It’s amazing what you can do with a tic-tac-toe board and some creativity.  Last time, I asked you to propose a game using only Xs, Os and a tic-tac-toe board. This week I saw entries that ranged the gamut from action games, to physical games to turn-based strategy games.  Sometimes having the most constraints drives us to be the most creative.  

Observations:

Pushing the Limits:

Many of the best entries this week were extremely cognizant of the constraints.  They knew them inside and out not because they wanted to make sure they stayed within them but rather so they could push what could be done.  It really demonstrated to me how important it is to break your constraints down to understandable chunks that you can exploit in the best way possible.

Not All the Limits Were Pushed:

I was surprised to see that no entries made use of the intersections as the main play space and few entries that used the lines as a play area.  This seemed like one of the main ways to stretch the constraints put on the designer by the board. 

And the winners are...

Dayton Williams - Unfettered Genius (click to see complete entry)

Working from the supposition that Chess or Go could reasonably be considered the greatest games ever created and, working from the information that he was in some distinctly western purgatory, Dayton Williams recreated chess using only a tic tac toe board and some Xs and Os.  This entry was the only entry to pick up on the limitless supply of Xs and Os available.  Its recreation is perfect.

Klaus Preisinger - Quix-Tac-Dash (click to see complete entry)

This entry cheats by deciding that it gets to use a wiimote (though it redeems itself at the end with some concession to other ways to play the game).  That said it provides some interesting mechanics and utilizes the lines as the principle play space.  I found this entry most interesting if I considered it a completely unpractical live action game with people running around marking the area they passed as they went.

Student Entry of the Week:

Games schools, you’re letting me down here.  UFC phoned this one in and still took it.  Are you guys really going to accept that?

Cold War - John Erickson (click to see complete entry)

This entry was a very competent, clean example of game design.  It transforms the tic tac toe board into a strategic battlefield where players build bases and try and drive the other player off the map.  It stumbles into some of the same stalemate/dominance issues that regular tic tac toe does, but it firmly takes the category for the week.

Very Special Mention:

Dr0g - Maomao Hu (click to see complete entry)

This tongue and cheek entry about the metaphysical war between EA and T2 actually turned out to be a good game.  It utilizes the lines and the intersections.  Moreover, it provides the players meters which do nothing and meaningless opportunities to shout...and if there’s anything that gamers love, it’s shouting and meters which do nothing.

Next: The full entries