idea of acquiring territory in a strategic manner.

I spent hours upon hours designing games where rolling a die determines how many spaces you must move or where you can move on a given number of spaces. No combination seemed to work too well. In a lot of my prototypes I had managed to incorporate the aspect of luck using a die, but none of them were effective enough. I toyed with the idea of introducing pieces on a grid and having them move around based on a die roll to form an X or an O instead of simply having 3 symbols in a like to win. I went through a grid set up with a row of X’s and a row of O’s on either side for a game based on advancing across the board to get to the other side. Then I began to break down Tic-Tac-Toe to its bare components and figured out how basic the gameplay was – you either block or progress and you know you’re really good when you can turn a blocking move into a winning move.

I continued to ponder how to implement a blocking mechanic and use progression to hinder your opponent. My dad kept bringing up the idea of segregating the even and odd numbers on the die to alter their influence on your movement. I worked continuously playing around with all the idea in my head and created at least 4 different prototypes based on my latest idea, until I finally got it right and working. I then playtested it with my dad, my sis and a good friend from school, finally deciding that I was happy with the modification the way it turned out.

Conclusion

Remixing Tic-Tac-Toe was harder than I had initially anticipated. My mod began with an idea on a bus to Waterloo and I figured that I was done with my planning there and then. However, it proved to be quite tedious when I began playtesting and working out the bugs and kinks of my design. The result was a completely revamped game of Tic-Tac-Toe with similar elements to my original idea that the young and the young at heart would both enjoy if they’re up for a quick game of Tic-Tac-Toe.